How to invest in Gifts and Toys Geared to Your Child's Development

The average amount the expectant parent spends on parenting and infant products during a child's first year of life is $7,000.00.


So many books on parenting, toys, and products out there, which ones are the best fit for you and the special little individual totally dependent on your care?

You can match gift and toy purchases with the child's early developmental experiences and get the maximum return on your investment. You can also give your child priceless gifts that money cannot buy. These free gifts to your child from you will not only fertilize the garden of thier little lives now, but produce positive fruit to enrich the society they will eventually impact as adults.

This is the first of a series of articles on how to direct your parental buying habits, and time with your child, to receive an instant payback by enhancing your little one's natural process of relating to the world around them.

The best way to get your young infant's attention(0-6 months)is by understanding how the world looks from their eyes, and how their senses are developing. No one is more needy than a newborn. He is absolutely helpless, and dependent on you for all his early shapings.

Pearl Buck once wrote,"...Upon a child in need I now bestow the means of living; Thus in such giving, Life flows into life..." Your life will flow into your baby. Look into his eyes as often as possible and tell him very specific postive affirming things over and over while you are rocking him, changing his diaper, bottle or brest-feeding, etc:

This will sow seeds of affirmation in your baby as he absorbs the loving, soft tone of your voice, the frequent and long eye contact, the gentleness of your touch. Love and bonding will be the fruitful harvest for you both.

During the early days after birth, babies look, listen, suck, and touch. This means that a newborn will respond to a music box with gentle music, a cassette tape of hymns, or a CD with soft "heartbeat" rhythms. Visually, a newborn is drawn to the strong, contrasting colors of red, black, and white. He begins to focus on human facial features and distinguish body odors. He is totally immersed in multisensory experiences.

After the first several weeks of life, a newborn views everything in full color. His body becomes his first toy, as he attempts to stuff his fist in his mouth. He moves from merely recognizing to anticipating familiar people and objects. For example, he learns that when music begins to play, the brightly colored mobile above the crib starts to turn.

Beginning at about two months of age, infants are delighted with their own actions. Kicking a toy mounted on the crib bars will trigger a reaction. An early infant gym toy, whether safely mounted or freestanding, should have two qualities: a simple design, so it is clear that the child has triggered the action, and gentle (not loud, quick, or harsh) effects.

During this time, an infant begins to literally reach out into his world. Visually directed reaching - when a child reaches toward what he is looking at- is a prime developmental milestone during these months. All grasping toys should have simple designs with highly contrasting, colorful features. However, because initial reaching motions are gross (large) and rather uncontrolled, these infant toys should be soft, lightweight, and easy to hold. Too many infants end up crying needlessly because they've banged themselves in the head with hard, plastic rattles.

Young infants put everything though a "mouth test". This means that playthings should be completely washable. Although young infants are increasingly interested in a variety of textures, avoid foam materials which can break off and become choking hazards.

Babies also learn to roll over during this time. A textured blanket with a variety of colors, patterns, and materials provides both visual and tactile stimulation. Strong primary colors are more visually compelling to an infant than pastel colors.

The next article in this series will offer tips for older infants (7-12 months). For additional resources that address the whole parental shaping experience for you and your baby; mental, physical, emotional, and spritual, check out the following websites; www.kingdomcards.com and www.heavenlyresources.com

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