Hi everybody!
In the first few months of a child's life, they are only able to see things in black, white, and grey and only 8-12 inches away from their face. It is advised to use high-contrast (black and white) visual stimuli to focus and strengthen their eye development. So today I am going to show you 5 different ways you can use high-contrast flashcards to entertain your newborn.
Before we can put together these DIY projects, you will need to find some high-contrast flashcards to print. Here are the links to the 2 that I found. I liked these in particular because they were the same size, making it super simple to make the cards front & back.
Once you have the flashcards you like, then you would just need to cut them out, laminate, and punch holes in all 4 corners.
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Of course the most obvious thing you can do with these cards, is put them on a ring to make traditional flashcards. This allows you to be able to take them on the go to the doctor's office or anywhere you might be for a longer period of time and would need some quick entertainment. Aside from that there are 5 other projects you can put together for your little one.
1. FLASHCARD WALL DECOR
The first official activity you can do with these cards is to adhere them to the wall down at baby's eye level. I happened to print 2 copies in preparation for this video so I just put one whole sheet on the wall like a poster. You could do the same by making this activity your first step before cutting them apart. Or you could simply adhere each individual card to the wall. This method is visually stimulating for the baby, but is also cute wall decor for the parents.
2. FLASHCARD ACCORDION BOOK
Next, we are going to put together an accordion-style book that can then be stretched along their mat or crib. I like this particular method for when the baby starts to roll. As they move and roll along a mat, they will still have something to admire.
All you would need is masking tape and the cards. Just connect the sides of 2 cards with a strip of masking tape, leaving a little space in between the cards. Then you would flip them over and put another strip of masking tape over the first. Now you will be able to fold the cards like the pages of a book. All you have to do is connect all the cards this way in a long line. When you are finished you can cut off any excess tape along the edges.
3. HIGH-CONTRAST CUBE
In order to do this particular activity, you would need one of these pocket cubes from Amazon. I happened to find mine at the thrift store a few years ago but they were also selling similar ones recently in the dollar section at Target for $5. I love this pocket cube for its versatility with different activities. All you have to do is put a card in each pocket and you have an instant toy for your baby. While your baby is laying down (either on back or tummy time) they can enjoy the pictures in a vertical position. Because this is a soft cube toy, this method can grow with your child as they are able to more easily play with toys. If you don't have one of these pocket cubes, another option is to adhere these cards to the sides of a cardboard box or any other cube shape you can find around your house.
4. HIGH-CONTRAST HANGING LINKS
For this activity you would need either an activity center play mat that has the links to hang objects or have the links themselves that can be purchased separately. From there all you need are binder rings to put through opposing holes on the cards and then hang them from the links. I have attached these links to both our activity mat and our car seat handle. My newborn has been obsessed and can stare at these with no issues for at least 20 minutes at a time.
5. HIGH-CONTRAST MOBILE
The final activity is based on the same concept as before, but instead of the cards hanging vertically, this time they will lay flat allowing the baby to see them straight on. All you need for this project is a baby hanger, string, scissors, and of course the flashcards. You will need only 3 flashcards with 4 pieces of string for each one. Two of the cards will hang at the same length and the third card will hang lower so make sure to cut the strings accordingly. Now you would tie a string to each hole on the card, then the other ends of those strings you would bundle together with a knot. Then tie this to the hanger with an additional knot. Repeat this process with the 2 additional cards.
There are also an endless amount of products out there that you could purchase. For instance, we got our newborn this Baby Einstein Floor Mirror that comes with high-contrast flashcards you can attach on the other side. She gets a big smile with every card we show her and she can be entertained with this toy for long periods of time.
Before we were able to make this purchase (and before making all of these projects) we would also use our baby books that taught colors and propped them open on the black and white pages for her to look at as well. Moral of the story, there are plenty of ways to entertain your newborn and encourage them to strengthen their eye development.
Those are the 5 activities you can put together using the same sheet of high-contrast flashcards. You can change them out according to babies age and development. My newborn has been enjoying the ways we have tried so far and I can't wait to see how she likes the other ones as she grows. Thanksforreading.
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