Adults walk around with sophisticated mobile technology that keeps them plugged into the internet and able to access an incredible amount of information. Technology can make it easy to forget that learning does not require a lot of expensive equipment. If you want proof, just consider the fact that toddlers can learn dozens of life lessons with two simple furniture items – a potty chair and a step stool.
Life Lesson One: Potty Training as a Life Skill
Adults coping with life are always talking about learning effective life skills. That is precisely what potty training is about. One of life’s lessons is learning how to ask for the potty before there is an accident, and then using the potty appropriately. There is so much to learn when still a little guy or gal, including the purpose of toilet paper.
A specially designed potty chair can take the stress out of switching from training pants to the child sized toilet. A colorful and child-attractive potty chair makes learning this particular life skill much more fun. Add a magazine holder that actually holds a favorite storybook and a toilet paper holder to make the potty chair similar to the adult version.
The best way to teach a toddler a life skill like potty training is to give the child a special piece of furniture that he or she can call her own. If the chair has lots of color and graphics and is treated as the toddler’s special seat where praise is earned, the tot will soon be asking for some time on the life skills chair.
Life Lesson Two Through Ten: The Step Stool
If a child could be Shakespeare for a few moments, she might say, “How can I use thee step stool? Let me count the ways.” A step stool is not just a something that a person lifts their body on. To a child, this piece of furniture is:
- Mount Everest and requires enormous effort to climb up
- A ladder which makes it possible to reach the top of the dresser
- An exercise machine that requires little bodies to pull, lift, step, and climb
- A chair where it is possible to rest
- Something to move from one side of the room to the other
If the step stool has a storage area, it is also a mystery item holding toys that can be seen one minute and are out of sight the next. The storage step stool can teach a toddler about keeping toys picked up off the floor and about putting away items that are not being used.
The theme toddler stool can even teach about interesting worldly topics like fire trucks or frogs or gardens. The stools that are painted with lively colors and interesting graphics will attract any toddler in the room. When parents order a personalized stool with the child’s name, toddlers have their alphabet name reinforced with each use and will quickly be saying, “Mine!”
Never Underestimate the Toddler’s Imagination
Adults look at furniture and think of things like “time for a rest” or “needs cleaning.” A toddler looks at special furniture like a potty chair or step stool and thinks “fun.” It only goes to show that learning life lessons does not have to be a chore.
