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Newborn Play

© Angela Ford

Perhaps it was the chronic, bone-chilling exhaustion, but my newborn seemed almost magical-helpless, yet surprisingly alert. When the tummy is full, the bum is dry and the body is rested, newborns are busy looking, listening, and learning about their new world.

Babies are hard-wired to learn. If parents understand the wiring a little better, we can target early play to help our newborns learn and develop. Following are some ways for you to begin playing with your newborn. Remember though that it is easy to overstimulate a newborn. Keep the play gentle and playtime short-just a few minutes at a time is probably plenty.

Vision

Vision is one of the most primitive senses at birth-newborns can only focus about 8 inches away, and their sight is two dimensional. But vision develops quickly, and it is remarkably important to the child’s developing brain. In her book What’s Going On in There?, Lise Eliot remarks: “Because vision develops so quickly and so dominates human sensory experience, it soon becomes the major means through which children learn about the people and properties of their world.” Here are some ideas to stimulate your baby’s developing sense of vision.

Bold patterns with strong contrast

Newborns are attracted to the edges of patterns where the light and dark meet. “Babies tend to look at the edges of shapes, so your baby is likely to scan your hairline rather than gaze into your eyes” says Bill Bobier, head of the paediatric and special needs clinic at the University of Waterloo's School of Optometry, speaking to Today’s Parent Online Magazine.

Start with simple shapes-squares, circles, and bold black and white face shapes. Post these shapes by the change table, or cut them out and make a “Nursery Novel,” a little book made up of different patterns. Notice as her eyes examine the edges and her brain learns to process simple visual information. For Infant Stimulation Graphics that you can print on your computer, visit the Oh Baby! website at http://www.envisagedesign.com/ohbaby/inf...

Making Faces

Perhaps the most intriguing object for newborns is Mommy or Daddy’s face. Try to catch your baby’s attention and make a face-stick out your tongue, make an ‘o’ with your lips, or raise and lower your eyebrows. Newborns can mimic your expression. Remember to vary the expression: new babies have very short attention spans.

Moving Objects

Vision involves the complex process of tracking objects as they move through space. Lay your baby on your lap. Take a toy, small picture, or your hand and slowly move it in arc from your baby’s left to right, then back again. You’ll notice that newborns cannot track the object as it moves across their centre line-this will develop in the first few months.