Why Stimulating Your Newborn’s Intellect Is Critical
Considering that 75% of your baby’s intellectual growth will occur before the age of 6, it is very important that you begin to stimulate your baby’s mind as soon as they are born. Sights, sounds, smells, and touches - All are extremely influential on a developing mind. These early inputs and influences help them to learn and grow, no matter what age. It is very important for a parent to consider creating a stimulating environment for their newborn. A few ways to stimulate your infant’s intellect are as follows.
1. Give them tons to look at.
Surround your newborn with color to stimulate their visual sense. Let them play in a play yard such as the Graco Playard so they have many different shapes and colors to look at. Hang colored shapes on the wall or hang a mobile above their playpen. Teach your newborn to recognize themselves by hanging a baby-safe mirror on the wall or next to their playpen. Add whatever you can to the visual excitement of your child’s world to spice up their environment.
2. Supply them lots to listen to.
It is a well-known fact that babies respond to music, even when in the womb - you can play music for them as soon as you’d like. Rainforest sounds, whistling wind, or rain showers - play a CD of nature sounds to stimulate your child’s sense of hearing. newborns love to be sung to, there is no more beautiful voice on earth to your child than Mommy’s voice. Encourage your infant to make their own sounds and noises - give them musical toys or rattles to play with. Teach them how to clap. The more you allow your child to make their own sounds, the more they will be stimulated.
3. Provide enough to touch.
Give your child enough space to roll around or crawl in - you might want to consider a larger size playard, such as the Graco Pack n Playard, which gives them enough room to explore the world around them. Play hand games with your infant - paddycake is always a favorite. Involve your infant with your motion - bounce and dance with them in your arms. Give them lots of different textures to touch and explore. Toys with different kinds of surfaces or different fabrics, for example the toys in the Graco Playard provide many different textures for your newborn to touch. All in all, the more your allow your child to feel and to touch their world surrounding them, the more they learn and the more they are stimulated.
Your newborn’s intellectual stimulation is one of the most important aspects of their development. It is up to you as a parent to provide an environment to your child where they can safely explore and learn about the world around them. Give them a vibrant, colorful, visual world to look at. Give your baby the gift of stimulating and soothing sounds of music. Give your infant many things to touch - all the different textures and surfaces you can find. All of these things are be very influential on your newborn and on their mind.