What age did your toddler start to play 'with' other children?

[mummylonglegs]

Just wondering about this. Dd's 2.4 and is very chatty and sociable with adults but as far as other kids go she's either not that bothered (although does like talking about her playmates when they're not around) or she gets fed up with them if they interrupt her games / get too close. Generally other little kids seem more friendly towards her than she is towards them.

In your experience, what kind of age do toddlers generally open up to playing with others?

Well, my DD is 3 in November and she certainly plays with other children, but probably it's only recently that she's started to do this other than just her big brother (nearly 5).

I have to say it was lovely picking her up from nursery today to hear she'd been playing with the girls, running around outside and doing pretend play with them.

She has had a lot of practise with her older brother. I remember older brother would play with friends he knew very well and was very comfortable with between about 2 and 4, only by about 3.5/4 was he starting to make his own friends. DD seems a bit ahead of this, but like some pp say she's had more socialising due to older bruv and is a more confident character anyway.

DD is 2.3 and says hello to other children in her age group, but doesn't really play with them more alongside them.

When her older cousins come over 5-13 yrs she will play with them as they direct the play more, but still it is more like copying than playing with them.

She does do pretend pretend cooking on her own initiative though and will try and involve older children and adults in eating her creations.

I have no experience but my mum (who has been a nursery/kindergarten teacher with a degree in early development for 45 years) says that generally children at 2 play by themselves as the capacity to interact with children of the same age really only develops at some point in their 3rd year of life. So while some will play with other children at 2.4, others will only do so at 3 years old and it's all normal.

The kindergarten she is managing used to cater for children between 3 and 6 years (different country) but has for a while now also accepted 2 year olds and she says the developmental difference in terms of interacting is massive.

Thanks MrsHuxtable, that is comforting. I tried to hang around the nursery today to watch a bit but they kicked me out! I did take dd to the library on Sat and she did seem slightly hysterical, slightly hyperventilating when I tried to make her go in the 'car' with a slightly older kid. But then I hear from my mother in law that my husband and his sister were both terrible and had to be escorted into the school complete with comfort blanket, for years when all their friends were rushing in. Maybe genetics has something to do with it! :)