birth to 3 Months

brainy
babies
It’s never too early to help your little one learn
and grow through play. Early childhood expert
Dr Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett shows you how...
W
hen they are
very young,
children learn
mainly through
playing and
imitating others. Every time you
play with your new baby, you are
helping her along the path to lifelong learning. Through play, babies
can explore their surroundings, learn
about their world, themselves and
their family. As well as helping you
bond with your baby, the hours
of fun you have together will be
important for their growth and
development in years to come.
GREAT TOYS
Lamaze First
Mirror $37.95
ELC Blossom
Farm Pram
rattle pals $30
ELC Travel
Arch &
Playmat $75
Lamaze Tug
and Play Knot
Block $19.95
birth to 3 MONTHS
MILESTONES
play materials
While it’s not unusual for many babies to spend much of the day
l Sucks and grasps
l Rattles
(and hopefully night!) asleep, when she’s awake your baby will love
l Holds head steady (by
l Black & white toys/with
spending time with you, looking at your face, listening to the sound
three months)
contrasting designs
of your voice and feeling the touch of your skin. A newborn can see
l Rolls to side
l Mobiles
about 20 to 25 cm (the distance from your breast to your face). Objects
l Kicks and waves arms
l Play gyms
with contrasting shapes and patterns are much easier to see – my own
l Brings hands together
l Mirrors
wardrobe during those first few weeks of motherhood consisted largely
and may bat at toys
l Wrist rattles and foot
of black and white tops and dresses!
l Holds rattle briefly
finders
Very young babies use their senses for play. During the first
l Lying on stomach, can
l Musical toys
few months your baby’s toys are mainly for looking at, listening to,
prop self up on elbows
l Colourful pictures/books
touching, swatting, but not yet for holding. You’ll start to see your
l Smiles and giggles
l Mirrors
baby’s personality emerge as you get those first precious smiles, coos
l Quietens to mum’s voice
l Activity mats
and gurgles. She’s also ready for physical play experiences. Take cues
l Looks at fingers/hands
l CDs/music tapes
from your baby when deciding when and how to play. If they’re happy
l Coos and gurgles
and settled, try playing more active games like peek-a-boo or
“swinging”, but if they’re tired or over
ard
stimulated, they may prefer to be rocked or
dboard. Cut the cardbo
out of pieces of white car
bile
Mo
ite
Wh
s
and
ck
tern
Bla
sung to. During the first three months, a lot
tric pat
H Make your own
ng. Draw different geome
thread through some stri
of your baby’s first play experiences will be
y’s cot or change table.
bab
r
you
into different shapes and
ve
abo
it
g
Han
on each of the surfaces.
– record your very own
with their own bodies. Just watch how your
(stripes, zig-zags, swirls)
by their mother’s voice
ed
fort
com
are
and
sic
mu
e
lov
ies
bab
to your baby even before
ng
se
You
the
baby is fascinated by her own fingers and
H
lullabies – try singing
ite
our
fav
ing
sing
lf
rse
the womb.
album by taping you
songs they’ve heard in
toes and uses her legs to kick out at objects.
mory for both stories and
me
g
azin
am
an
e
hav
birth – babies
homemade toys
48 www.bumpmag.com.au yo playtime
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Playgro Plastic
Rings $8.95
3 TO 6 MONTHS
At around four months, babies become more interested in objects.
They explore through mouthing, grasping, shaking and banging,
so toys need to be sturdy and small enough to be grabbed but not
so small that they can be swallowed. When shopping for toys, look
for different colours, sizes, shapes, sounds and textures. Between
five and seven months your baby will show more interest in what
they can do with a toy. If your baby is anything like mine they’ll love
to bang - the louder the better! Give a baby a block and they will
bang it on the floor, replace this with a spade and they will bang
this on the floor, offer them a toy doll…you guessed it - bang!
While your baby’s first words are still a few months away
they’ll begin to experiment with different sounds. ‘Conversational’
games are fantastic for extending their verbal repertoire as well as
teaching infants about give-and-take. Watch how your baby tries
to mimic what you say and ‘joins in’ conversations. Asking your
baby questions and responding enthusiastically to their answers
makes them feel valued. Babies also love to be read to - choose
books that are simple, featuring bright pictures of people, animals
or places and including simple rhythmic stories.
MILESTONES
play materials
supported)
l Stands supported
l Reaches for and
grasps objects
l Mouths and
manipulates objects
l Passes objects
between hands
l Mimics expressions
l Smiles at other
babies
l Turns to the direction
of sound
l Recognises own
name
l Looks for objects that
are dropped
books
l Soft blocks
l Teething toys for
chewing
l Mirrors
l Rattles
l Play gyms
l Toys that have
varied textures and
sound
l Washable soft toys
l Musical toys
(ones your baby can
activate)
l Recorded singing
and music
l Rolls over
l Sits up (usually
Lamaze
Octotunes
$39.99
GREAT TOYS
ELC Blossom
Farm Book
Buddy $20
l Cloth balls
l Cloth and board
ELC Blossom
Farm Chirpy
Chicken $50
photography: elc photo library
ys
homemade pto
r x A4 size pieces of
picture book – cut out fou
H Make a lift-the-fla
ls or faces of some
photos of favourite anima
hard cardboard, glue on
coloured cotton
y’s life. Cut up pieces of
special people in your bab
the fabric over the
e
Tap
.
size than the photos
fabric – slightly larger in
in the cardboard
es
hol
e
som
e only. Punch
photo above the top edg
make a book.
together with string to
and fasten all four pieces
er different pieces
y mat by sewing togeth
H Make your own sensor
trasting colours,
con
, velvet, felt). Choose
of fabric (e.g., denim, silk
ke a soft ball
ma
to
ces
pie
use the fabric
patterns and textures. Or
n fasten securely.
stuffing and a bell – the
– double stitch, fill with
www.bumpmag.com.au 49
playtime
6 TO 12 MONTHS
Your baby has become quite the little scientist – the world is
now full of things to discover! Watch how they investigate by
pushing, pulling, banging, tasting and dropping. Older babies love
putting things in and out of containers and ‘posting’ objects (my
grandmother looked for her false teeth for three days!) Your 10
month old will spend increasing amounts of time playing with the
one toy and will prefer new toys to familiar ones. Crawling gives
them more freedom to reach and explore objects as does walking
when it happens (usually between 10 and16 months). Placing
special toys just beyond their reach can encourage crawling. Some
babies never crawl – you may find yours to be very adept at rolling,
‘commando’ crawling or shuffling around on their bottom.
During these next few months, your baby will begin to
produce her first words - unfortunately no amount of coaching will
guarantee ‘mum’ is the first (although it’s worth a try!) She will learn
about cause-and-effect - toys that respond to the push of a button
are usually popular. Between the ages of nine and 12 months, your
baby may begin to enjoy simple games: dropping toys or food from
a high chair is always a good one! She may also enjoy watching
and sharing in adult activities like talking on the
phone and vacuuming. Including your baby in your
everyday activities will be fun for both of you – most
babies love being sat up in the highchair so they can
watch you prepare dinner and ‘chat’ while you work.
MILESTONES
ELC Wobble
Toddle Ride $90
play
materials
l Sits and crawls
l May start walking
l Drinks from a cup
l Claps and waves
l Loves games like
GREAT TOYS
l Board and
peek-a-boo
l May be wary of
strangers
l Displays affection
through hugs/kisses
l Will hold out toy for
another person
l Understands “no”
l Responds to one or
two commands
l Lifts arms to be
picked up
l Babbles (bababa,
mamama)
l First real word may
appear
activity books
l Bath books/toys
l Stacking toys
l Nesting toys
l Toy telephones
l Pop-up toys (toys
that respond to
children’s actions)
l Wooden blocks
l Lightweight colourful
balls of different sizes
l Paddling pool
(always under adult
supervision)
l Toy animals
l Push-a-long toys that
baby can hold on to
l Outdoor toys and
baby swings
ELC Wooden
Bricks with
Calico bag $40
ELC
Wooden
Stacker $25
de toys g cornflour, water and food colourings.
homeyouma
r own finger paints usin
H Make
p your baby down to her
pieces of paper and stri
Spread out some large
well as herself (it’s
painting on the paper as
nappy. Let her have fun
mouth!)
the
in
s
tter how much goe
natural so it doesn’t ma
Raid your Tupperware
n.
isio
erv
sup
er
ter play und
H Older babies love wa
nt sizes. Fill a large
measuring cups of differe
cupboard for beakers and
You can use this
.
fun
ra
food colouring for ext
bucket with water, add
ation. Include
flot
and
e
um
vol
the concepts of
opportunity to explore
(sponges, plastic plate).
spoons, keys) and float
items that will sink (metal
ELC Bath pour
and play $20
Dr Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett is a lecturer in the Institute of Early Childhood at Macquarie University, NSW
50
www.bumpmag.com.au