In the first 3 months of your baby’s life, a lot is going on behind the scenes to ensure the smooth and exciting development of all of your baby’s 5 senses. The good news for us parents is that there is lots that can be done to stimulate and encourage the development of each of them. At Priya & Peanut, we have designed baby toys that make it easy and fun to stimulate all 5 senses as part of your everyday routine.
The toy we want to focus on for this post is our High Contrast Sensory Flashcards. An easy way to think of our flashcards would be like your baby’s ticket to a little place called brain fun! Presenting your baby with high contrast visualisation is truly amazing in the way that it gives them that all important brain stimulation that they need to grow, learn and develop. All of this cool stuff can be done through a really simple concept - our hand-held flashcards!
But we don’t just want you to take our word for it. As this is at the core of what we do here at Priya & Peanut, we wanted to dedicate a post to all of the research and studies that support just how incredible high contrast flashcards are in all the magic and wonder they can create for your newborn baby and beyond…
Let’s find out how!
My baby’s vision 0-3 months
According to expert research, in the first 3 months of your baby’s life, they can focus on objects that are 8-12 inches away. Babies see objects, faces and other things best from this distance; which makes perfect sense as it’s just the right distance for gazing up into our eyes during cuddles, feeding or nursing.
Your baby’s eyes are quite sensitive to bright light, so don’t worry if they don’t do much looking around for long periods of time to begin with; you may find that they are more likely to do most of their looking around during lower light.
Research has proven that by stimulating and engaging your baby’s developing sight you are helping their brain to develop…
How does stimulating their vision make my baby’s brain develop?
For this, we wanted to give you some in-depth knowledge on just how this works!
Studies show that as your baby grows, their brain receives input from all the five senses. “This input causes nerve cells to multiply and form a multitude of connections with other nerve cells…” Expert research suggests that this is why visual stimulation is so crucial. The expert advice goes on to say that: “If a baby is kept blindfolded the visual centre in his brain would never develop, the optic nerve would shrivel up, and baby would never develop vision. On the other hand, if you provide continuous visual input into baby’s eyes, the retina thrives, the optic nerve grows, and the visual part of baby’s brain thrives and develops by leaps and bounds.”
All of this amazing stuff happens without us or baby even realising it and the brilliant thing is that we can aid this development so easily with the right stimulation - high contrast stimulation!
Why is bold and high contrast visual stimulation best?
Bold, high contrast visuals stimulate the development of the optic nerves and encourage baby’s cognitive development which is all part of brain development. Research shows that black and white visuals particularly register powerfully on baby’s retina and send the strongest visual signals to their brain.
By using our High Contrast Flashcards, you will be teaching your baby’s muscles of the eyes and the brain to coordinate and function properly. Research has also found that engagement with contrasting images, diverse textures and patterns boosts your baby’s learning and focus.
Our Priya & Peanut Sensory Flashcards boast high contrast designs, colours and patterns. You can begin to use the cards from around 12-18 inches away to encourage your baby’s gaze to follow the movement, which all leads to developing their vision and ultimately, their brain development.
How & when can I start using high contrast flashcards with my baby?
There is no doubt that the first few months of your baby’s life will be spent feeding and sleeping, but the fun is still there to be had; the good news is that you can start using our flashcards straight away!
You can start by holding your High Contrast Flashcards the recommended distance away from their face and you can even safely attach them to their bouncers or play mats etc.
As your baby grows, our High Contrast Sensory Flashcards cater for those more developed needs from 3 months+ where you can start to introduce some light and fun learning!
Let the brain development begin and enjoy!
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