Name Recognition

Helping children to recognize and learn their name can be part of everyday tasks. You can start pretty early with talking to them about their name around 12 months. Having the letters of their name on the wall above the changing table has really helped me. Every time I changed Noah's diaper we would look at his name and talk about it. Pretty soon he had the letters memorized(only 4 letters) and now he recognizes his name on paper and we will be work on writing it next. You can make up fun chants to help them remember and let them decorate their name. You can use cheerios, marshmallows, buttons, candy,etc for a fun way to learn their name.

Paper plate crafts

I love to make crafts with stuff around the house like paper plates. I made a winter snowman with my kids at school and the directions can be found at www.enchantedlearning.com Just type in snowmen into search. This is an awesome website!! I made mine out of two paper plates, pipe cleaners, and fun craft materials from Dollar Tree. I definitely can get in trouble there. Love that place. Get creative with leftover cartons, paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls,etc. Kids love to create out of simple things!!

Infant Sensory Play

This activity is one that we did at the Parenting Cottage and is good for the 4-6 month range. Infants at this age really start to explore with their mouth and hands. This is called a Pat Mat. Great activity for Tummy Time. Basically it's a ziploc bag filled with different objects and water. I just grabbed some blocks but bright colored toys and even glitter works well. You can double bag and tape top to keep water from leaking.Your child can explore with all their senses. Look with their eyes, feel with their hands, hear the water with their ears, and even pull to their mouth to explore. Once their grip is strong enough to tear bag then they are too old for this.

Different ways to incorporate senses:

Sight- black and white images up to 4 months and bright colors and pictures after that( around 4 months they develop same color vision as adults)

Touch-Provide many different textures, touchy feely books, give common safe objects to grasp around house. Providing your baby with your touch is also very important.

Hear-Provide many different sounds-soft and loud to help refine their hearing. Providing soft noises like whispers are an important way to test hearing informally.

Smell-Their sense of smell is actually the most developed sense at birth but you can provide them with a shirt with your smell to comfort them. Research also says that smells like lavender, vanilla or a cake baking makes your baby happier!!