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Play for “special” babies
Play has no goals only enjoyment!
It has a major impact on your child’s development of movement, their experience of the world and social and communication skills.
The first 2 years of life is characterized by "sensor motor" play. This is practice play helping to control movements and coordination (particularly of eyes and hands), and to learn about their environment.
The first four months are about looking and listening. Your baby interacts with you by gazing at you, watching you then following you. You might find that your premature baby is more visually alert than a term baby and is more wakeful. They often like background noise from a musical toy or radio as they have got used to the bustle on SCBU. It takes a few weeks for accurate vision to develop in any baby so
bright, high colour contrast hanging toys and mobiles are good. But your baby enjoys faces and voices
and will after a few weeks start cooing at you. Singing and talking to your baby encourages eye contact,
vocalization, focusing and attention and eventually turn taking as you speak and they listen then copy sounds and facial expressions.
It is important that your baby experiences play in different positions so they learn to control movements and coordinate their arms and legs in preparation for sitting and walking.
Playing on their back on the floor lying on a mat/towel/sheet helps develop strength in the abdominal or tummy muscles and gives them opportunity to discover their hands and feet (sensory play). It is important that your baby experiences
play on their tummy for short periods to develop strength in their back muscles and to help them get ready to crawl. Some babies don’t like this position as they find it hard work to start with. Using water mats, playing with them across your knee and lying on your chest, or using a small rolled up towel under their chest often helps.
A baby seat helps your baby look around and play with baby gyms. Always use the straps and place them on the floor.
You may notice that your baby likes being stood up on their feet. It is not unusual in premature babies and although it is not abnormal we do not encourage it as it limits the learning of other skills. Likewise
we do not advocate the use of baby walkers. They encourage extended postures and tiptoe walking and contrary to popular opinion do not help your baby to balance and walk, they may actually delay independent walking. They can also be dangerous as babies have fast, easy access to hazards e.g. stairs, hot pans, poisons.
Circular play zones, exer-saucers and play pens offer contained environments allowing your baby to play safely and learn necessary skills for sitting, standing and walking.
So, over the next few months your baby will learn to roll, sit up then pull to stand.
It is a time of exploration! When younger your baby will have grasped a rattle but not been able to coordinate hands and eyes and will soon have dropped it. Now your baby will
realize he is holding something and enjoy the reward of shaking it. They soon learn to pass objects from hand to hand and will then learn to use both hands to play. Your baby will enjoy playing with your face as well as enjoying games like
"this little piggy", pat-a-cake and banging toys together. Rattles, stacking beakers, rain makers, mirror and musical toys encourage eye hand coordination and two-handed play.
Your baby will continue to explore and learn by mouthing and manipulating toys. Both the hand and mouth are sensitive and your baby learns about different concepts egg. soft, hard, textures, noise, cause and effect. Your baby also learns to use different grasps and will start picking up toys with thumb and first finger. Pop-up toys and pull-along toys help develop these skills.
Your baby begins to develop their understanding through this sensory play e.g. of body parts, direction, preposition (on, in, over), object permanence (realizing a toy is still there even when it is out of sight).
Stacking beakers, posting toys, helter skelters and pop-up toys as well as encouraging hand skills help develop these concepts as you
build up, knock over, put in and on. Anticipatory games like hide-e-boo
establish object permanence, attention and turn taking.
Songs are excellent for introducing many of these concepts and for
encouraging tuneful babble egg. Head , shoulders, knees and toes (body
parts), Wind the bobbin up( direction, pointing, familiar objects), The Grand
Old Duke of York (Movement and direction), Miss Polly had a dolly (actions,
familiar objects) |
