Reading exposes baby to a wide vocabulary of words.
If you parent or care for a baby, you have many opportunities for training his developing mind. A lot of products claim to make your baby smarter, but you don't need to buy expensive educational toys to provide a baby with a stimulating learning environment. Free tools are easily accessible, many of which are under your own roof!
Library Books
Libraries are full of baby books that may be borrowed for a limited time at no cost. When you read to a baby, you present a wide range of words and sounds. Dr. Jill Stamm, author of "Bright from the Start," says, "Being exposed to new and more words and objects increases a child's concept development...reading also exposes your child to different emotional tones and feelings connected with the words."
Kitchen Items
Pots and pans, wooden spoons and plastic containers can become learning tools for a curious baby. Babies can explore these items and learn cause and effect. Allow baby to make noise with the pots and a spoon. Teach baby stack or nest the plastic containers. He will learn basic principles such as gravity (the stacked containers fall down) and size (large containers will not fit into small ones).
Online Radio
Tuning into free children's music through Pandora (pandora.com) or Live365 (live365.com) is not only fun for baby, but it also teaches him opposites like longer and shorter, soft and loud, fast and slow. Around nine months of age, babies may begin to respond to the rhythm of music by clapping and marching.
Photo Albums
Babies love to look at pictures of faces. When you look at photos of friends and family together, baby learns early visual discrimination, which means he will begin to notice the differences between people in his life.
Small Blankets
Baby's blanket, or another small cloth from around the house, can be used to play a classic game of peek-a-boo. Dr. Stamm says this game teaches object permanence, the idea that people and things still exist, even when they can't be seen.
Colored Socks
Using pairs of different colored socks, you can help an older baby learn to categorize objects. Show baby two socks that match and allow him to study them for a few moments. Then switch one of the socks with another sock of a different color so he can recognize the differences.
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