How to Nurture Your Baby’s Curiosity

Nurturing Baby's Curiosity

Interactive Ways To Encourage Baby’s Curiosity With Objects

From birth to 2 months, baby’s tiny hands are usually found clenched in fists. According to this parents.com article, How Baby’s Hand Skill Develops, by 3 to 4 months baby “has developed enough muscle coordination to get a grip on small objects placed in front of him.” Free, wiggly fingers combined with a new curiosity may mean you have a “new” baby on your hands; one that is far more interested in objects now than he was a month ago.

Does baby poke her finger into all available cracks and crevices to confirm visually what the hand exploration suggests? With a growing appreciation for the shapes of objects, your baby is now fascinated with holes and openings. Most likely she also turns small objects all around to search for irregularities that would have gone unnoticed not long ago. Now is a great time to stoke your baby’s curiosity and teach her how using her hands can create a whole new world of fun and learning.

Activities for Baby’s New Curiosity

  • Drop toys one by one into a shoebox. At playtime, show your baby how you can drop toys one by one into a shoebox, and then take them out again. He will be fascinated by this game. Present the box of toys to him and invite him to reach in and take one out. Then by example, teach him to pick a toy from the floor and drop it into the box. Dropping is an exciting new skill for baby! This should cause him to fill and empty the box over and over again once he has learned how.
  • Make new games for baby with kitchen items. You can make your own containers with coffee cans and lids with holes cut out. A slightly more difficult variation is to drop a spoon into a cup. She will have to be more careful of the position of her hand before letting go. The satisfying jingle of the spoon in the cup, and your smile of approval, will be reward enough to keep her trying. An old teapot makes an excellent container for several small toys and poses a greater challenge in getting the objects out since they cannot all be removed by a simple tipping or dumping of the pot.
  • Leave a new object in a place baby will see. Another way to stimulate your baby’s curiosity is to leave a small paper bag containing a toy in a spot where she’ll be able to see it. Notice how soon she comes to investigate the bag and how quickly she looks inside. At 3-4 months, taking a few moments each day to try a new activity (or repeat an old one) will be time well spent. Helping baby enjoy this new development will bring great satisfaction to both baby and parent. Enjoy this stage of baby’s development; soon enough, he’ll be moving on to something new!

Kids ‘R’ Kids believes that happy, loved, connected children are destined for success in every facet of their lives. Our most cherished principle, “Hug First, Then Teach,” defines every aspect of who we are at Kids ‘R’ Kids. When it comes to teaching, Kids ‘R’ Kids understands the importance of involving families with their child’s developmental milestones and accomplishments. We hope you will drop by for a tour at one of our 12 locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. You will find a list of our locations on www.dfwkidsrkids.com.

 

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