A baby cannot, of course, tell you what they want for a present yet. But they can make it very clear what they like. With some knowledge of how babies develop and the abilities they have, anyone is guaranteed to be able to find the ideal present for them—one the parents will be delighted with as well.
From the very start, babies are capable of much more than you might expect. Scientists speak of these abilities in terms of the ‘competent infant’, because babies come into the world with all five senses.
This means that babies are not just creatures that react to their environment; they are born with their own interests, and also express these. Babies are therefore capable of making connections right from the beginning. They love faces and can mirror the facial expressions of the person they are looking at. Then, as they get older, they begin to engage in more and more of a dialogue with their social environment. Good toys aid this development and make for an ideal present.
Features of the ideal present for a baby
The perfect present for a baby has no small, loose parts that might be swallowed. Another important condition is that the toy should have no sharp edges or corners that could cause injury to children. And babies love colour! So the ideal present should be in one of the primary colours—red, blue or yellow—in order to arouse their interest. For this reason, colourful wooden toys are the perfect choice. Make sure that, like Selecta’s toys, they are only treated with natural, high-quality water-based colours. Since babies love exploring toys with their mouths, coatings and chemical varnishes should be off-limits.
Encourage babies’ specific capabilities with toys
Colourful and varied games are a great way of inviting babies to explore their environment.
Seeing and perceiving:
In their first few months of life, babies still prefer lying on their backs. This means that they explore their environment using their sense of sight. Colourful baby gyms on the play blanket or colourful mobiles above the cot provide welcome visual variety.
Grasping and feeling:
Especially during their first few months, babies learn about their environment through their sense of touch, as long as Mummy and Daddy treat them with tenderness. But when babies grab and feel things themselves, this helps them to comprehend their environment better and better. Fun grabbing toys and squeaky balls encourage playful ‘tackling’.
Rolling and crawling:
Babies conquer their environment through enthusiastic rolling and crawling. Every day they get a little better at it and revel in their own achievements. Children find figures that wobble or roll especially entertaining.
Babies are naturally curious, and they want to discover their world for themselves. This is why their brains produce endorphins that help them to keep learning and exploring sustainably and effectively. The most important thing that we can do as adults is provide toys which offer as many different sensory impressions as possible.
