The
single most important toy you can offer your baby during the stages of visual
development, birth to 8 months, is a carefully selected mobile. It is during these early stages
that the mobile will build his visual system as well as allow for hours of
interest and learning. A mobile of bright colors and strong contrast is highly
recommended. At first your baby will focus on the mobile’s contrasting
colors. Your baby will then learn to
follow the movement of the mobile, strengthening his tracking skill, teaching
his eyes to move together as a team, and building his visual attention. Your
newborn baby can hear and is ready to listen to music. A mobile should come with music that your
baby can listen to with or without the movement of the mobile.
There
are other crib toys that are available to stimulate, calm, and interest your
baby. These toys often have music,
light, and moving pictures. Your baby
will enjoy these to. Don’t over stimulate your baby. Never have two toys on at
once. If your baby is tired, move the
mobile out of his visual field and don’t turn the crib toy on.
Over stimulation
can cause irritability and make it difficult for your baby to relax and rest.
In general it is good practice to offer your baby varied patterns, objects, and pictures to look at. Your baby will be interested in discovering new things and "figuring them out" by learning them visually. You can be creative about varying what your baby looks at by using pictures from story books, family pictures, and even wrapping paper and decorative gift bags. place these items in various places that he will have access to visually.
No comments:
Post a Comment