Your Baby Week 27
By 27 weeks, your little one has developed a wide repertoire of skills. He might be able to recognize his name, eat some solid foods, pass objects from hand to hand, combine syllables, sit up momentarily without support, and imitate sounds. He can probably also distinguish between bold colors and crawl or scoot towards things he is interested in.
Now that your child is showing more and more interest in his environment, you may want to introduce more interactive toys and activities that encourage your baby to expand his boundaries and satisfy his need to explore.
Physical Development Toys
There are certain toys for your child that will support their physical development. Toys on wheels are great, because not only do they promote hand eye coordination, but you can move them just out of his reach so that he will have to chase them. Similarly, balls are great because you can make a game out of rolling the ball back and forth, again working on developing motor skills and coordination.
Reasoning Toys
Now that your baby is developing an understanding of such concepts as "behind" and "within", you can encourage the sharpening of his reasoning skills by playing with toys that make him think. Remember not to make the tasks too hard, this is play time, not a test! Hide a toy under another toy and see if he can find it, or try building a small tower with wooden blocks and then knock it over. See if he gets the idea and starts to stack the blocks to make his own tower. Remember to celebrate when he figures it out!
Music
You may have already noticed that your little one has a preference for certain types of music, or that music can affect his mood or motivate movement or dance, but did you know that early exposure to music can make an important contribution to development?
Early exposure to music aids in the development of speech. Singing even simple sounds helps your infant understand grammar. It also helps children learn math and enhances social skills. In fact, the emotional aspects of music seem to be beneficial for the development of empathy.
Tired of the same old songs? Try something new! You don't have to stick to children's music, babies can learn from all types of musical genres. Be adventurous and try something you may not have in your own music collection or something you wouldn't hear on your favorite radio station. If you are stuck in your search, you can try looking at a map of the world! Every country has its own unique style of music and you will probably be able to find a new sound that both you and your child will enjoy!
