The 3 most important activities to stimulate your baby’s development
Some parents provide they babies with so many over stimulating toys the babies don’t know what to do. It is the classic cliché “Back in my day, we didn’t have anything like this”. So what is best for baby? Well here are some basic ideas to think about.
1. Observe
My favourite quote from Magda Gerber is, “Do less, observe more, enjoy most”. Instead of spending time dangling toys in front of your baby or trying to get their attention on a particular object, provide a few simple toys (bowls, cups, balls), and watch them explore. Even a baby who is not mobile will look intently at different things. It opens up a magical world when you watch your baby closely to see what they’re interested in.
2. Narrate
When my baby is struggling to do something, she will look at me.
So I talk to her. “I see you’re trying to touch that ball, but it’s just out of
each. You can see it just past your fingers.” And as she wiggles to get it,
I talk about what she’s doing. When she gets it, I say, “you got the ball
in your hand”. I don’t talk all the time, because sometimes I see her
concentrating and I don’t want to interfere. But narration puts words
to actions and also lets her know I see what she’s doing and that
it’s important to me.
3. Put white space on your calendar
I’m always overwhelmed by the interesting activities we can do. There are claseses, museums, friends, hikes, shopping, parks, playgrounds and everything is designed to capture your child’s attention and enrich their developing mind. It’s hard to say no, but I think saying no is crucial to development. Make time to do nothing. Make time to be quiet. Make time to talk to each other without being entertained and bombarded with information, no matter how interesting and educational it might be. In our fast-paced world, doing nothing is an activity that needs to be sought out and made a priority, just like any other activity you schedule on the calendar.
Activities with your baby don’t need to be things to be fancy, colourful, or loud. Quiet moments allow baby to seek out what’s interesting to them, and allow you to see your baby for who they are.
These suggestions may not seem like “activities” to some people,
but try them for your baby — you might be surprised at what you see.
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