Learning Through Play
Sight
When babies are born, they can't see much -- usually just about a foot away from their face. As they grow, their eyes develop and get stronger, helping them to see farther away and focus on what they see. Play can help stimulate sight, enabling your baby to strengthen her vision faster than she would without the visual stimulation play provides.
How to improve your baby's vision >>
To help your baby stimulate her sight, start by hanging a high-contrast mobile above her crib. Pinks and pastels may be pretty, but they don't do much for your baby. Instead, choose black and white with contrasting patterns. As your baby gets older, add in bright colors like red, yellow, green and blue. Choose toys with these colors for your baby as well.
Sound
When your baby is born, hearing is his strongest sense. He'll likely recognize your voice instantly, and will soon recognize the voice of other caregivers. For his first few months, he'll learn about his world through sound more than all of his other senses.
Bring music into your baby's life >>
To help stimulate your baby through sound, play music. Use musical toys in her bed and dance with her in your arms while you play music. Play recordings of different sounds, such as water, cars, laughing, talking or animals.
As your baby gets older, help her learn through sound. Show her pictures of animals and teach her what sound they make. Read her books and teach simple songs to sing with you.
Taste and smell
If you've ever spent much time with a baby, you know they tend to stick everything in their mouths. While it may be quite fear-inducing for new moms (the threat of choking is very real), babies learn about objects by the way they taste and feel in their mouths. Instead of teaching your baby not to put things in his mouth, give him toys that are safe to chew.
Introducing your baby to solids >>
Once your baby is old enough for solid foods, stimulate her taste by giving her samples of different foods. Start slowly and under your pediatrician's instructions to avoid allergy issues. As she tastes these new foods, she'll be introduced to their smells as well.
Touch
Touch is a huge stimulation for your baby. Not only can she be stimulated by touching items of different textures, but she is stimulated by being touched.
Give your baby toys and blankets made of different materials to stimulate her sense of touch. Find toys with several different textures so your baby can experience many different feelings with one item. Board books made for babies sometimes offer different things to feel on the pages, allowing you to show your baby each new page. As you turn each page, place her hand on the item and describe it to her. Tell her which items are soft, scratchy, scaly etc.
Make sure to spend lots of time touching your baby. Stroke his back, stomach, arms and head. Touch him with different fabrics and use infant lotions to give him a baby massage. Touching your baby relaxes him, teaches him to be comfortable with contact and provides comfort and reassurance -- two things every baby needs.
Tip
Don't over-stimulate your baby. Give her only one or two toys at a time -- any more can be overwhelming.
More on stimulating your baby
The importance of playtime for your little one
Baby toys to boost brain power
Developmental toys for babies
