My Baby
Play · 1 to 5 months
Strong contrast is entertaining
In the first weeks high contrast draws more attention than colour. A sheet of paper with black and white stripes, moved slowly, buys minutes of fascination and wonderful faces.
Why contrast
In the first months, sight still tells strong differences of light and dark apart better than soft colours. High-contrast shapes hold attention for longer, and that is what makes the game interesting to her rather than a chore.
What you can make at home, today
- Draw thick stripes, spirals and targets with a black pen on a white sheet. One sheet per drawing.
- Fix a sheet to the side of the cot or on the floor, at the height she looks.
- A black and white chequerboard works very well, and you can draw one in two minutes.
- What already exists counts too: a striped shirt, the dark skirting board against the pale wall.
How long
For as long as she is interested, and not a minute beyond. Turning her face away is an answer, not a refusal. One to two minutes at a time, a few times a day, is the format that works.
Worth recording
Film fifteen seconds of her eyes following the drawing, with the paper visible in the frame. It is a video that ages very well, because it shows attention being born.
More ideas for this stage
Everyday life
Film the ordinary
The bath, the feed, the walk home. Nobody films the ordinary because it feels like it will last forever, and the ordinary is what vanishes without warning.
Letter idea
Write down what nobody will remember
The smell of her head, the sound she makes while feeding, the way she grips your finger. These are the first things to go. One sentence is enough.
Photo idea