A great way to build those neuron connections in the brain is to allow your baby to feel different textures against her skin. Our skin is our largest organ and it has a large representation in the brain, so by stimulating your baby’s sense of touch with lots of different textures, you are stimulating a large part of his brain.
Here are some tips:
- Remove her clothes and let her crawl and roll around on the floor in just her diaper.
- Put different blankets, silk scarves, flannel sheets, and fluffy towels on the floor under her for different sensations.
- When you are outside allow her to put her feet in the grass.
- Allow her to touch things with her hands, such as the bark of a tree, the smooth counter top, and the crunchy leaves in the fall.
- Talk to her as she experiences different textures, “Does that feel smooth or rough? Do you like the sand?”
- Splash in the bathtub and trickle water over her skin as you say her body parts.
- After the bath, dry her whole body with a course towel, saying her body parts as you dry them, linking two senses together.
- Give her a massage.
- Blow raspberries on her belly.
References:
Aamodt, S. & Wang, S. (2011). Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College. Bloomsbury, NY.
Healy, J. (1994). Your Child’s Growing Mind. A practical Guide to Brain Development and Learning From Birth to Adolescence. Doubleday.
Kranowitz, C. (1998). The Out of Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Skylight Press.