Your baby’s senses started to develop before birth and as they have had more experiences your baby will be bringing together information from their senses to understand themselves and the world. You will notice this combining of information when you watch your child as they explore a new texture with their hands. They will watch the movement of their hands, the marks made as they explore, and move in different ways to see the effect. When they do this your baby combines information from their vision touch and proprioceptive (body) senses.
Much of your baby’s sensory development is concerned with the organisation of the information they receive from their senses. They bring together information from their senses and from movement to develop their perception of the world around them. They experience sensations from all their senses but will not always be aware of what this information is telling them, and your responses have an important role in supporting them to develop this understanding. [1]
Using their hands to explore new materials provides your baby with the opportunity to explore cause and effect, and to link their movements with marks. It also provides opportunities to experience different textures and watch the different ways that materials move. Your baby might notice spilt water moves before they can put their hand into it, but the sauce from their pasta only moves when they start to explore. You might notice that when exploring your baby seems focused and deep in concentration. They will be making connections between areas of their brain concerned with movement, touch and vision, these experiences might be messy but will be helping your child to develop their understanding of the world and themselves.
Your baby will continue to explore the world using their senses, they will gradually link their movements with what happens to objects and materials. As their gross and fine motor skills develop, they might become more interested in making marks with different tools, with a stick in mud or a chunky crayon on the floor. At first, they will watch their hands as they make marks as they link what they see and feel with their movements.
References
Robinson, M. (2011). Understanding behaviour and development in early childhood: a guide to theory and practice. London:Routledge.