The Power of Black and White: How Simple Sensory Patterns Can Enhance Your Baby's Development
Between the ages of 0-3 years, a child's brain produces more than a million neural connections each second - that's a lot of growing and developing in a very short space of time!
As parents, we want to give our babies the best start in life, and that means supporting their development in every way we can. Science has demonstrated that you can actually improve your little one's brain function and encourage mental development by surrounding them with strong visual stimuli. At birth, and until around 4-5 months, the strongest stimuli of all is black and white. Here's why:
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Black and white is the first combination of colours that babies can see.
According to research, babies are born with the ability to see only black, white and shades of grey. This is because their eyes are not yet fully developed and are not yet able to process the full spectrum of colours.
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Simple black and white patterns help to enhance your baby's vision.
Babies are drawn to high-contrast patterns, and black and white is the highest contrast combination of all. This means that simple black and white patterns provide your baby with a rich visual experience and helps to develop their vision.
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Sensory black and white patterns help to develop your baby's brain.
Babies are born with a natural curiosity and love to explore their surroundings. Sensory patterns and textures provide your baby with a fun and engaging way to explore and learn about their environment. This helps to stimulate their senses and encourages cognitive development.
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For the best baby sensory experience, think black and white, and spherical.
When choosing black and white patterns for your newborn, try to find those that are spherical in design. This is because it’s easier for immature eyes to work their way around a smooth circular shaped edge rather than navigate around corners. It is also believed to be something of a biological necessity, thanks to the fact that the first shape a baby seeks out and gazes upon is a circular nipple.
“Strong age-appropriate visual signals result in greater brain growth and faster visual development. This in turn has the effect of boosting a child’s attention span and inquisitiveness, whilst simultaneously improving memory and neural development.”
– Dr. Rachel Smith, GP and Mother
When it comes to newborn babies, the colours that shine brightest are black and white, and so by choosing sensory clothes and toys with the right shades and shapes you are playing an important role in supporting their critical early development. Indeed, by building yourself a toolkit of simple, high-contrast black and white patterns and spherical shapes, you can provide your baby with a rich visual experience that can help to stimulate their brain and support their overall growth and development, laying the foundations for all the important learning to come.