Infant: Cognitive Development |
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1-4 Months
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Cognitive development is the process of how your infant learns. At this stage your baby can distinguish familiar faces and different colors across the spectrum. You may have noticed that your baby is fascinated by moving objects and responds best to a moderate amount of visual stimulation. A mobile becomes a source of great pleasure and your baby may watch it for longer and longer periods of time. Your baby explores by putting objects in his mouth. As your baby gets a little older, he can repeat leg or arm movements to cause an action to occur again. Your baby can pull a cloth from his face that you have placed there, hold a rattle, and intentionally drop objects and watch them fall.
Take advantage and build on your baby’s curiosity. Place your baby in new places and new positions so he can see people and things from different angles. This will also help strengthen his neck muscles as he follows moving sights and sounds. |
Videos about Infant Cognitive Development |
5-8 Months
Your baby can understand simple cause and effects actions. Your baby can also anticipate an expected action, such as feeding time. He can imitate actions seen many times. Repeat simple cause-and-effect actions as you play with your baby, such as covering and uncovering a toy with a blanket or putting a toy in a container and dumping it out. Then give your baby the toys to experiment with. This will also help develop hand and eye coordination and the muscles in his fingers, hands, and arms.
Let your baby explore different textures, for example, let them put their hands in water, rice or flour. It is important to develop a child's sense of touch.
Let your baby explore different textures, for example, let them put their hands in water, rice or flour. It is important to develop a child's sense of touch.
9-12 Months
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Your baby is very curious about small openings, objects that turn, switches, etc. At this stage of development, your baby can identify many items by name, including body parts, people, toys, and animals. Your baby can group objects that are alike; solve problems through trial and error; has an increasingly long memory, and can imitate action seen at another time or place. He can roll wheeled toys and remove rings from a ring stack toy. Your baby also realizes objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.
Your baby can follow your line of vision and looks at what you are looking at. He follows conversational turn-taking when interacting with others, uses gestures, eye contact, and sounds to direct your behavior. |
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12-18 Months
Now your baby is really demonstrating what he is learning. He can take things apart, identify objects in a book, and is beginning to understand and follow simple directions. Your baby will love to play “peek-a-boo” with you. By playing peek-a-boo, you are helping in the development of your baby’s understanding of cause and effect. He will learn that when he covers his eyes and you are gone temporarily, you will still be there when he opens his eyes again. This will encourage your baby to trust you. Playing games that are repetitive also prepares your baby for communication, for speaking and sharing the rhythm of conversation later on.
Your baby can demonstrate the use of everyday items, can manage three to four toys by setting one aside when given a new toy, and can place a small object into a small container. He also can combine two related objects during play, such as a bowl and spoon.
Your baby can demonstrate the use of everyday items, can manage three to four toys by setting one aside when given a new toy, and can place a small object into a small container. He also can combine two related objects during play, such as a bowl and spoon.
18-24 Months
This is
a great time to introduce your baby to imaginary play. Provide him or her with a box of costumes, hats,
shoes, jewelry, and other items that will encourage your baby to be
creative. Don’t forget to put a mirror
on the wall so your baby can see himself all dressed up! Learning from other children by imitation takes a spurt in the second year. Your baby needs peers. He needs at least one or two playmates. If he has older siblings, it's not as urgent. He will learn more from other children about himself and his relationship with others than he will from his parents.
Your baby can spontaneously name five or more objects. He can use a substitute object to represent a real one, such as a stick as a brush. He can match items to corresponding pictures such as matching animal sounds to the correct animal. He can stack blocks and can insert shapes into matching slots.
Your baby can spontaneously name five or more objects. He can use a substitute object to represent a real one, such as a stick as a brush. He can match items to corresponding pictures such as matching animal sounds to the correct animal. He can stack blocks and can insert shapes into matching slots.
