From playing Mozart in the womb to teaching infant sign language, numerous approaches exist to stimulate your baby’s development. However, nurturing pre-reading skills provides a foundational advantage. Parents have intuitively employed methods now supported by modern science for millennia to foster healthy brain development. These time-tested techniques remain invaluable:
Sing to your baby. Babies and toddlers are drawn to rhythm and rhyme, and especially the comfort of your voice.
Talk to your baby. Engage in conversation even when your baby is very young, as if they comprehend your words. Enhance your message with gestures, body language, and varied tones to maintain their focus.
Imitate your baby. Mirror your baby’s first attempts at vocalization. This reinforces their sense of importance and stimulates language development.
Play “where’s the…?” games. Ask your baby to locate their toes, fingers, or nose, then gently touch them.
Touch your baby. Cuddle your baby while talking, singing, or reading. These early experiences create positive associations between warmth, security, and language.
Introduce books early. Around six weeks old, you can begin sharing books with your baby. Select visually stimulating, tactile books with recognizable images like animals or familiar objects. Durable books designed for interaction, such as “touch-and-feel” books or fabric “Quiet Books” with engaging textures, are excellent choices. Keep reading sessions brief and enjoyable for both you and your baby.