Thursday, November 6, 2014

Sensory Toys for Babies

From a newborn to 1 year old a baby's senses develop at an astonishing rate. Their vision starts blurry but they begin to see clearer and can recognise some familiar faces at about 1 month old. Sensory toys for babies can be used by parents to further improve their baby's development. This article looks at specific toys for baby development and why sensory toys are important.

When a baby is born they are only able to focus on objects close to their face (about 12 inches away). They can distinguish between light and dark but not between certain colours. Babies begin to develop their full colour vision at about 3-4 months old. As a parent you can use sensory toys to help improve your baby's vision and possibly speed up the development process.

As your baby develops he or she will be drawn to faces, particularly yours. Show your baby large pictures of faces as this will help them focus and identify the different shapes that make up the facial form. You can also use your own face to help your baby's development by illustrating happy or sad and allowing your baby to not only see your facial expression but touch your face and actually feel it. When your baby starts to smile and make their own facial expressions use a mirror so they can see themselves. Babies are fascinated by their own reflection and something as simple as a mirror could entertain your baby for hours.

As your baby won't be able to differentiate between all colour hues the best sensory toys are those that have high contrast colours and patterns. For your baby, toys which are black, white and red are easily visible. The contrasting colours help your baby notice different patterns and shapes and aid their visual development.

Your baby's hearing will have matured fully by 1 month old even though they won't be able to appreciate and completely understand all they are hearing. From their ears babies absorb huge amounts of information. All this information will stimulate your baby's brain development which will help them with sitting, crawling and walking.

To help improve your baby's hearing you can start with reading. Try varying the pitch of your voice as it will help your baby recognise different tones of sound. You could also try using accents and singing to further develop your baby's hearing. Musical sensory toys such as rattles are great for babies as they can make sounds on their own. They will start to notice cause and effect; that actions can lead to outcomes.

All babies are naturally inquisitive about the world around them. They want to experience things by touch. To improve your baby's touch sensitivity try rubbing a variety of textiles on your baby's skin while describing the sensation as you go e.g. soft, fluffy or silky. Activity gyms with hanging parts will help develop your baby's hand-eye co-ordination. As they reach for one of the hanging elements and make contact they will gain more confidence.

Your baby's hearing, sight and understanding of language will develop much quicker than their motor skills. By using baby signing toys your baby can communicate with you before they can verbally speak. This communication and bond is a great comfort to parents.

There are a variety of sensory toys for babies that will help improve the development of your baby's senses. From high contrast colourful toys to rattles and baby signing toys, there are sensory toys to suit every parent and child.

If you are looking for sensory toys for babies there are a number of companies that offer a range of products. Bamba Sign have a variety of soft, high quality educational toys for babies that will help you learn baby sign at home, enabling you to improve your baby's communication skills in a fun way.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charlie_Maine

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6201885

Toys for Babies @ Amazon UK

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