Imitation Game

When your kid repeats what she sees and hears, she’s not just having fun.

- Tamekia Reece

AS A BABY, your child probably copied simple actions, like sticking out her tongue. But her imitation skills are truly taking off now. She’ll pretend to comb her hair while watching you brush yours, hold up a toy to her ear when you’re on the phone, or even raise her voice to get a point across (“Me no go!”)—a habit she picked up from you know who.

“It’s your toddler’s job to figure out how to interact with the world around him, and one way she does this is by imitating the people and actions she sees,” says Dr. Cami Winkelspecht, a clinical psychologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in Ohio,US. Sure, it can be a bit annoying when your kid mimics your movements for the umpteenth time—and embarrassing if she repeats certain phrases when you’re in public—but being a copycat is actually a positive sign.

Your Mini Me

“Babies are born with mirror neurons in their brain that enable them to observe and re-create the actions of others,” says Dr. Laura Jana, author of The Toddler Brain: Nurture the Skills Today That Will Shape Your Child’s Tomorrow.