How to Develop Your Baby’s Brains Through Play

Eyinade Eweje

Engaging your baby in play is instrumental to laying the appropriate foundation for all-round development and facilitating speedy acquisition of motor, cognitive, social and language skills, amongst others. Find tips to keep you on track:

1.Enjoy The Bonding Process

As your baby’s eyes develop, she’ll love focusing on faces. So, when she’s awake, hold your face close and engage her through facial expressions. Diaper change time is a great opportunity for this. When he frowns, opens his mouth widely, coos or grimaces, mimic his expressions and exaggerate them.

2. Baby Talk “Motherese”

Talking to your baby regularly as if he can speak already from birth onwards develops his communication skills. Studies say apart from being a baby’s first speech lesson, it also shapes listening skills acquisition. Tell him what you’re doing, “I’m changing your diaper,” “Look at daddy, he’s preparing your lunch,” “I’m making a cup of tea,” and so on. Use facial gestures and upbeat tones (motherese) even if all you get in response is a blank face, smile, leg kicking, gurgles, grunts, cooing or babbling. Imitate and exaggerate his responses while you talk. It might appear a monologue, but with every word he hears, your baby is developing fresh brain connections.

3. Tummy Time

Place him on his belly for at least 15 minutes daily to play while you supervise. Shake a rattle, which is ideal to hone his visual and auditory coordination, in front of him and get him to look up and attempt reaching out for it. This strengthens his neck and upper back muscles, facilitates head control, crawling, standing, rolling over, sitting, walking, as well as other fine and gross motor skills.

4. Exploring and Cruising

We sometimes wish our crawling, cruising or walking babies were less active so we wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble keeping them from harm’s way. The truth, however, is babies need to move around and explore their environment as much as they can to discover the world around them. They do this through their senses of touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste. So, baby-proof your home and allow your baby explore safe areas and objects both indoor and outdoor under your supervision.

5. Play Gyms and Activity Toys

These interactive toys are fun and great for introducing your baby to the world of colours and shapes as well as developing his visual discrimination and motor skills. They help your baby develop the ability to maintain focus on moving objects, control the direction of his gaze and tempt him to reach out to touch, grasp, squeeze or stroke.

6. Looking Around

Babies catch plenty of fun looking at things in their environment that might appear insignificant to adults like the blender at work in the kitchen, cars zooming across the street, trees blown by wind, movements in the aquarium, and so on. These elicit curiosity which aids improved brain function. Instead of putting him in front of the TV, fascinate him by visually stimulating him with everyday activities in and around your home. Have other kids over, take walks in your neighborhood, take him shopping while pushing him around in a pushcart, there’ll be lots of fascinating things for him to look at.

7. Songs, Rhymes, Music, and Dance

Infant researchers say singing affects a baby’s brain center for language more than ordinary words do. So, note your baby’s favourite rhymes and songs and make it a habit to sing or play them to his hearing repeatedly. Don’t forget to move him to the rhythm. You just might raise a terrific dancer.