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From 0 to 6 months, babies develop very quickly. They gain muscle tone, offer their first smile, manipulate objects, and even start to grasp them. Consequently, this period is crucial for a child's development. Moreover, certain games are very useful for stimulating awakening as they support the baby in their learning and developmental process. It is a key period in a child's development. Play is essential for a baby's learning.
So, how do you stimulate them?
Discover 4 key tips in this article to share unique moments with your baby.
1/ Play with their senses
Touch, taste, listen, smell,…
During the first 6 months of life, a baby's senses are particularly stimulated. Everything is a first, and everything is an opportunity for discovery. It's as if you were suddenly placed on a new planet. You would rediscover everything, and your senses would be there to help you understand this new environment.
That's why sensory development in newborns is particularly important, as all these daily discoveries will mark their evolution.
Play is the ideal tool, as it helps you capture the baby's attention and allows them to learn.
Carotte & Cie's Gling Gling rattles are a good idea to stimulate baby. With their pretty animal designs, they are comforting for the child. They also contain a small disc that activates when the rattle is shaken. This soft sound stimulates the baby's hearing and activates their senses. Its soft pastel colors and materials are very pleasant to look at and touch. This type of rattle is therefore ideal for stimulating your baby through play.
2/ Encourage exploration
Inviting your child to discover their environment and what surrounds them is a wonderful way to foster their awakening. This allows them to discover their place in their surroundings. And yes, a baby explores by nature. They see, hear, manipulate. Their senses allow them to understand and familiarize themselves with this vast unknown. But play remains a unique, creative, and above all educational experience that reinforces this sense of exploration.
Early learning games allow babies to better connect with their bodies, communicate better, and thus socialize with those around them, as well as improve coordination. In essence, play remains a learning experience through which the baby will learn what life is, what its rules are, where their place is, and how to thrive there.
3/ Create their own space
It is important to let baby make their own discoveries. To do this, you need to create their cocoon, their very own safe space, such as an activity park or an activity mat that can make the space soft and comfortable.
The play mat is a real accessory that allows you to define the play space and, consequently, provides a safe environment for the baby. It is also a tool that allows the child to better master their body, movements, and environment.
The activity mat is also a stimulus. Due to its shape, colors, and sometimes its small accessories, it strengthens the baby's motor and cognitive development.
Take the example of Carotte & Cie's play mats. They are colorful, soft, and plush, and they provide a perfect play space to stimulate the child. But that's not all, it's also convertible. In other words, when your child grows up, they can fold it and use it as a storage basket to store all their toys.
4/ Tell stories
There's no age limit for reading a story to your child. Yes, at 3 or 6 months, your baby probably won't understand your stories, but they will be lulled by the sound and vibrations of your voice, which will soothe them. They will also appreciate the contact of your skin and can begin to familiarize themselves with the colors, textures, and shapes of the book. This moment of intimacy, with or without skin-to-skin contact, will allow them to activate all their senses, and thus awaken a little more each day.
You can tell them beautiful stories to develop their imagination, and when they are a little older and able to manipulate, provide them with pretty contrasting fabric books.
To promote awakening through reading, there's nothing better than these small sensory books made of fabric! Educational, they are ideal for baby's first discoveries, as they are visual, tactile, and auditory.
The books from the Carotte & Cie collection have one colored side and one black and white side that is more contrasted, ideal for the first months of a newborn who perceives colors little but contrasts much more.
I hope these tips will help you. Now that you know the tricks to stimulate your baby through play, all you have to do is put them into practice and marvel at your baby's first times! But don't forget that the best stimulation for awakening is yours. The voice, the smell, the way of communicating, the glances, no activity or game will replace the physical presence of parents, so don't deprive yourself and enjoy it to the fullest!