During playtime, let your baby experience open and safe spaces. For example, let them lie on a blanketed surface on the floor.
Play provides opportunities for newborns to use their five senses – tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, and smelling – to take in stimuli from the environment and respond through reflexes and motor activities.
Reflexes form the basis for gross motor skills that will develop in their later developmental stage. Research suggests children with retained reflexes tend to have issues with their learning in later years. Callcott, D. (2012). Retained primary reflexes in preprimary-aged Indigenous children: The effect on movement ability and school readiness. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(2), 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/183693911203700218 Gallahue, D. L., & Ozmun, J. C. (1998). Understanding motor development. USA: McGraw Hill. Zwicker, J. G., Missiuna, C., Harris, S. R., & Boyd, L. A. (2012). Developmental coordination disorder: a review and update. European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 16(6), 573-581.
Placing babies on their backs and stomachs provide opportunities for broader views and encourage use of legs, arms and hands.
Play “Hit It, Grab It, Hold It”: With the baby on your lap or on a flat floor mat, hold a close-lid bottle of large metallic confetti about 30cm from the newborn’s face. Move it slowly across the baby’s field of vision, shaking the bottle occasionally to hold the baby’s interest. Notice how the baby tracks the bottle with their eyes and later by moving their whole head.5