Light and Shade

Babies are fascinated by light, colour and pattern and will watch and follow the edges of shapes and patterns very closely. Try some of these simple activities to make the most of this interest and help your baby develop his or her focus and sense of sight.

Change the Light

Gather a small selection of brightly coloured or reflective objects and let your baby look at and examine the objects in turn taking as much time as he or she wants.

Now change the light in the room, either by moving towards or away from a window or adjusting a dimmer switch or switching a lamp on or off, then offer the items for your baby to look at again and see if different things are of interest or explored in a different way. Talk about how the colours or reflections seem different or the light forms different patterns on the items.

Dappled Light

Look out for dappled sunlight, either when you are out and about, where perhaps the light is falling through the trees, or at home, noticing how the light shines through blinds at the window. Bring your baby to sit in the shards of light and let him or her watch how the light moves and perhaps makes different shapes and patterns on the ground.

When you are walking on a sunny day, step in and out of shadows with your baby, and watch the shapes of them on the ground as you, and the sun, move.

Your baby may also like to look at sunlight reflected in puddles or on shiny leaves so look out for all these different things and talk with your baby about what you can both see.

Coloured or moving lights

At our classes the light up sensory collection is always a favourite, and coloured, flashing or moving lights are a great way to engage your little one and bring the focus to their sense of sight. Show them these at home too to contrast with the natural light activities already mentioned for a wider range of experiences with light and shade and the amazing sense of sight.

A number of light up, shiny and reflective resources are available from our online store http://www.totsplay.co.uk/#!sensory-items/cbz or from classes. So go and explore with light and shade today.

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