The sight may seem to be the easiest of the senses to promote for your little one and the truth is – it is the easiest. After all, you just have to hold things up for them right? The answer to that is yes and no. You see, your toddler doesn’t have your ability to filter out all the background sights to focus on individual objects without some effort. The world is a kaleidoscope of images, colors, shapes and sizes.
You can play games like peek-a-boo to sharpen their acuity for focusing on specific objects. After all, when you are covering your face with your hands, you are telling them that your face is the object to be picked out of all the background.
Another way to sharpen their sense of sight is their reflection. Mirrors are wonderful toys for your little one. In our daughter’s playroom, we put a large wall mirror up for her to play with. She loved to stare at herself, picking out her features and practicing her own expressions. As she got older and more mobile, she would also practice how she looked when she walked, danced, jumped and sat down.
Tinted lenses and colored toys is another way to look at the world around them. Whether it’s 3-D lenses or just a piece of colored crystal, your child will delight at the abstract views, colorfully tinted world and other exciting images to be seen on the other side of the looking glass.
Toddlers love to look at themselves and they love to look at the world around them. They need very little encouragement from you and the great thing about looking — you can do it anywhere and at anytime. You can point things out in the grocery store, in the line at the post office and in the car. Remember that your world-view will change when you see our world through the eyes of a child – there’s nothing more magical.
What else can you do to encourage your child’s sense of sight?
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Baby’s 5 Senses and How They Develop over the First Year