I Had It First

Turn-taking begins early in life when our infants are very young and they look into our eyes, we look back at them, we smile, they smell back.

Those are the very, very beginnings of turn-taking and social reciprocity.

As our children get a little bit older, between the ages of 6 and 12 months, those early back and forth interactions continue to develop, taking turns, making sounds, smiling, copying our actions.

And then between the ages of one to two, they participate in a bit more back and forth play with an adult.

So maybe rolling a ball back and forth or taking turns, putting objects, posting objects into a container.

And this is done alongside an adult.

We don't expect our children at this age to take turns in sort of what we might expect our older children to be able to do.

Then around between the ages of two to three years, broadly speaking, our children start to learn about sharing toys, what it might mean to have to wait briefly while somebody else has a turn, taking turns on a swing or a slide, whether this is at home, at preschool or at a playground.

But at this age, their capacity to do this is inconsistent and is still emerging and developing.

As they get a little bit older, between the ages of three to four, they are increasingly able to participate in those turn-taking games and a bit more cooperative play, but they still need reminders and adult support.

Between the ages of five to seven, most children can follow the rules and take turns when playing games with other children.

Bearing in mind that for our more sensitive children or those who are developing differently, then it will be much older before they can follow rules and take turns independently.