One of the wonderful opportunities given to new parents is the chance to play with their babies and to observe them while they play alone. A baby's
play has a serious purpose. During play, your baby develops his physical, cognitive, emotional, and social skills. Play is also critical to the formation of his identity and personality. But by its nature, play is voluntary and spontaneous, not imposed by you as a parent. You can make suggestions about play, but often your child will invite you to play. Play gives you and baby an opportunity to get to know and grow with each other.
How play develops
From birth your baby has the potential to explore and find out about the world through her body and her senses. Play starts shortly after birth with the stimulation of your babys senses during those first brief periods of bright-eyed, quiet alertness when your baby is very responsive to sights, sounds, and movement.
Research shows that babies are more interested in the human face than any other object. Babies are also especially attracted to the sound of the human voice. Most of all, a baby recognizes and responds in a special way to his mother's voice. So, in the beginning, you are more fascinating to your baby than any toy.
Entertaining play can begin with face-to-face interactions. A baby loves to look at your face and will respond even more to your exaggerated facial expressions: a big smile, wide eyes, an open mouth, frowns, yawns, or dancing lip movements. You can mimic your baby's expressions back to him, and soon he will imitate your expressions. Mirroring and exaggerating your baby's expressions will make you both smile, and the exchange helps develop your baby's awareness of himself as a separate entity.
The sound of your voice talking, singing, or cooing as you make entertaining faces will delight your baby even more. He will eventually respond with smiles, wriggles of delight, squeaks, squeals, coos and other sounds of his own. A mother can instinctively use her voice and facial movements as instruments to strike a variety of notes and make playful, rhythmic music for her baby. By stimulating the senses of sight and sound at the same time, she ensures the baby will be more actively engaged and learn more than if only one sense is stimulated. So vocalizing, touching, and smiling together provide a richer experience for you and your baby.
Stimulate the senses
Although you are the star performer at the centre of your baby's world, there are many ways to engage his senses. The senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell are the first windows through which your baby gets to know his environment and the most important people in it. By encouraging the development of his senses, you stimulate his cognitive or intellectual growth.
You can create a lively environment for your baby with stimulating sights and sounds. Babies are attracted to strongly contrasting patterns, like checkerboards and stripes, and designs that are bold and bright. Decorate your baby's room with this in mind when you are selecting wallpaper, quilts, and playthings.
Take your cues from your baby about how much stimulation is right for his particular temperament. When he's had enough, he'll look away or turn his head. If a baby is overstimulated, he may cry.
