Bounce, Grab, and Play Your Way to Learning!
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Bounce, Grab, and Play Your Way to Learning!
Did you know that your baby learns more in their first year of life than any other time? Not surprising considering everything your baby experiences is completely brand new. You may find your baby staring for long periods of time at a textile pattern on your shirt, and wonder to yourself what they are thinking so diligently about. Being a baby is tough. You are completely helpless and depend on your parents for every basic need and you find that you are unable to communicate these wants and needs in any other way than crying, smiling, squirming, laughing, or any other form of verbal or physical expression you can muster.
The most important thing that your baby learns in these early months is how to coordinate their motor skills with their thoughts and senses. Babies experience uncontrollable movement in their arms and legs for the first few months as their brains send out signals to their limbs at random and at times to the wrong body part. Most hospitals place long sleeves or mittens on newborns in the first few days as they have a tendency to accidentally scratch themselves when they are upset or hungry.
As a baby your main senses are smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing. A baby’s’ eyesight is undeveloped and it is unclear exactly what it is a baby sees and to what degree they do not. Newborns are drawn to bright colors and stationary objects, and you might find that your baby on occasion begins to go a little cross eyed as they try to focus their sights on a single object. Don’t panic, this is normal! To help your baby learn to coordinate their vision and movement, the absolute must have for every new mom is a bouncy chair with an overhead bar for dangling toys. While these chairs come in about a bazillion colors and styles and just about as many price ranges, the important thing to have in a chair is the dangling toys that are within reach of your baby’s hands and feet.
As your baby begins to connect their site and movements they will start to try to reach for the toys with their hands or fists. They will also kick their feet and rock their bouncy chairs as they learn that their movement affects the toys environment. Seeing that the toys rattle, blink, or swing when they are touched helps to strengthen this relationship between free will and action. The best type of toys to attach to these dangling overhead bars are brightly colored, interesting to look at, and unique to the other toys adjacent to them. Many baby toy brands make small plastic toys that hook onto interchangeable latches and make it easy to change out and move the toys to the baby’s liking. I have found that it is best to have a variety of different toys that do a variety of different things and to change them out between play times to keep the baby stimulated and present new challenges and stimulation.
Be active in your child’s play time by sitting next to them, encouraging them to reach and kick at the toys and helping them move their arms and legs in the desired fashion. My daughter is now only nine weeks old and can reach out and grab a toy at will, as well as bring a stuffed animal closer to her in her crib at night. She has also learned how to pet the kitty with a little bit of help, and how to turn her crib aquarium on and off on her own. This is a remarkable feat for a child of such young age and I can only attest it to the constant reach and grab play she has been stimulated by her bouncy chair.
These clip on toys are also great for the car as they are easily clipped onto car seats, diaper bags, or strollers to provide on the go play and help to familiarize the child with recognition of her toys. Some of my daughters favorites are the Jittery pal fox from Infantino and the dangling play keys from fisher price. These are inexpensive and versatile toys that can be found at most stores, and can later be adapted to be used on play mats, exersaucers and walkers. Keep talking to your baby and promoting learning through play to make these struggles and lessons more enjoyable and fun for both you and your child. Bouncy chairs for everyone!!!
Deb says...
Well said. Toys are a baby’s tools.
Terry says...
Good common sense article that gave me some things to think about.