September 2010
Announcing the
Subscribers: we have a new blog where you can leave suggestions and read interviews with our artists! This month, read an interview with cover artist Holly Berry.
Babybug is for babies who love to be read to and for the adults who love to read to them. Here are a few suggestions to make your read-aloud time even more enjoyable for you and your baby.
Reading Babybug: Open the Door to Learning
To babies and toddlers, all the world is new. And one of the joys of being a parent is being able to see through your child’s eyes as you find ways to explore seasonal changes together. As in this issue of Babybug, it might be working together in the garden, feeding birds, or watching for squirrels and other small animals.
Be sure to do more than just point out things. Find ways for your child to see, feel, hear, taste and smell autumn. Kim gets to pick round, juicy tomatoes from the garden and smell and taste soup made from them. The toddlers in "The Children Feed the Birds" feel the seeds as they scatter them and listen to the birds’ chirping. This fall, you and your child might take a walk, scuffing through brittle, rustling leaves as you feel the cool air and warm sunshine. You might gather a bag of acorns or pine cones or listen to a squirrel chattering from a tree. You could blow the seeds from a puffy dandelion or from a dry milkweed pod.
You already know what these experiences are like, but to your child they are new. Try to imagine what each experience feels like to someone who is doing it for the first time and enjoy it with them. When your child picks up an ordinary object (for example, a pine cone) talk about it with them. Watch as he or she turns it over and over, and fingers and stares at it. Listen carefully to your child’s comments, and then share your own enjoyment and understanding. Touching, gathering, listening, and taking apart are all part of forming basic interest and curiosity about the world.
Children learn science and math by being outdoors. They learn that even though air is invisible, they can still feel it against their faces when a cool breeze blows. They discover that wind is air that is moving, and that it can make other things, such as falling leaves, move with it. As they collect stones, make piles of twigs, or dig in the sand, toddlers have hands-on experiences with valuable math concepts such as quantity, size, mass, weight, and shape.
Just outside your door lies a world of learning and enjoyment. Share it with your child—and in doing so, rediscover it for yourself.
Play Together
Here are some outdoor play ideas to enjoy with your toddler:
- Some of the best toys come from nature. A colorful autumn leaf can turn into a blanket for a doll, or become a boat sailing on a puddle. Twigs and pebbles make fine fences for a sandbox castle.
- Get out a large ball and spend some time rolling or kicking it back and forth. Your child will not only experience concepts like location, size and speed, he or she will discover that taking turns is what keeps the fun going.
- Make one day a week library day. Make it even more special by packing a picnic and stopping in a park on the way home. Find a shady tree, settle down and enjoy your books together.
- Watch a sunset or a sunrise with your child. Paint what you see, using watercolors on a wet sheet of paper so the colors can run together, just like they do in the sky.
Happy autumn from Babybug!
