Continued Discovery through Mature Senses
While your baby’s sensory system will continue to evolve as she grows up, at 12 months her senses are well matured and capable of processing information for all your baby’s age-appropriate needs.The Importance of Parental Guidance
Your baby’s mature senses enable her to accurately understand a wealth of information, but her inexperience causes her to overlook noteworthy information. Therefore, parental involvement is ever so important: call your baby’s attention to differences and similarities between shapes, sounds, sensations, flavors and smells.
Milestones
- Most of the elements of eyesight – such as sharpness, tracking and scanning – are now nearly as mature as an adult’s.
- Baby now acquires permanency of size and shape.
Tiny Tips
- Turn mealtime into a learning session: allow your baby to dig in and eat with her hands. As messy as it may seem, freedom at the dinner table is probably the best sensory inspiration.
- Share your pleasures and joys with your baby – your favorite tune, the scent of a rose or chocolate ice cream. This reinforces the idea that our world offers much pleasure and is there for everyone to see, taste, smell and touch.
- Expand your baby’s horizons with a wide variety of toys and make sure to include some toys that play music or make sounds.