Are you a new parent looking for a fun and engaging activity to do with your baby? Look no further than Adventure Babies Sensory Storytelling Adventures! Adventure Babies is an exciting and unique experience that combines the joy of reading with sensory exploration for babies and young children.

Here we explain why you should bring your baby along to an Adventure Babies session:

1. Early learning development: Adventure Babies helps support your child’s early learning and development by introducing them to the joys of reading and storytelling. Our sessions use interactive storytelling techniques to engage your child’s senses and help them learn in a fun and playful way.
2. Sensory exploration: Babies love exploring the world around them, and Adventure Babies offers a range of sensory experiences that can help them learn and develop. From sensory toys to textures and scents, your baby will have the chance to engage all their senses in a safe and stimulating environment.
3. Socialization: Adventure Babies is also a great way for you and your baby to meet other new parents and children in a fun and supportive environment. Our sessions offer a chance to connect with other families, share experiences and make new friends.
4. Bonding time: Spending quality time with your baby is essential, and Adventure Babies is the perfect way to do that. Our sessions provide a unique bonding experience, allowing you to share in your child’s joy and excitement as they discover the world around them.
5. Fun and engaging: Above all, Adventure Babies is a fun and engaging experience for both you and your child. Our sessions are designed to be interactive and playful, ensuring that your child will have a great time while learning and developing.

Adventure Babies is an excellent activity for you as a new parent and your baby. It offers a unique opportunity to support your child’s development, bond with your little one, meet new people and have fun along the way. So why not come along to one of our sessions and see for yourself what Adventure Babies is all about? We can’t wait to welcome you and your little one on an exciting sensory storytelling adventure!

As a new parent, soothing your baby can be a challenging experience. However, there are several methods you can try to calm your little one and make them feel more comfortable. In this blog post, we’ll explore the best ways to soothe your baby and make parenting a little easier.

1. Swaddling: Swaddling is a popular technique where you wrap your baby tightly in a blanket, mimicking the snug feeling they had in the womb. This can help your baby feel safe and secure, leading to better sleep.
2. Rocking or bouncing: Babies love movement, and rocking or bouncing them can help soothe them to sleep. Try using a baby swing or a rocking chair, or even gently bouncing your baby in your arms.
3. Skin-to-skin contact: Skin-to-skin contact is a powerful way to bond with your baby and make them feel secure. Hold your baby close to your chest, and let them feel your warmth and heartbeat.
4. Pacifiers: Pacifiers are a tried-and-true method for soothing fussy babies. They can help satisfy your baby’s need to suck and provide a comforting sensation.
5. White noise: White noise can help drown out other sounds and create a calming environment for your baby. Try using a white noise machine or app to create a consistent background noise that can help soothe your baby.
6. Massage: A gentle massage can help relax your baby’s muscles and provide a soothing touch. Use gentle strokes and apply light pressure, paying attention to your baby’s cues and preferences.
7. Singing or humming: Your baby loves the sound of your voice, and singing or humming a lullaby can be a soothing way to help them relax and fall asleep.
8. An Adventure Babies mini parachute works really well and fits into the smallest of bags so can be taken wherever you go. It has small ties so that it can be attached to furniture at one end meaning you can give your baby the Adventure Babies experience at home! 

In conclusion, there are many different ways to soothe your baby, and it’s essential to find the techniques that work best for you and your little one. Remember, every baby is different, and what works for one may not work for another. Be patient and try different methods until you find what works for you. With time and practice, you’ll become a pro at soothing your baby, and both you and your little one will feel happier and more relaxed.

How to support your baby’s development –

 

In this short blog piece, we’re going to give you some great tips on what we think are the best ways to support your baby’s development through fun activities you can do at home and also whilst out and about.

 

Read to Support your baby’s Development

Reading to your little one has so many benefits. Your baby learns all of the sounds it needs to produce its native language before they reach 12 months old! How crazy is that!? Therefore, what better way to teach them about their new language than reading a good book. Reading can provide your little one with comfort, confidence, relaxation, and happiness as well as it being fun! Giving your child your undivided attention while you cuddle up together and read a story shows them that you have time for them. Not only does reading feed their imagination and ever building vocabulary but studies show it can also improve your child’s sleep too!

Sing

For small children singing teaches them about rhythm and rhyme as well as explaining their new found vocabulary in a creative way. Many nursery rhymes have a lot of repartitions in their choruses and verses which is great for making them memorable. It also promotes confidence and self-esteem ultimately making your little ones happy. Singing is an inclusive activity that can be enjoyed by everyone which also promotes social inclusion helping your little ones develop their social skills though music and song.

Talk

Talking to your baby should be part of your daily routine. Commentating on what you’re doing, such as, getting dressed or making their breakfast. Explain to them what you are doing when you’re doing it. It might feel silly at first but your little one will soon learn the routine and they will love hearing your voice telling them what’s going on. Another great way to build their vocabulary is to have a two way conversation with them, as it’s not all about filling their heads with words but also giving them the time to respond. If they’re babbling or cooing wait for them to finish what they are saying and then respond with what you think they may have been telling you. It’s a great way to encourage their voice and build their confidence.

Experience

Giving your little one as many new experiences as possible will really support your baby’s development. At adventure Babies, our sessions are filled with books, songs, sensory and messy play, bubbles, lights and so much more! Join an adventure babies class today and give your baby an amazing new experience and maybe make some mum mates too!

 

Take a look at the courses available near you here 

 

Stay in touch with our mum community here

 

This blog post is all about language and communication development in babies and toddlers which is so exciting because it is at the heart of why we do what we do at Adventure Babies sensory storytelling adventures. In this post we think more about what language and communication development actually is, why language development is important and what you can do as a parent to optimise this language and communication development.

 

What is language and communication development in babies and toddlers?

As humans we are blessed to be able to communicate through the use of individual sounds which build into an intricate way of communicating. Regardless of the language there is a natural sequence that always happens. Babies start with listening and identifying individual sounds before moving on to speaking. Speaking will start with individual sounds and progress to words and sentences. After this reading can be learned and after that writing links symbols to the sounds and words that children already know. These stages are all are essential for effective language acquisition. If we can hear the sounds, then we can repeat the sounds. This process of development begins from before day 1 with babies listening to their mother talking or reading whilst still in the womb!

 

Why is language and communication development important?

When a baby is acquiring language, they are using the whole of their brain to make mental connections and their whole brain is growing, this language is becoming part of their brain’s foundation during this process of absorbing. From birth to 3 years old babies and toddlers are making so many connections within their brain and language is so important because it is a huge foundation for how they will be able to learn in the future. Once babies get to 3 they go through a process called pruning, which is where they lose the mental connections, or synapses, that are not being used. Therefore, you have endless capability from birth to 3 years old as far as language! This is why it is so important to talk and read to your babies as much as possible within this time frame. There is a window of opportunity to give them a foundation that will set them up for success later on. This language is a key foundation for all learning. Children learn to read and then read to learn therefore helping children fall in love with books and reading is so important for their all-round and future development.

 

 

How can we optimise this?

You need to be at ease and have a loving environment for growth lovingly talk, read and sing to your baby. During the first days and weeks of life hearing language spoken, read and sung as often as possible. We can enhance this development by speaking using normal adult language which teaches vocabulary right from the start. Use afflictions to make your voice interesting to a baby but don’t use too many baby terms. Have as many adults as possible read to babies so that they hear different voices, accents and intonations. In addition to, this reading needs to be done with emotion and passion. Use different voices for the characters in a book and make sure the two characters talking have different voices. Babies are also really attracted to the rhythmic and rhyming type of books and often choose these again and again so having a selection of poetry books is a great tip.

 

Commentating about what is happening around you and your baby all the time will really help their language and communication development, for example, ‘Oohhh look at the green van coming along the road.” This gives babies new vocabulary and if giving them space to respond teaches the structure of a conversation and lets them know that they are expected to participate, modelling back to them their response allows them to hear the noise they made and make adjustments.

 

Listening to music and singing to your baby will support their language and communication development. Singing lullaby’s and songs with actions are brilliant for language acquisition, they are also a lot of fun for babies and toddlers. A certain type of music has also been recommended to help with development, enjoying classical music with your baby can be positive and very beneficial. It is at a certain vibration which is thought to be at a perfect harmony for development by some experts!

 

Let your child express themselves as much times as possible and give them as many chances to speak as possible. Encourage them to answer by leaving a pause for them and repeating back what sounds they make or say. Model correct speech and repeat anything that the child has said wrong rather that identifying that your child has made a mistake so as to encourage them in a positive way.

 

Less screen time is also recommended for babies because it is impossible for babies to learn language through the TV. As children get older this does change but when thinking about babies, they need the back-and-forth interaction, the serve and return experiences that real conversation offers, or by you talking to them and giving space for them to contribute by making sounds, or by the way our puppets tell stories at Adventure Babies. These are the best ways to enhance their language development.

 

Giving your baby a sensory basket with different items such as a variety of spoons from the kitchen drawer. This will give them something to play with, to touch and manipulate but if you talk to the m about the spoons, which ones are big or small or shiny or wooden you are giving your baby new language too and a chance to practice their back-and-forth communication.

 

The Top Tip for language and communication development…

however for language acquisition from experts is to read to your child! We would suggest coming along to Adventure Babies where you will have one of our highly trained baby development experts telling a story using all of the tips above to engage your baby, model to you a great way to read to your child and get to take part in so many activities that support their development in a nurturing and supportive environment where you can make other parent friends in your area!

 

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