FSB Author Article
Simple Pleasures: Easy Ways to Stimulate Enjoyment
• Young infants love to become mobile—remember, without your intervention they are stuck in one place. Pick them up, twirl them around, raise them into the air above your head, take them for a walk in the stroller, or just walk around the house with them in your arms. Watch their delight and help them express their enjoyment enthusiastically.
• Stimulate their sensory feelings of touch, hearing, and sight—but gently and without overloading their circuits. Some babies respond with great pleasure to the soft feel of a stuffed animal or their favorite blanket on their cheeks. They may also enjoy certain kinds of music, either recorded or sung to them. Kids also are thrilled with peek-a-boo or any slightly surprising visual game.
• Let your child show you what she likes. From an early age, babies have strong opinions about what brings them enjoyment and what makes them distressed. Although you will, of course, introduce your child to all kinds of new activities and constantly be supplying her with nee information about the world around her, try to give the child enough room to express her desires, her enthusiasms, her opinions about what is fun and what is enjoyable. Keep your eyes open for the signals your child is expressing.
Copyright ©2005 Paul C. Holinger, M.D.