Teaching Your Baby About Textures

Around the age of 4-6 months, your baby will start to take an interest in more things around him, textures in particular. This newfound love of all things soft and hard, smooth and rough, can be fostered so that your little one has the chance to do all the exploring she wants.

Start with fabrics. They are easy, you have them kicking around anyway, and there's no mess to clean up! You can use scraps from a scrap bag, or just give your baby items of clothing to touch and taste. Try giving her various types of fabric for the best results, one at a time.

Once she tires of one type of fabric, give her another piece and take away the first. This way, your baby is able to give her full attention to each new item, exploring it thoroughly with hands and mouth. Some fabrics to try include silk, rayon, cotton, denim, flannel and velvet.

There are plenty of other textures around your home. Try putting your baby in her high chair, if she is old enough and let her muck around with her food. Mashed potatoes and oatmeal are wonderful textures to squish your hands in! Water and cornstarch mixed together make a fun goo that is liquid and solid at the same time, as well, in case you don't want to waste food.

Water and sand are always great for capturing a child's attention. Try putting water in a bowl and sand in another and let your child mess around with them while sitting outside or on a plastic sheet (a dollar store shower curtain works well). You can also give her flour and water to mix, just be sure to clean it up right afterwards or you will have fossilized flour glue all over the place!

Not interested in so much mess? You can also let your little one sift through a bowl of uncooked rice, as long as you watch so that she can't eat any. Blocks that have various textures on them are good as well, Lamaze makes some great textured toys.

Textures are a big part of our world and by letting your infant explore them, you are allowing her to learn more about the world around her and how it works. She is developing at a tremendous rate and by helping your baby learn more about textures, you are aiding her in her mental development.