14+ Tips Every Parent Should Know To Help Their Baby Learn Things

By Kirsty 1 year ago

1. If Your Toddler Reaches For Objects, Let Them (If It's Safe To Do So!)

Image Source: BrainlineIt can set your parental instincts into overdrive if you see your child reaching out for something and you want to stop them so that they don't hurt themselves/grab the wrong thing, or both. But you should be encouraging your child to reach out for things when possible, such as reaching for their own cup.

2. Encourage Conversation With Your Child As Much As Possible

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Baby Center
Make sure to consider everything you do as an opportunity to talk with your child. It doesn't always have to be those set learning times. Something as simple as putting on your coat or walking around the house are all excuses for talking along the way!

3. Give Your Toddler Time To Answer A Question

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Wikipedia
As human beings, it's natural to be impatient when it comes to someone responding. It can be difficult to wait a very long time to an answer that you might end up just moving on if you don't think your baby is going to respond to you. But it's very important to give your baby's brain time to process the question and the answer when they're at the communication stage, so be patient!

4. Letting Your Newborn Move Around Freely Is Important

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Live Production
It might be extremely tempting to try and restrain the movements of your newborn seeing as they'll move around a whole lot, but it's important not to try and stop their movement where possible. They need to learn how to control their own movements, which they can only do without you doing it for them.

5. Always Try To Respond To Your Baby's Smiles

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Al.com
As an adult, you'd usually smile back at someone else smiling at you, right? Well, smiling in return at your baby is about a whole lot more than simply being polite. They need to see you smile in return to understand that it's a positive back and forth interaction!

6. Adjust The Tone Of Your Voice Based On Your Baby's Facial Reactions

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Compassion UK
It's also important to adjust the tone of your voice when speaking to your child. Baby-talk comes naturally when you find your child so adorable, but changing your voice - such as the pace or the tone of it - will be extremely helpful in their development, and their understanding of speech patterns.

7. Encourage Counting At Any Opportunity

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Songs for Teaching
You can turn anything into a counting game throughout your daily routine, and it's important that you try to do this as much as possible. Even if your child is learning counting at school, it's always beneficial to do it around the house, too. You can just randomly ask them 'How many?' in regards to items around the house.

8. Picture Books And Puzzles Can Help

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Shopify
There's a reason that vibrant picture books and interesting, exciting puzzles are great for child brain development (puzzles are even great for adult brains and memory, after all!). When they're at the age of wanting to see and learn new things, then these kinds of activities are really going to help.

9. Be Sure To Encourage Your Child's Learning Process

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Healthy Children
Of course, any learning process is made easier and more enjoyable when it's encouraged, and when your child sees all the signals that they're in a safe place to learn and play. You'll want to encourage your child to learn anything new, at any given opportunity - and have fun learning along with them!

10. ... And Reward It, Too!

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Huffington Post
No matter what age you are, it's always appreciated to receive a pat on the back, positive words or a reward for hard work - and it's no different when you're a child. Be sure to use positive words of encouragement, big smiles and positive gestures to show them that they've done a good job.

11. Point Out Facial Features By Using A Doll

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We Forum
Dolls are great ideas for baby and child toys because they replicate the human face. This means they can be fun to play with, but also educational when you use them with your child. You can point to certain areas on the face, such as mouth or nose, and name them so that your child can learn all about them.

12. Your Child Can Eat Anything Healthy Except Honey At 6 Months Old

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Civil Eats
And yes, we said anything healthy and safe for them to eat, not the snacks that we struggle resisting ourselves! You shouldn't give a child honey until they reach the age of 1, but you can comfortably let your baby enjoy any healthy snacks and foods other than that.

13. But They Can Enjoy Honey At 1 Year Old Onwards!

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Essington Farm
But thankfully, that rule isn't forever! As mentioned, 1 year onwards is a great time to start introducing your baby to honey if you want them to try it - it's delicious and soft so they'll certainly love the consistency of it in their mouth! (Or maybe they won't, in which case at least you tried!).

14. A Container Is Really Helpful For Hand-Eye Coordination

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Nisbets
A container can double as a toy and educational tool. It may sound silly, but letting your child place things in, and take things out of, a container can be a great learning tool for them to practice hand-eye coordination of where to place the object.

15. Tell Your Child The Name Of Different Things

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BBC
At the 9 to 12 month mark, your child should be showing more interest in everything going on around them. That means it's a great idea to tell them the names of anything they see/take an interest in, like 'tree' or 'car' for example. You can then try and repeat it again every time they see one,

16. And Make To Teach Them Different Gestures, Too

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Entrepreneur
As well as naming things and saying words relevant to the situation, coupling this with gestures is a great idea, too. This way, your child can begin to associate certain words with certain gestures, such as pointing for 'look' or waving your hand for 'hello' or 'bye bye'.

17. Turn Anything Your Child Is Interested In Into A Game

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YouTube
Pay attention to what your children is growing interested in, such as if they're staring at a photograph or looking at something outside. Then you can turn it into a learning game where you ask them questions, such as colours or asking them to point out something in particular.

18. ... And Reward Them When They Get It Right!

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Happy Kids Dental
As mentioned before, reward is always important when you're playing learning games or asking questions - that way you can celebrate the win together, and your child will more easily learn what is right and wrong. Rewards don't have to mean spending money on treats, either - you could have a star chart with points for every time your child gets one right.

19. When You've Read A Story Together, Ask Your Child Recap Questions About It

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Wikipedia
Sharing story time with your child is a wonderful experience, but it's more than just telling them a story to get them off to sleep. It's also a key learning opportunity, and in particular, relating to memory. You should try to discuss the story with your child afterwards and prompt them to recall details as well as ask what they liked the most.

20. Choose A Lullaby You Can Keep Repeating For Your Child

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Parents
Just like story time, a lullaby is more than just a nice way to send your child to sleep. Using a soothing lullaby you can repeat time and again will help your child to get used to the different sounds and words through repetition, as well as helping them understand speech patterns to music.

21. Choose A Favourite Toy For Them

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Wikipedia
Every child usually has a favourite toy, but it's a good idea to ensure that there is one for learning and play. When a child has a particular toy to focus on, they will thereby be more focused on the learning, such as interacting with the toy, rattling the toy or finding the toy.

22. Make Different Facial Expressions For Your Baby To Copy

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RealLife English
If this is your first time as a parent, you've probably seen lots of other parents - whether in movies or in real life - pulling funny faces at their child. This is more than just affection; it can also help them to learn. By moving your face in different ways, your child will be able to study facial movements, learn them and imitate them.

23. Don't Be Afraid To Let Them Spend Some Time Lying On Their Tummy When Awake

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It's firstly important to mention that your child should never be put on their tummy to sleep, and should never be on their tummy during unsupervised moments. But tummy time, when safe and supervised, can be a great way for your child to learn how to strengthen their neck and shoulder muscles. Be sure to stop if your child gets frustrated in this position.

24. Pillows Can Help Your Baby With Movement Practice

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CNN
If you're a fan of yoga, you might grab a supportive pillow or block to help with certain movements, and the same applies to a baby learning how to move in a better way. When your baby is exploring different ways to move, a pillow can help to both support their movements and also cushion them if they stumble.

25. Try To Be As Silly As Possible

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Thought Co
When you're acting silly, you're going to be more expressive, more loud and more likely to entertain - and all of this is great for a growing baby! Try to be as silly as possible when it comes to interactions with your baby, and always go the extra dramatic mile! Make noises, huge gestures and the silliest faces.

26. Your Hands Can Be Your Best Prop

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Adobe
Your hands are your best tools when it comes to helping your baby learn - and always a bonus when it's free! When singing, talking or playing, support what you're saying with gestures that match. If you're talking about walking, make your hands walk across the table. Move your hands up for 'Up' and down for 'Down'.

27. Go Outside For New Sights And Sounds

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Conde Nast Traveler
It goes without saying that there will be more for your child to see and experience outside, and even if you have a garden, it's important to explore further afield. Different terrain and different weather will all have your child learning new sensations which are important for their development.

28. Use Bath Time For A Perfect Conversation Starter

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Twins Trust
Bath time is the perfect opportunity for learning practice. Your child is set in one place and focused on the bath, and you're more focused making sure your baby is safe. This is a key opportunity to talk, play, point out items in the bath or learn new words like 'rubber duck'.

29. Use Numbers In Conversation, Too

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Wiktionary
It can often be difficult to remember that words and numbers can combine, as it's easy to separate counting and number games from general word and conversation games. But slipping in numbers as much as possible will help, especially if you're talking about objects. As mentioned, in the bath for instance, you could point out one shampoo bottle but two rubber ducks.

30. Rhyming Books Are A Great Choice

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People.com
Sharing any sort of story with your growing child is going to be beneficial, but rhyming books are particularly helpful because of the repetition and music quality. Exploring different kinds of books, like picture-only books, rhyming poetry and general stories is always a good idea for a variety.

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