October 31st, 2008 Time for baby play Posted by Melitsa in Homemade, play activities, Thought of the week

“Babies brains, it seems, are working overtime, processing information and building neural connections that will serve as foundations to their emotional, social, and intellectual development throughout life.” Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D

Experiences… with a newborn you forget that lots of things are just…well….new to them. Sensations, sounds, colour. They have that wide eyed expression of wonder. As they getting older we notice that they notice more. But they are taking in so much all the time.

Wet wipes shuffle…

My two month old was treated to the wet wipes shuffle courtesy of his brother.

The empty wet wipes carton was slipped under his dancing feet. A new sensation a new noise and a little control.

  

He kicked and squealed . We let him play for a few moments then changed him. Let him play again then took him down from the changing table.

    

If his brother hadn’t rescued the wipes carton what an opportunity we would have missed for some early sensory play.

Why do it?

To make him super smart………No!

…because it’s fun and I imagine like squashing bubble wrap between your fingers so it pops. It just plum feels good! You can’t help but do it again.

Take time and find the small moments to play..

What infant play activities do you encourage?

Melitsa Avila is a former teacher, mother of three boys and military wife who talks about living an intentional play lifestyle using practical and everyday play activities to do with the under 5s. She publishes related ebooks & newsletters. Melitsa is the host and producer of a weekly Early Childhood radio show: Raising Playful Tots bringing parents and carers together with Early childhood practitioners. Thanks for reading!

Melitsa

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