SPRING HAS SPRUNG
Movement creates a level of attention and alertness in the brain – soothing rocking makes us drowsy while bouncing makes us alert. Children use this information for concentrating as well as falling asleep (depending on the input).
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Movement affects coordination of the two sides of your child’s body. This forms the basis for walking, running, kicking, skipping and clapping. Once these basic skills are mastered your baby goes on to develop more refined motor coordination, such as writing with a dominant hand and coordinating his hands with what he sees (hand-eye coordination). In order for this to develop, movement stimulation is referenced against visual and auditory stimulation as well as feedback from your baby’s body. Sensory input is critical for this to develop.
VISION is a reference sense to which other senses are compared so your baby can make sense of his world. In addition, as your baby sees and hears and is touched, he learns about cause and effect. Pouring a cup of water onto the floor, packing and unpacking a shelf and playing with a push button toy teaches your baby that his actions have an associated reaction. In time this leads to the development of problem solving and reasoning.
Visual stimulation of watching a ball float on water towards him, of crawling under a table or simply hitting a mobile suspended above a changing mat are all ways that your baby learns about the spatial qualities of the world. Understanding position and space is the foundation for reading and writing, which are essential to academic learning.
Vision also has a direct impact on emotional intelligence. Empathy involves understanding another’s emotions, which starts at birth when a baby sees his parent’s face and expressions for the first time. Stimulating the visual sense with emotionally engaging interactions is vital for helping empathy to develop. Empathy obviously involves a baby being
MASSAGE A soothing massage is one of the most precious activities in the day of a baby or toddler of any age. Deep touch pressure releases feel good neurotransmitters that are soothing before bedtime. In addition, massage stimulates the primary somatosensory cortex in the brain, which gives your baby a sense of his body, which is vital for motor planning, learning and body scheme. Remember that understanding that sensory input is critical to brain development needn’t mean scheduling stimulation time. Spending time with your baby doing the simple tasks of daily life – feeds, bath time and slow playtime with simple activities holds way more value – will provide this stimulation, as long as you are present and focussed and having fun with your baby. YB