I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely fall we are having and that you are spending lots of time outdoors enjoying the splendid fall colours. Today I would like to talk about the necessity of movement for the development of babies’ brains.
When babies are born, their brain is full of billions of neurons (the brain cells). But these neurons have not made significant pathways yet. Compared to adults’ brains, we have far fewer neurons but we have made millions of pathways in our brains that contribute to our habits, emotions and actions.
Connections and pathways basically means learning. And babies need to be able to move and explore their involvement to learn. Babies come hardwired with certain reflexes that encourage movement.
So how do you provide the best environment for your babies learning and thus, creating more pathways in the brain? It is actually quite easy.
- Create a space with lots of different textures for sensory learning, like soft plush toys, blankets with tags and squishy things, and wooden objects that fit into different shape containers.
- Create a place where they can get messy, touching different textures like finger painting, playing with slim, and blocks.
- Ensure the space has plenty of room for you baby to roll around, kick and squirm, scooting and crawling and eventually walking. The best place for all this movement is on the ground so make sure this environment is safe.
- Create a book reading area with lots of textures books, books with lots of pictures and be sure to sit with them and read to them.
I hope you get the idea here. If you Google this question, you will find lots of great ideas online. The most important thing not to do is have your baby in car seats or rocking/vibrating chairs all day long. They won’t develop the musculature they need to be able to sit-up, crawl and walk later. Not only is the brain developing but their muscular body as well. Encourage sitting up on couches and on the floor. And again, allowing them to move their hands to reach, or shake and squirm, and eventually rolling over are all necessary to build both body and brain.
As a rhythmic movement trainer, I can provide you with lots of valuable information and insight if you find your baby is not reaching important movement milestones. Please reach out if you have any questions regarding any of my columns. I can be reached at lisabrmt@outlook.com or at brainaechitects.ca.
