Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Let your baby experience everything

From a very young age, most babies are inquisitive and can’t help but be nosey. They love new experiences and new things. Whether it be seeing a friendly new friend and beautiful nature scene, feeling a soft stuffed animals or running their hand over a dog or cat for the first time.
Babies love to use all their senses so why not let them try, touch, hear, smell, taste, and see new things as much as possible. Even the simplest things will fascinate your baby and it’s quite funny to watch their eyes light up over each and every little thing they experience.
Touch
Let your babies feel everything you feel during the day. Cooking with artichoke tonight? Let your baby hold it for a minute and feel the odd textured object. Letting your baby sit in grass for the first time may leading to the most puzzling expression you’ve ever seen your baby give you! Wouldn’t you love to pet a bunny rabbit if you had never touched one before? Your baby would!
Sound
Babies love music, sound, traffic noises, and some will even pay attention to commercial noises (blenders, vacuum, dishwashers, etc..)  Example: My son would love to ride the vacuum while it’s on. I don’t know why, but he crawls to it as soon as I turn it on. Guitars and other musical instruments will interest some babies.
Taste
This is more important for the older babies (6 months and up). Let your baby taste some sour pickle juice or even a lemon. It’s very funny to watch their reaction and most really like it. More textured food, such as a whole banana put in a mesh feeder usually intrigues a food newbie, after a while you can try mashed potatoes, cooked carrots,etc..
Sight
Babies love to see new, colorful things. Whether it is a bright colored picture of a simple shape, a bird eating birdseed outside the window, or even a pretty colored bath paint during bath time. Take your babies to new places; the park, zoo, or aquarium. They will get to see things they couldn’t ever image!
Smell
I think we often take smells for granite. We may walk past a flower and not even smell it because we’ve smelled them a thousand times. Your baby would love to smell the sweet scent of a rose. Actually, your baby would  probably enjoy seeing, smelling, and touching the rose. You may not realize it but your perfume or shampoo may be one of your baby’s favorite scents. If you have a scent (say gain detergent) that your baby is used to smelling, it may began to be a comforting smell to him.
Babies learn so much in their first year of life so why not help them by giving them new opportunities to learn, touch, smell, taste, and experience life as much as possible. You are your child’s most important teacher.

1 comment:

  1. So true! I remember the first time Logan looked up and saw leaves on a tree. We were going for a stroller walk and he was still a little guy. The look in his eyes was priceless!!

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