How can colours stimulate children’s eye development?
Babies’ eyes undergo an intricate development path before becoming well-developed around the 2 years of age. Indeed, babies are born with monochrome vision and they are unable to distinguish the difference between colours. At this early stage, they can only focus about eight to 12 inches from their face, and they see only black, white and gray.
Interestingly enough, it is only several weeks after being born that babies start seeing their first primary colour, which is red. Parents often wonder if there is something they might do to stimulate their babies’ eye development and the answer is: YES!
In this article, we are going to examine what parents can do to actively participate in their newborn’s eye development and why it is important to do so.
Why is colour recognition so important for my child?
In newborns, proper visual stimulation can increase curiosity, attention span, memory, and nervous system development. An abundance of research has been carried out on the effects of colour on the brain. Some experts claim that different colours enhance learning in different ways:
- Blue — a colour that encourages creativity, if overused however, it can bring the mood down in a room. A cool blue enhances relaxation levels in individuals.
- Yellow — a colour of happiness for children as it is associated with sunshine. This can lift the mood and excite a child due to its vibrant appearance.
- Orange — this is said to enhance critical thinking and memory.
Teaching your child about colours will come in useful for many situations in their life. For instance, as children learn to identify colours and use colour as a language tool to describe things, it develops and strengthens their ability to communicate effectively. This can in its turn also come in as beneficial with other educational skills such as creative writing, as colour is an important part of descriptive techniques. In any case, the benefits of colour recognition will come in useful in many situations that children will become exposed to. As a parent, it is therefore important to assist your newborn in strengthening these skills.
Introduce Primary Colours
The American Optometric Association has published a detailed list of things parents can do to help with their infant vision development. The recommended activities are age-appropriate and they go from birth to two years of age. As reported:
● From birth to four months of age, your baby will spend most of his time in his room. It is therefore advisable to move your baby’s crib frequently so as to give him the illusion of observing different environments. Also, using a nightlight will give your baby the opportunity to observe the different shades of the room at night. Especially at two months of age, it is important to stimulate your baby’s vision through primary colours. This is preferred as those are the colours that newborns are able to distinguish more easily at this stage of their life. Particularly red, yellow and blue are thought to stimulate babies’ eyesight the most so adding those to your baby’s room decor could be a good idea.
● Between 5 to 8 months your baby will be more prone to grab, pull and kick. Placing a colourful crib gym, giving your baby plenty of time to explore the floor and play with coloured bricks will help with the sharpening of hand-eye coordination.
● Between 9 to 12 months, your baby will begin to develop their visual memory: to support him/her in this process it is considered good practice to play hide and seek with toys or your face. It is also recommended to name the objects while playing to encourage the baby's word association and vocabulary development skills.
● Between 1 to 2 years your baby’s sight will be reaching the ending stage of its development process. At this point, it is good to give the child building blocks and balls of all shapes and sizes to play with to boost fine motor skills and small muscle development. Also, reading or telling stories will stimulate the child's ability to visualize and pave the way for learning and reading skills.
Lively Animations
As seen, eye stimulation can happen through traditional means, such as reach-and-touch toys, crib gym or plastic or wooden blocks. However, opting for a much more modern solution can turn out to be beneficial too. Lively animations have proven to positively impact a child’s development in several competence areas. Not only can animation benefit necessary life skills like inclusion and problem solving, but it also promotes usage of all senses which results in greater understanding and memory function.
Indeed, by connecting visual and auditory senses for the purpose of watching a moving image, the brain automatically becomes skilled in making connections. This also leads to higher recognition of objects and retention.
As explained by Holistic Child Psychologist Dr. Nicole Beurkens, so many animated programmes out there owe their success to “the bright visuals — especially the focus on big eyes and faces — the repetitive music and sounds, and the constant movement and action on the screen." She also adds: “Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers find these programs attractive because they provide a multi-sensory experience that is engaging without being overwhelming”. Whilst it is still recommended to limit screen time for children of all ages, it must also be noted that with a good balance, animation programmes can assist your child’s brain and visual development in many ways.
Therefore, an animation of an adequate length that manages to combine bright primary colours with exciting sounds really has the power to stimulate children’s brains in the most effective and, most of all, fun way!
Sources
https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-health-for-life/infant-vision?sso=y
https://www.qaeducation.co.uk/article/colour-important
https://www.bausch.com/vision-and-age/infant-eyes/eye-development
https://www.romper.com/p/why-do-babies-love-cocomelon-experts-explain-38055145