Parenting Advice
A guide to baby's development from birth to 12 months
Understanding toys:
Toys provide a splendid opportunity to promote baby's development and create a gateway between her and the world. Through interacting with toys, baby accelerates the the pace of her practice and fine-tunes her skills as she encounters the wonders of her environment. Playing is a natural & instinctive activity for baby, equal parts perception & pleasure. A well-balanced toy environment stimulates baby to progress developmentally on a steady course & at her own natural pace!
Tiny Love believes that just as balanced nutrition supplies all elements necessary for a child's physical wellbeing, developmental toys contribute to and encourage baby's cognitive, sensory, motoric and emotional growth.
Tiny Love created the box concept, leveraging on the developmental principles of 7 elements system, the toy box enables you to create a well-balanced developmental environment. It takes into account the relevant milestones and challenges posed by each developmental stage & matches with suitable toy types that address them.
- The Senses - Doorways to discovery
- Gross Motor Skills - The magic of movement
- Fine Motor Skills - From fist to flexibility
- Object Permanence - Now you see me, now you don't
- Language & Communication - Express yourself
- Cognition - Processing the world
- EQ - Now you see me, now you don't
The Toy Box Concept
The 7 Elements System
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The Senses - Doorways to discovery
The five senses represent the primary channels through which we encounter our environment: Sight enables us to comprehend shape, size, colour and movement; Hearing facilitates our ability to experience the joy of sound in all its timbre, volume and nuance; Touch makes it possible to understand the weight, feel, texture or temperature of objects; and Smell and Taste enable us to experience the scent and flavor of objects.
What to expect?
For a more detailed explanation on what to expect from newborn to 1 month, 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months please.
Find more about it downloading PDF document
Gross Motor Skills - The magic of movement
The ability to control our muscle is behind every movement we make. Gross motor development involves the group of large muscles that control the arms, feet, back, abdomen, and head. These muscles enable babies to raise their heads, roll over, crawl, sit up and walk.
Gross motor skills are a delicate combination of the brain, the nervous system and the muscles. Infants progress from being completely dependent, with movements governed by a range of involuntary reflexes to a state of good, basic control over their bodies.
Development of these muscles begins in the first weeks of life from the neck, with the ability to raise the head. It is important to note that gross motor development occurs in a set pattern. Development begins and continues from the head down, from the center of the body toward the extremities, and eventually in coordination with the centre body.
An infant is born with essentially no control over her muscles or movements. All of the baby’s actions - even feeding - are caused by reflexes, or attributed to random spasmodic movement of the limbs. As baby matures, the dominance of the reflexes fades and voluntary movement takes over. Gradually she gains more control of her body through appropriate sensory stimulation, and practice and support from her environment.
What to expect?
For a more detailed explanation on what to expect from newborn to 1 month, 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months please.
Find more about it downloading PDF document
Fine Motor Skills - From fist to flexibility
Fine motor skills comprise the ability to perform subtle movements that require control of small muscle groups: the muscles of the palm and fingers, the muscles surrounding the mouth, and those that control eye movement. Moreover, they facilitate the attainment of hand-eye coordination, which bridges the gap between what baby sees and is capable of acting upon.
During the first year of life, baby will progress from the reflexive instinct to grasp every object with a clenched fist, to choosing a suitable grip that relates directly to the size and shape of the object in question. As hand-eye coordination steadily develops, baby is capable of grasping, touching or manipulating an object with more grace and less of a "fumbling" motion.
Baby's gaining control over her body requires intensive effort. When looking at a two month old that tries repeatedly to swipe at a toy dangling above her crib, or at a 6-month old attempting to press a button on a toy, one cannot help but think: what drives her? How is it possible not to give up after so many failed attempts? Simply stated, baby has an inborn drive to gain control over her body.
When baby finally succeeds in making contact with a dangling toy, she is rewarded by its spinning response; a button pressed that responds with auditory feedback, provides pleasure and encourages baby to repeat her efforts - and to move on to the next level of challenge.
When baby finally succeeds in making contact with a dangling toy, she is rewarded by its spinning response; a button pressed that responds with auditory feedback, provides pleasure and encourages baby to repeat her efforts - and to move on to the next level of challenge.
What to expect?
For a more detailed explanation on what to expect from newborn to 1 month, 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months please.
Find more about it downloading PDF document
Object Permanence - Now you see me, now you don't
The realisation that people and objects continue to exist even when not in plain view is one of the most important skills that a baby acquires on the road to building her memory and overall cognitive a abilities. Understanding the basic notion of object permanence is crucial to building her intelligence and feeding her emotional makeup. When baby reaches the fourth month of her life, she finally begins to realise that the existence of objects, people and places is independent of her ability to view them at any given time.
What to expect?
For a more detailed explanation on what to expect from newborn to 1 month, 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months please
Find more about it downloading PDF document
Language & Communication - Express yourself
Language is the ability to use a code of sounds and signals to communicate our thoughts and emotions. It enables us to process the world around us, communicate our thoughts and impressions with others, and share our memories and hopes for the future. We are born with an innate urge to communicate. We have as many to communicate as we have feelings; a glance, a smile, a cry, a soft or harsh touch, facial expressions or words...our overall body language are all part of the rich forms of articulation that human beings employ.
What to expect?
For a more detailed explanation on what to expect from newborn to 1 month, 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months please.
Find more about it downloading PDF document
Cognition - Processing the world
Cognitive skills comprise the mental processes through which we perceive the world: how we define, remember and categories the vast amounts of information we receive; how we understand cause and effect relationships; how we learn and draw conclusions; and the language we use to express our thoughts and ideas.
From the moment she takes her first breath, baby is equipped with a wide variety of cognitive tools that help her to get acclimated to the world.
From a state in which her primary responses are reflexive, she quickly learns to direct her behavior towards obtaining things she needs and even develops problem-solving skills that help her achieve these goals.
What to expect?
For a more detailed explanation on what to expect from newborn to 1 month, 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months please.
Find more about it downloading PDF document
EQ - Now you see me, now you don't
Emotional intelligence (EQ) comprises all of the skills and factors that feed our character and enable us to make sense of our personal and interpersonal feelings and interact socially. We learn to identify, control, process and express a wide range of positive and negative feelings that fill out inner world.
We define goals; learn how to deal with delaying the fulfillment of satisfaction and to solve problems.
As life becomes increasingly filled with interactions with others, we learn to express empathy, respect other people’s wishes and desires and develop the social skills necessary for survival.
What to expect?
For a more detailed explanation on what to expect from newborn to 1 month, 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months please.
