The Five Senses of a Baby.

Your child explores the world using the five senses. She notices the simplicity and loveliness of the everyday.  He notices the things that as adults we walk past and take for granted. She will look, listen, touch, smell and taste with intention. He will experience for the first, second and third time as if there is nothing better in this world than the moment he is in right now. Using the five senses to learn about the world she is living in will connect neurons in the brain building the foundations for later learning and development.

Whether he is mesmerised by his fists, or soothed by the sound of a nursery rhyme or the smell of your skin baby’s sensory explorations are constant. Keep things interesting for her but keep things simple. Try to avoid a lot of sensory stimulation at once; this is overwhelming and perhaps a little scary. Your baby’s first toy is his hands as he feels with his mouth, tasting with his tongue. Then with delight he finds his second toy – his feet.

Provide new sensations for her to experience; look for things in nature and around you rather than for things in a local toy store. Tickle her with a feather, let her smell a flower and play with a wooden spoon.  When it is raining watch the drips fall down the window, listen to the sounds of sticks tapping and provide messy play letting fingers get dirty. Lay him down and take notice of things he is seeing, touching and exploring. Acknowledge and encourage this innate awareness rather than provide another toy which will distract from the original sensory play.

Throughout the early years allowing your child to be continually aware of her surroundings using the five senses will help for your baby to find her own unique place in the world – keep it interesting but remember keep it simple.