RSSCategory: Early Learning

Development of Newborn Senses

| February 27, 2012

Early Learning Activity Toys

Your baby’s development is amazing and takes place with rapid speed, but what is your baby aware of when they’re a newborn?

SIGHT

Newborn’s can only see things close up, about 20cms away from them. So when your baby’s being held they’ll be able to see your face, which makes this close contact a great way to bond.

Contrasting colours such as black and white are great for newborns to look at. At around 2 months your baby can distinguish colours and will enjoy mobiles.

At 6 months, new faces and objects are catching your baby’s attention and at 8 months your baby’s vision will be fully developed.

TASTE

It’s no wonder babies like sweet tasting foods, milk is naturally sweet. From 3 months onwards your baby will probably try to put what they can into their mouth, and when teething starts this will heighten their desire to have a good chew on things!

HEARING

Your baby listened to your voice in utero so will recognise it when they’re born and associate this with comfort. Hearing isn’t properly developed when a baby is newborn. At around 1 month old they’ll react to loud noises. Babies learn to associate certain sounds with happy events, so it’s important to make singing and music a fun and special part of the day with your baby. Music is a wonderful way to soothe your baby and develop their hearing and sense of tone.

TOUCH

Touch is essential for babies, kisses and cuddles make your baby feel secure. Babies love to explore with their hands and when weaning, will often squash food before eating it to understand what it feels like. Toys and books with texture really encourage play and development.

SMELL

Newborns have a good sense of smell and will know your natural scent from birth. Babies find your natural scent comforting, so try not to wear any perfume or scented creams for the first few months so your baby can enjoy your natural scent. By the age of 1 your baby will be able to recognise foods by their smell.

For further baby sensory development and a great way to have fun with your baby, you can join a local Baby Sensory Class.

The Best Baby Activity Gym Play Mat

| February 12, 2012

Enjoying the Lamaze Pyramid Activity Mat

An activity mat and play gym is something worth buying before you have your baby as it can be used from birth and will often adapt to create new play environments as your baby grows.

Activity mats help to encourage tummy time and many have added features that allow baby to discover different textures, lights and sounds within the area of the play mat.

The Lamaze Pyramid Activity Matis the best baby activity gym play mat you can buy for your baby. It keeps our baby entertained for hours and encourages tummy time and imaginative play.

The Lamaze Pyramid Activity Mattransforms with each stage of baby’s development from newborn to tummy time to imaginative playtime, providing plenty of ways to play and interact.

It has a cushioned play mat which baby can lie on or sit on with a bright and engaging environment of characters with soft side walls which helped to keep our baby safe when she started rolling!

It folds into a play house for older babies to play with when they are able to sit up unaided.

The Lamaze Pyramid Activity Mat is reversible, with colourful pictures and characters on each side and includes an overarching rainbow which holds the soft sides of the mat up so your baby can lie underneath and gaze up at the rainbow and toys.

The toy figures can be attached to the rainbow or the play mat or they can be kept separate for your baby to play with individually. The activity gym play mat comes with 5 soft toys – boy, girl, baby, cat and flower.

Playing with the Lamaze Pyramid Activity Mat Toy Doll

The Lamaze Pyramid Activity Mathas a musical sun that can be attached to the rainbow or played with separately. The musical sun plays tunes and can be set to be activated by movement so as your baby enjoys kicking their feet in the air and on the floor, the music will play and the lights will flash to encourage your baby’s movements. And there’s a volume control on the musical sun so you can set it to your desired sound level.

It’s really important to introduce tummy time into your baby’s day for a few minutes a day. This helps to strengthen their muscles as they try to push themselves up off the floor and it encourages coordination. You can read more about the benefits of tummy time.

The Lamaze Pyramid Activity Mathas sides that can be folded up and held in place with velcro attachments to allow baby to see themselves in the detachable mirror and to look at the different characters.

This activity and play mat will be used daily by your baby. It can be simply wiped clean or machine washed when needed and it drys quickly so your baby won’t have to wait for their next round of play on the activity mat!

The Best Baby Mobile

| February 10, 2012

When I was pregnant I searched relentlessly for the best baby mobile. I had a long list of criteria for my baby’s mobile.

I was looking for the best baby mobile I could buy. I wanted a mobile that would easily and safely attach to my baby’s cot with stimulating characters and classical music.

My friend recommended the East Coast Sweet Island Dreams Mobilewhich had been a saviour for getting her baby to sleep:

    • suitable for baby from birth
    • easily attaches to baby’s cot
    • plays soothing classical music
    • rotates with colourful characters
    • helps baby sleep peacefully with the night light for comfort
    • plays 3 classical tunes and an island theme
    • provides stimulating entertainment
    • has a calming night light
    • allows parents to use a remote control to turn the music and light on or off without going into baby’s room so as to not disturb a sleeping baby
    • encourages baby to follow the characters while listening to music

It’s well known that classical music enriches your baby’s cognitive and emotional development. We enjoy listening to classical music every night as our baby is drifting off into a blissful sleep.