Play and Development Guide

Babies and children learn about the world through their senses.

Through Sight your baby/child will learn to:

• Develop hand eye co-ordination
• Develop physical skills

• Judge how far away objects are

You can make your child's world rich in visual sights by:

• Placing a colourful mobile over your baby's change tables
• Playing near bright coloured objects or lights
• Playing games like 'Peek-a-boo' & 'Round and Round the Garden'
• Passing or throwing a ball to her

Sound and voices will help your baby/child to:

• Tell one sound from another
• Recognise familiar voices and sounds that sooth and stimulate
• Attach a feeling to a sound
• Learn words and how to have conversations

• Develop thinking and intelligence

 You can make your child's world rich in sound by:

• Talking with them about the everyday things you're doing
• Making music with household objects
• Singing songs and rhymes
• Reading to them
• Playing music

Through Taste your baby/child will learn to:

• Speak
• Feel secure and comforted
• Develop an awareness of food
• Develop hand eye co-ordination

• Recognise hunger and fullness

You can provide your child with opportunities to mouth, chew, lick & suck by:

• Offering foods with a variety of tastes, textures and shapes
• Allowing them to suck their fingers or toes
• Providing safe objects to suck/teeth on

 Through Smell your baby/child will learn to:

• Attach a feeling to a smell

• Feel safe and comforted

Expose your child to a variety of:

• Familiar cooking smells
• Food smells and herbs
• Familiar body smells

• Garden smells

Touch & Movement will help your baby/child to:

• Develop feelings
• Develop thinking skills
• Develop physical skills
• Relax and settle

• Grow

You can provide lots of touch and movement through:

• Cuddles and massages
• Rocking and patting games
• Clapping, tickling games

• Feeling a variety of textured materials

Parents Learning About You (PLAY)

A series of 4 videos for parents of children of 0 to 5 year olds.  This series looks at how everyday activities can be used to enhance a child's development.  The program includes different ways children play. how children learn language and communication skills through play, and how parents can assist children to learn new skills.

Ordering PLAY series.

Download the Play and Development Guide.

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