Developed by occupational therapists, the Stimulate your Baby series covers x5 developmental areas. The video series can be found on the Clamber Club YouTube channel.
SEEING AND LOOKING
What your baby is learning
Improved eye movements enable babies to watch faster moving objects. Eye-hand coordination develops, and babies can pick up small things. Letting go is refined and visual spatial abilities develop.
With improved mental abilities, they begin to interpret what they see and become interested in people and places and make sense of pictures. Object permanence is now established, and babies look for a completely hidden object, understanding that it still exists even when they cannot see it.
Activities and ideas
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- Outings are a fun way to learn about people and places. Babies also practice vision as they focus on things near, far away or moving.
- Books and pictures stimulate visual perception, helping babies recognize what they see.
- Hiding games are important for learning object permanence, social interaction, and memory.
- Moving targets help your baby practice eye movements and eye-hand coordination.
HEARING AND TALKING
What your baby is learning.
Babies are beginning to understand more than we realize, picking up on our nonverbal cues, gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice. They begin to respond to simple questions and requests and know the meaning of several words. They also know and respond to their own names.
Babies are starting to make themselves understood and begin to engage in back-and-forth communication. They purposefully use gestures, babble or their own jargon, facial expressions, and tone of voice to make themselves understood. They are starting to imitate sounds and actions and enjoy copying games and turn taking. By the end of this stage, they may use sound approximations for certain words, and some babies may say two or three words with meaning.
Activities and ideas
- Sounds – Point out sounds in the environment and make appropriate sounds for objects or animals encouraging your babies to listen, make sounds and copy you.
- Understanding language – Talk about what interests your baby, using short sentences and repeating key words. Your facial expression, tone of voice and gestures give meaning to your words.
- Body awareness – Talk about body parts, as babies are learning about themselves.
- Rhymes and songs with actions, extend vocabulary and help your baby understand the meaning of words.
- Books – Choose books that are interactive and interesting for you and your baby. Make your own books with photographs or pictures.
- Expression – As babies express themselves, pick up and respond to their signaling and cues. Copy baby’s sounds and babble to encourage them to express themselves.
TOUCHING AND HOLDING
What your baby is learning:
Babies are now on the move, exploring and discovering how things feel and how they work. With improved arm control babies can reach out accurately and begin using wrist and forearm movements to turn and explore toys. Finger movements develop and they learn to point and poke at holes and learn to use a pincer grip, picking up small things.
Letting go with control begins at this stage and babies enjoy dropping or throwing objects. When your baby hands you an object, he/she is learning social interaction and give and take play. With improved visual spatial skills, babies begin to place objects inside, on top of, or over. Two hands begin to work together more efficiently, and babies enjoy banging two objects together or clapping their hands.
Activities and ideas
- Touch and texture help babies discover the different ways things feel, providing sensory information for body awareness and hand skill.
- Pointing and poking helps babies practice using and strengthening their index or pointing finger.
- Pincer grip is refined by giving your baby progressively smaller things to pick up. Pulling against resistance helps to strengthen this grip.
- Hand and Finger Manipulation develops by providing a variety of toys that encourage wrist and finger movements and the two hands working together.
- Letting go and visual spatial skills develop by encouraging your baby to hand you a toy, throw a ball, place things into containers, place objects on top of one another or rings on a stick.
MOVEMENT
What your baby is learning:
Your baby is actively exploring and enjoying movement. The ability to respond to gravity and movement is controlled by the vestibular system. This sensory system is in the inner ear and keeps us consistently informed of where we are in relation to our world. It has many functions, which allow us to coordinate eye movements, and develop postural control and balance.
Activities and ideas
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- Fast, arrhythmical movements and round and round movements excite babies and increase arousal levels.
- Slow, rhythmical movements in straight lines is calming and soothes agitated babies.
- Head positions and planes of movement activate different areas of the vestibular system, helping babies learn how their bodies are orientated in space.
- Playground equipment and swings offer a variety of vestibular input with different speeds and directions of movement.
- Postural control and balance develop by pulling or pushing babies on moving equipment.
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
What your baby is learning:
Babies are gaining better motor control and are therefore becoming more mobile and independent. They have good sitting balance and can now move in and out of sitting to get into crawling. They learn get around by creeping or crawling.
From kneeling, babies can pull themselves up into standing. As strength and balance improves, they can lower themselves back down. With improved standing balance, cruising or walking around furniture begins. At the end of this stage, babies may stand alone briefly, walk with both or one handheld or might even take a few steps on their own.
Activities and ideas
- Moving in and out of sitting is encouraged by placing toys further away from your baby.
- Crawling builds strength, co-ordination, and spatial awareness. Make obstacle courses for your baby to crawl over, under, in and out of.
- Standing improves strength and balance, so entice your baby to pull up into standing by placing interesting toys on a higher surface.
- Walking – When your baby is ready, practice cruising along furniture, pushing a trolley and walking over different surfaces.
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