B a r b a r a s h e r I l L u s t r a t I o n s b y r a L p h

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Attention Games
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T
Y P E O F
A
T T E N T I O N
E
N C O U R A G E D
Focused
M
A T E R I A L S
Feather or paintbrush
D
I R E C T I O N S
Stroke your baby’s different body parts with the feather or paintbrush
and name the body part being touched—for example, “I’m touching your leg.
Do you feel it? I’m stroking your sweet little leg. Now I’m touching your arm.”
V
A R I A T I O N S
⽧ Touch your baby in a variety of ways, such as with gentle squeezing,
massaging, patting, and rubbing.
⽧ Give him experience with different types of textures. Rub your baby’s
body with materials of different textures, such as silk, velvet, wool, cot-
ton ball, corduroy, and powder puffs. Talk about the differences with
your darling: “Isn’t this velvet soft. It’s so soft. Feel this corduroy. It’s a
bit rougher, isn’t it?”
⽧ Make or buy a quilt that has a variety of textures for the baby to lie on.
⽧ Pat the soles of your baby’s feet to stimulate muscles, encourage strong
bones, and increase his awareness of the part he’ll later need to control
for walking.
⽧ Put applesauce on your baby’s clean foot so that he can lick it off and
stimulate his foot muscles.
⽧ When putting your baby to bed, pat different parts of his body and say
“Good night toes,” “Good night legs,” and so on.
⽧ And I guess it’s not news that babies love to have their bodies kissed,
especially their bellies!
W
H A T
’
S
B
E I N G
L
E A R N E D
Rubbing, stroking, massaging, holding, patting, and other tactile experi-
ences stimulate the central nervous system. Touch activates the nerves in