The importance of building opportunities for interaction with babies
Building opportunities for interaction is very important when supporting children to learn and develop key communication skills. These are skills that children will need in their lives, right through to adulthood, to be able to carry out simple everyday tasks. This can be difficult in a baby room where the children may have little or no language skills.
In order for children to build language and communicate effectively with others, they must first learn basic, non verbal communication skills such as pointing to request items and babbling in turn. These are some of the very basic skills that babies learn first, helping the, to understand the rules about social interactions. Without first acquiring these abilities, a child will not be able to progress onto developing language. For example you may find that a baby will babble back to you if you speak to them; this teaches the baby rules about taking turns in conversation.
Here are some ways to promote positive social interaction in your baby room;
Face to Face – One of the best way to promote and encourage good communication skills with a baby is lots of face to face! Ensure there are lots of opportunities for the baby to face you and observe your eyes and mouth as you communicate. This can be done by lying down in front of the baby or by sitting them on your knees facing you. There will be times when this wont be possible, for example when sitting on your lap to read a story; however make the most of the opportunity to pause and lean over to gain eye contact from the baby. They will learn so much about eye contact and even early language skills by observing the way your mouth moves when making particular sounds.
Be aware of visual over-stimulation – Baby rooms in nurseries are often filled with lots of bright colours, musical mobiles and display boards bursting with art work. However this can be very over stimulating for a child, especially a baby who is trying very hard to take in their surroundings. By providing a communication friendly environment, the baby will show a greater attention and find it easier to concentrate on building their social skills.
Talk to the babies – This may sound simple however when a baby is yet able to verbally respond, it can be easy to forget to do so. Babies love being spoken to and may not answer with words but will often respond with a big smile or a babble. For a baby to start learning language, they must be hearing it and understand that they can have an effect on other people through interaction. Whether it is whilst changing their nappy, eating dinner or just playing a game of peek-a-boo; talking is very important!
Keep the music to a minimum – Nursery rhymes playing in the background is a common occurrence in a baby room. It can help to soothe babies, especially at sleep time; however they shouldn’t be left on throughout the day as once again this can be very distracting for a baby who is trying to develop their social interaction. If music is playing constantly, it restricts the opportunity for a child to develop strong listening skills when someone is talking, which in turn can impact on the way they hear and eventually say words. It is best to keep music to a minimum, at specific times of the day.