Explores objects using their senses

Your baby will have been exploring objects for some time, first by bringing objects to their mouth, then by looking at objects before bringing them to their mouth for further exploration! As their physical skills develop, your baby will have more ways to find out about toys and objects. They will be able to look at an object, touch it, explore what happens when they hold or move it and bring it to their mouth. This exploration allows your baby to bring together information from their senses and develop their understanding of the things around them. 

Exploring and learning 

When your baby explores an object, they will make and strengthen connections in their brain. As they develop their physical skills and can explore objects using all their senses, they will make connections between the parts of their brain that process information from their different senses.  

Interestingly, scientists have found that even young babies can make links between information from touch and vision to understand an object. In an experiment, babies were given either a smooth or bumpy dummy. They were given the dummy but not able to see which they had been given. When they were shown pictures of the two dummies babies looked at the dummy they had been given for longer than the other one. This suggests that these babies were able to link information from what they felt as they sucked the dummy with what they saw when they were shown the pictures. [1] However, for your baby to make these connections in their everyday life they need to develop the physical skills to hold and manipulate objects.  

When we bring together information from our senses, we don’t tend to consider each sense separately but we have a perception of the object or event. This is known as ‘intermodal perception’ and is how we can recognise an object that we have felt when we see it, this is what was demonstrated by the babies in the dummy experiment. [2] 

When your baby can reach and hold objects and sit upright, they can spend more time exploring as both hands are available to touch and move objects. You might notice your baby turning an object in their hand, passing it from one hand to the other or hitting an object against the floor or another object. These actions provide the opportunity for your baby to explore the object and combine information from their senses. They will feel the weight of the object via receptors in their muscles and joints, they will look at it and touch it with their hands and mouth. Through this exploration your baby will begin to develop an understanding of the object, which they will then use when seeing other objects as they will begin to think about if this new object is similar to one they have already seen.  

What next? 

When your baby has had lots of experience exploring different objects and learning about their properties, they will begin to explore how they can use objects. You might notice they begin to combine objects, or group objects together.  

References 

[1] Goswami, U. (2020) Cognitive Development and Cognitive Neuroscience. The Learning Brain. London: Routledge.  

[2] Boyd, D.G. & Bell, H.L. (2014) The Developing Child (13th Edn.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.