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Stimulation is any sort of activity that causes a baby’s sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell to activate. These senses are crucial to a babies development. The earlier you start arousing them, the earlier your beautiful baby progresses!

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Considering babies gain information through their senses, the effect that these kind of growth is pretty important. Sensory experience and growth can be therapeutic for them, improve their motor skills, raise awareness on how the world works, and help with language acquisition.

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Sensory growth begins in the womb. By the time they are 12 months, the baby's life is full of sensory advancements. Sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste all develop faster during the first 12 months of life than during any time thereafter. An example of this would be with nursing. Just minutes after birth, a baby can show preference to milk and which they would rather drink!

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The baby can hear the different sounds and feel the plushness. They could also taste how soft the toy is

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The baby can hear the different sounds and feel the plushness. They could also taste how soft the toy is

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The baby can feel the different toys and see the different colors

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The baby can feel the different toys and see the different colors

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For more information, visit these sites!

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For more information, visit these sites!

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This article gives a further explanation on sensory development and how sensory development continues on in our lives. They also discuss how sensory development prepares them for the world.

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Infants and young children vary greatly in their sensitivity to feelings of comfort and discomfort, familiarity and strangeness, and the emotional context in which sensory experiences occur. This article will help parents and caregivers become more aware of individual differences among babies’ prefe…

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This article gives details ways on why playing and being with your child is crucial to their health and growth. They also include different types of playing and their different affects such as outdoor play, toys and object play, etc.

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More than just a chance to have fun, play is serious business when it comes to a child's health and development. From peek-a-boo to pat-a-cake and hide-and-seek to hopscotch, the many forms of play enrich a child's brain, body, and life in important ways.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical report, The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children, explains how and why playing with both parents and peers is key to building thriving brains, bodies, and social bonds―all important in today's world. Research shows play can improve children's abilities to plan, organize, get along with others, and regulate emotions. In addition, play helps with language, math and social skills, and even helps children cope with stress.

A Prescription for Play

Despite its many benefits, statistics show that the amount of time children get to play has been declining for decades. Tightly structured family and school schedules, more parents working outside the home, fewer safe places to play, and rising media use and screen time are among the reasons. For example, research shows the average preschooler watches 4.5 hours of TV each day!

Age-Specific Ideas for Playful Learning

Learning is best fueled by tapping into a child's natural urge to play, rather than just outside factors like test scores. As they actively engage with and joyfully discover their world, children gain 21st century skills that increasingly call for teamwork and innovation.

Birth to 6 Months

The AAP encourages parents to use play to help meet their child's health and developmental milestones, beginning from birth. Some examples of ways to do this:

Playful learning can start with a baby's first smile. Responding with a smile of your own is a form of play that also teaches a baby a critical social-emotional skill: "You can get my attention and a smile from me anytime you want―just by smiling yourself."

Imitate your baby's coos and babbles and have back-and-forth "conversation" using your baby's sounds as a prompt.

Show your baby interesting objects such as a brightly colored toy. Let her bring safe objects to her mouth to explore and experience new textures.

Place your baby in different positions so he can see the world from different angles.

7 to 12 Months

Make sure your baby has a safe environment to crawl and explore.

Give your baby opportunities to learn that her actions have effects-for example, when she drops a toy and it falls to the ground. Put a few toys within reach of your baby so he can take toys out and play with them.

Use a mirror to show your baby her different facial expressions.

Play peek-a-boo.

When choosing childcare and preschools, look for those that include unstructured playtime. Playful learning, where children take the lead and follow their own curiosity, should be the main focus of high-quality early childhood education.

Give your child blocks, empty containers, wooden spoons, and puzzles. Simple and inexpensive objects are some of the best ways to support a child's creativity. Remember, it is parents and caregivers' presence and attention that enriches children―not fancy electronic gadgets.

Give your child opportunities to play with peers. This is a good age to try a parent-supervised playdate.

Help your child explore her body through different movements-for example, walking, jumping, and standing on one leg.

Provide opportunities for make-believe play-for example, pretending to drink out of an empty cup or offering toys that enable pretend play.

Read regularly to and with your child. Encourage pretend play based on these stories.

4 to 6 Years

Provide opportunities for your child to sing and dance.

Tell stories to your child and ask questions about what he or she remembers.

Give your child time and space to act out imaginary scenes, roles, and activities.

Allow your child to move between make-believe games and reality-for example, playing house and helping you with chores.

Schedule time for your child to interact with friends to practice socializing and building friendships.

Encourage your child to try a variety of movements in a safe environment-for example, hopping, swinging, climbing, and doing somersaults.

Limit screen time to healthy levels. Age-appropriate media can have benefits for older children, especially if you watch and play with them. But real time social interactions and play are much better for children than digital media for learning.

Encourage your child's school to offer recess and playful learning approaches in addition to more structured learning approaches like reading, memorization and worksheets.

Play as a Toxic Stress Buster

In addition to boosting a child's health and development, play helps to build the safe, stable and nurturing relationships that buffer against toxic stress and build social-emotional resilience. The mutual joy and one-on-one interaction that happens during play can manage the body's stress response, according to the AAP. In one study, 3- to 4-year-old children, anxious about entering preschool, were two times more likely to feel less stressed when allowed to play for 15 minutes, compared to classmates who listened to a story.

Remember...

Giving your child plenty of opportunities to play is one of the best ways to help them grow into curious, creative, healthy, and happy adults equipped with the skills they need today. Next time your child asks to play with you, jump at the opportunity! Share the joy of discovery as you connect with each other and the world around you.

Additional Information & Resources

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healthy children magazine~ playtime~ development~ physical coordination~ physical activity~ social skills~ coping mechanisms~ pretend~ learning~ well-being~ anxiety

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The Power of Play - How Fun and Games Help Children Thrive

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More than just a chance to have fun, play is serious business when it comes to a child's health and development. From peek-a-boo to pat-a-cake and hide-and-seek to hopscotch, the many forms of play enrich a child's brain, body, and life in important ways.

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Playing and not playing with your baby can have strong effects on their future. If you are not active or trying to arouse their senses, it can slow their growth progress and decrease their chances of being as intellectually and socially successful. Some ways you can stay active with their senses are reading to them, taking them on walks, getting them sensory activating toys as show above, or even as simple as talking to them to guarantee a sensory developed baby!

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They can touch the toy and see the bright colors

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They can touch the toy and see the bright colors

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1. Playing music for them: Playing music will keep their hearing active and help them develop understanding the different rhythms

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2. Reading to them: Reading pictures books will arouse their vision senses to see the bright pictures and hear the words in the book. This will also make them begin to remember the books pretty well.

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2. Reading to them: Reading pictures books will arouse their vision senses to see the bright pictures and hear the words in the book. This will also make them begin to remember the books pretty well.

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3. Talk to your baby: As you may know, babies are great listeners, so talk to them. Seeing/hearing your different reactions to things will help develop emotions