Toddlers are amazing bundles of seemingly limitless energy but they can definitely be quite a handful. As they start to become more vocal and expressive, they also start some hazardous habits to themselves, their peers, and even their caregivers.
In this blog, we list down some of the unexpected hazards early childhood educators encounter whenever they’re working with toddlers.

Bruises

As toddlers come in cute sizes, so do the classroom furniture. And for seemingly giant caregivers and early childhood educators, this means bumping into small furniture, if not toddlers running straight into shins and knees.
As toddlers are just bundles of what seems limitless energy, protect both your shins and knees and toddlers by wearing a shin guard or even a kneecap protector under your pants.
With these protective equipment, you’ll soon be protected from getting purple bruises on your lower legs. With proper guards for your lower legs, bumps will now certainly won’t break your bones.

Bites

Toddlers can have a habit of sinking their new teeth into almost anything, including their teachers and caregivers. Due to their limited communication skills, toddlers tend to bite to express themselves. It could be to get your attention, express dislike, or simply elicit a reaction from you.
As toddlers take shine upon you, it might just be their way to express affection. However, affection or not, biting hurts especially when they’re still unaware of how much force they can exert with their newly sprung baby teeth.
Prevent toddlers from biting by calmly and firmly telling them biting is not allowed. While reprimands are firm but kind, it can still upset a toddler biter. In this event, do your best to comfort the toddler and calm them down before coaching them on how to best express themselves next time.

Tantrums and Meltdowns

First, they’re smiling, laughing, giggling at anything and everything. Then something goes wrong with one toddler and faster than you can blink, a crying chorus of little kids with big lungs and even bigger voices loom all over the room and beyond.
Toddlers, just as they’re developing physically, start to also feel a wider range of emotions–some they just don’t have the capacity yet to manage and overcome. And to release what they’re feeling inside, they cry, howl, throw a tantrum, and proceed to have a meltdown.
Just when you thought you’ve managed to protect yourself from bumps and bruises, tantrums and meltdowns come raging to take over and flood you with toddler tears and screams.
This is where social-emotional learning comes into play. Teaching these young children what they may feel sometimes and how to name it allows them to recognize the emotion, and learn how to voice it out instead of throwing a tantrum.

Just as toddlers look cute and adorable, they can also be unruly and moody. But knowing the hazards of working with toddlers beforehand can definitely help you in arming yourself with strategies on how and what you can do whenever a toddler proves to be difficult and disruptive. Find tactics on how to turn your toddlers antics into play.