Plan of Early Learning Activities
The first three years of life is a window of opportunity in a child’s development that should not be missed.
Following a program or just undertaking limited activities during this critical period of development brings benefits to both parents and child. Of these the most important things that a child or infant needs are your love, care and support.
It is very important to provide your baby and infant with attention, encouragement and unconditional support at every stage of their development. Make sure you take care of their needs promptly. You can’t spoil a baby; you will just make them confident, happy and build trust.
A lot is learnt in the first 3 years of life; how their bodies work and what they can do, about people, objects and how things work, how to communicate and relate to others, and, they develop complex thinking skills – all through play.
Detailed below are suggestions and timing for activities that can be undertaken after birth:
| Period |
Activity |
| From Birth |
- A good time to carry out many of these activities is when you feed, change nappies, clean your baby or even bathtime (this is normally a time when you have their attention).
- Breastfeed for as long as you possibly can, or until baby wants to stop.
- Visual stimulation, should be contrasting i.e. black & white images (try early maths flashcards).
- Talk, sing and read to your new baby.
- Play music – use of melodic tunes: nursery rhymes, classical music etc.
- Massage and cuddles, infants love skin-to-skin contact and the safety and ‘warmth’ of cuddles and the touch of gentle massage. (breastfeeding is designed for this).
- Share plenty of face-to-face contact; baby is now intent on getting to know more about you! (breastfeeding is designed for this).
|
| 2 to 4 months |
- Maths flashcards; you can start with simple maths cards that will help to develop visual pathways.
- Colour stimulation; images should be bright and contrasting.
- Books with large bright images or designs are also available in many materials; vinyl, cloth, paper, hard card. Books are very useful; they can be read, looked at, touched and even chewed!
- Play games with their fingers, i.e. let them grip your fingers and pull gently.
- Sing and share rhymes and traditional verses; this will really help speech and language in the longer term.
|
| 4 months + |
- Start language tapes or CDs (can be background)
- Read books together, explain the words or content and describe the pictures.
- Tell your favourite stories
- Continue onto the full maths programme and start with other forms of image stimulation.
- Give baby lots of different textures to feel; fabrics, bristles of a brush, many books are available that have textured finishes.
- Explain what you are doing, for example when drying your hair, explain the noise of the hairdryer; what it is, how it works etc.
- Count out loud when undertaking tasks, for example when laying the cutlery on the table; how many knives, forks, spoons etc.
- Describe your surroundings or environment; when you ‘wear’ your baby in a carrier you can describe where you are, where you are going etc.
|
| 6 months + |
- Try to help develop gross motor skills; give baby soft hand-held toys, he will be starting to pass objects from hand-to-hand at this time, make sure that they are soft as he may not have full motor control and could hit himself in the face.
- Play games with words and motion such as “pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake”, and “peek-a-boo”.
- Encourage crawling and ‘walking’ activities whilst making sure baby is in a safe environment
|
| 12 months + |
- Try to help further develop motor skills; block stacking, cups, rings, even puzzle games.
- Encourage reading of books and turning of pages; these may now be of favourite TV characters or cars, boats, planes etc.
- Encourage play writing, scribbling and painting·
- Play taking turns games
- Make things with Play Doh, do finger painting, water play, thread beading, encourage any activities that develop hand and eye coordination.
- Ride-on toys develop gross motor skills
|
| 24 months + |
- Play ‘catch’ and football· Walking, running, hopping and pedalling should be encouraged
- Painting and writing should be taking shape, encourage imaginative play
- Visualisation techniques can help creative thinking and problem solving abilities.
- Getting them to try to clothe themselves encourages independence and develops motor skills
- Play musical instruments; drums, tambourines, xylophones etc.
|
It is important that your baby gets used to being around lots of different people (although in the early stages they may not be a very social person!). Do not worry about separation anxiety is a natural response for infants, it is a stage in which they do not like being separated from their mother or parents. This is a normal stage of development.
Buy products that will be useful during this important period of early learning from birth to 3 years
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