Choosing Age-appropriate toys | 6-12 months old

I have promised a friend to send her an email on giving some suggestions the suitable toys for her 8 months old daughter as she wanted to avoid buying common types like doll for her little girl and wanting something that can enhance her daughter's development.

So, rather sent email, I think it is better I've shared that in here instead so others can benefit it as well. Read on.

Hanz's Note : Those toys featured here been with us for 6 years at most. Bought for our eldest child and being passed down for his younger brother and soon the newborn. One thing to remember, it is essential to invest toys that are durable and sturdy as it can last long and are not easily broken. Always check the safety standard but most well-known toy manufacturer will follow the standard safety and should be safe enough for your child. It is unnecessarily that you must get the same brand or the same toy like in the pictures. Those picture of ours are merely some guides and suggestions based on the purpose the toys being created.

6 – 12 Months
By this time babies are usually able to sit by themselves and are learning to crawl. They  will also be learning fine motor skills, such as pinching and grasping objects with just two fingers. So you’ll want to provide baby with a variety of toys to play with in all shapes and sizes to satisfy the growing curiosity and need to explore. Soon enough, they like to make things happen – they enjoy pushing a button and hearing a song, or seeing something light up. Having the ability to interact with their surroundings is very exciting and once they find something they like, they do it over and over again.

1) Sensorial & Fine Motor-Skill : Colourful objects that suits tiny hands with different textures on its surfaces should be selected by parents. Especially if the toys can be manipulated by twisting, turning, princing, grasping and pinching.

Note : This 5 textured balls manufactured by Playskool. Good for dexterity sensorial.

Baby Loves Nature

The Story Behind this picture : That was the first ever we brought Baby Hambali along with his 5 years old brother outdoor in year 2009. Location : Taman Tasik Seremban. First time experience for Baby Hambali but countless time for his big brother.We did'nt do any specific activity just 'lazing' around there and let Baby Hambali roaming about, crawled under the watchful eyes of both his parents. Just in case, he put every single thing he found inside his mouth! LOL! It could be dangerous! After that activity we made a mental note to do it often for the benefits of our family.

"Reminder for TheHoneybunch Family to live by & share it with others..."

* Picture worth a thousand words *

The settled baby - Four to Twelve Months

Excerpt from the book :-"Smart Baby, Clever Child"
written by Valentine Dmitriev, PH.D

As your baby enters this new phase, it is important for parents to keep up with their baby's rapid changes & advancement. His independent mobility is increasing and so he begins paying more attention to objects in his environment. He is developing new awareness.Hand-eye coordination improves and actions become more & more deliberate. With this is mind, there are 3 goals to aid in this new stage of development.

How to pick early signs of giftedness for very young children

Sometime ago, I regularly received periodic newsletter based on my free subscription with Brainy-Child.com. If my faint memory can be rely on, the former website is based in Singapore. Basically it caters for parents & Early Childhood Educator by providing some insight in latest discovery in all aspects of children especially in brain development & early child development.

Here's some checklist if you feel like assessing your lil ones. Read on!

Classical Music is not only soothing but there's more to it!

I was introduced to Classical Music at the tender age of 16 by my ex-classmates cum good friend. At first, it did'nt make sense to me why she was so into Classical Music until I heard it myself after surrendered to her much coaxing. Initially, I could not tolerate with music without singing as at that point of time, music was another gateway for me to improve my English language grasp so listening to Roxette, Color Me Badd, Mariah Carey, New Kids On The Block managed to assist me so-so.

Teach your child how to expand use of Sign Language

There's never too early or too late to learn signing yourself and then teach it to your child.

As a parent, you can begin using simple signs with your babies and toddlers just as they would spoken words. Identifying favourite foods or objects with a single sign is a good way to start. Holding up a stuffed toy like lion and making the sign for 'lion', or pointing to Papa while signing 'father'.

Using signs labelling emotions & feelings is a logical next step. Signing 'baby sad' or 'I'm happy' can affirm your young child's perception of what is happening in & around them. It won't be long before your child is offering up signs of their own to communicate how he is feeling in the moment.

How to teach ABC creatively & effectively

How do you teach the alphabet to your child?

Singing the famous 'ABC Song'? Point letter in ABC book? Play the ABC videos to your child?

You are in the right track and those are the same things that I did previously with my elder son, Hanafi. Below are the tools that I've used for him and currently using it to Baby Hambali too.

 

Love to Read | Techniques on instill a love of reading

1. Encourage speech. Talk to little babies, even before they can respond. When young children want something, let them ask instead of rushing to do their bidding immediately.
   

2. Starts with storytelling. Looking at a book together can be a pleasurable experience even when a child is very young. Choose a time when your little one is in the right mood. Make it pleasurable. Hold the child close and make the session short. When he has had enough and loses interest, stop at once.

3. Provide a good example by reading yourself and always have books in the house.

4. Buy books that small children can handle, such as cloth books and board books.

Love to Read | Reading to Baby & Toddler

Based on findings from self-interest research & compilation from various resources. Read on. Hope my chat on this topic helps a lot. More chat about reading will be up next round.

Guidelines on successful reading to baby

**A newborn can only focus 25-30cm, so look for cloth or cot books with both simple and complicated geometric patterns and faces (babies love faces) that will stimulate visual interest.

Book example:- Baby Faces by Dorling Kindersley

**Once a baby can grasp an object, look out for small, and square ‘block books’ great for tiny hands.

Book example:- Ladybird series, SPOT block books by Eric Hill

**At around 6 months, start to seek out books with brightly coloured, simple pictures and lots of rhythm. An obvious choice would be boldly illustrated collection of nursery rhymes.

Who said Book is Boring?

Ask yourself,"Do I read?". Then ask yourself again,"Do I REALLY read?" Two self-prodded questions will obtain two different answers though it SOUNDS almost the same. Be honest with yourself.

Now, ask yourself again,"Do I want my little ones to read? Do I REALLY want my little ones to REALLY read?"

If the answer is positive, read on my chat or else just go blog-hop to others. My chat onwards specifically to those who want their loved little ones to LOVE BOOKS & LOVE READING.

It happened to me that few people did asked what types of books is suitable for their child. I came across as well in forums & blogs, parents are unsure on how to read to their child & how to make their child love reading. You can pick some guidelines from my previous 'chat' which I had covered about reading to baby & toddler, then I shared some techniques to instill a love of reading & latest was reading to preschooler. I did chat about my books collections too in general. Perhaps a comprehensive show & tell of what types of books available for children can provide some insights to you.