The Secret to Stimulating Your Child’s Intellect

Considering that 75% of your baby’s intellectual growth will occur before the age of 6, it is very important that you begin to stimulate your baby’s mind as soon as they are born. Sights, sounds, smells, and touches – All are extremely influential on a developing mind.  These early inputs and influences help them to learn and grow, no matter what age.  It is very important for a parent to consider creating a stimulating environment for their baby.  A few ways to stimulate your baby’s intellect are as follows.

1. Supply them enough to look at.
Stimulate your baby’s visual sense by surrounding them with color. Place them in a playard such as the Graco Playard so they have many different shapes and colors to look at. Hang a mobile above their playpen or hang colored shapes on the wall.  You might also want to hang a baby-safe mirror on the wall so your baby can recognize themselves.  Whatever you can add to spice up the visual excitement of your baby’s world – the more the better.

2. Supply them lots to listen to.
It is a well-known fact that infants respond to music, even when in the womb – you can play music for them as soon as you’d like.  Rainforest sounds, whistling wind, or rain showers – play a CD of nature sounds to stimulate your child’s sense of hearing. newborns love to be sung to, there is no more beautiful voice on earth to your baby than Mommy’s voice. Also, make sure you allow your newborn to make their own sounds and noises – encourage them to play with rattles or musical toys.  Clap with your baby. The more they explore their own sounds, the more they learn.

3. Give them lots to touch.
Give your infant enough space to roll around or crawl in – you might want to consider a larger size playard, like the Graco Pack n Playard, which gives them enough room to explore the world around them. Play hand games with your baby – paddycake is always a favorite. Bounce and dance with your newborn in your arms or your lap, really involve them in your motion. Let them touch and explore different textures. Different fabrics or toys with different surfaces, for example the toys in the Graco Playard provide many different textures for your newborn to touch. The more you allow your child to touch and feel the world around them, the greater the intellectual stimulation and the greater the learning.

One of the most important aspects of your child’s development is their intellectual stimulation. It is up to you as a parent to provide an environment to your newborn where they can safely explore and learn about the world around them. Give them a vibrant, colorful, visual world to look at. Play them the soothing and stimulating sounds of music and the world around them.  Introduce baby to all the things that they can lay their hands on – different textures and different surfaces.  These things are all an important part of stimulating your child and their mind.