Babies and toddlers love figuring out how things work. Right now, zippers are king of the toys in my house.

Daycare baby likes undoing zippers. It’s part peekaboo game, and part investigating how things work, and part finding interesting things behind the zipper. I learned quickly to wear something under any shirt that had a zipper in it when out in public with her. I have a zip-up bag that used to contain toy blocks but I can put anything in it and zip it up, and she’s always excited to unzip it and find a spoon or toy car or some goldfish crackers in it.

My toddler has a pair of pants with a zipper pocket and I reserve them for days when we ride in the car, because he can unzip the pocket, put a little toy in, zip it up, unzip it, get it out, repeat repeat repeat. He’s just getting the fine motor skills to attach the two ends of a zipper together and do his jackets up. I’m almost sad that it’s summer and there’s no need for zip-up winter boots and coats.

There are lots of toys and dolls on the market to teach little ones how to dress themselves with zippers and snaps and buttons – I like this cute monkey from Alex toys, although real world clothes work just as well for learning. Daycare baby is a ready-made dress-up doll for my toddler, when they are both in the right kind of co-operative mood. Otherwise I’m happy to volunteer to have my hoodie zipped and unzipped.

So both of my little ones are getting plenty of entertainment, developing motor skills, and learning real world skills from zippers.

In a fortuitous coincidence, just as I was thinking how nice zippers are, I discovered that one of our lesser observed holidays, National Zipper Day is April 29. For real! It’s the 96th anniversary of Gideon Sindback patenting his invention. I don’t know if he had kids, but if he did, his babies probably loved playing in his house.

While babies should sleep on their backs to prevent sudden infant death (SID), it is equally important that babies should spend time on their tummy when they are awake, according to the latest recommendation by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Babies who don’t get enough “tummy time” can have delays in their motor development.

APTA spokesperson Judy Towne Jennings recommends that babies be placed in different positions when they are awake. Keeping babies in one position for prolonged periods of time such as in car seats or strollers, however, is strongly discouraged.

So when does tummy time start? Right from the start, as soon as mom and baby come home from the hospital. “Ideally, babies should be placed on their tummies after every nap, diaper change and feeding, starting with 1-2 minutes”, according to Jennings.

So why is tummy time so important? It promotes the development of neck and shoulder muscles, prevents tight neck muscles and misshapen skulls, as well as develops muscles necessary for the rolling, sitting, and crawling.

Lack of tummy time on the other hand, can lead to delays in developmental, cognitive, and organizational skills, problems in eye tracking and behavioral issues. Based on an APTA survey, a large number of physiotherapists have observed an increase in these types of delays in recent years and lack of tummy time seems to be the problem.

While the benefits of sleeping on the back are common knowledge, there is a lack of knowledge among parents as to the need for “tummy time.” For more information about tummy time for your baby, check out APTA’s Tummy Time Tools, a brochure that provides parents and caregivers ideas and activities for tummy time throughout the day.

For today only at Amazon.com, save on this developmental toy for baby.

This soft toy encourages the use of baby’s motor skills by responding to touch with specific sounds and is currently on sale for only $16.99.

Some products features:

• Electronic sounds when legs are pulled
• Developmental features
• Colorful satin ribbons, patterns, textures, and crinkle
• Floppy bean bag feet
• Lamaze makes a great gift

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