Your 9-month-old’s sensory learning

By 9 months, many of your baby’s sensory systems are getting more sophisticated. For example, they can see distinctly across the room and tell the difference between people they have seen before and those that are new. They love looking at moving objects like animals, fans, balls, and flowing water. 

Over the next few months, your baby’s ability to distinguish sounds will improve as well. They already know that two objects (like blocks) banged together make a sound. Soon, they will learn that many living things, (like people) make sounds on their own and that some objects (like a microwave or washing machine) can also make a specific sound.  

During the first 8 months of your baby’s life, they went through a period of sharpening their sensory skills—coordinating them with one another, learning how to use their hands and fingers, improving their balance, and tuning into language sounds and the common sights around them. 

Over the next year or so, your baby will learn to relate objects to events and establish more complex associations in their brain (such as cause-effect sequences). Your baby is on the verge of becoming a thinker who plans and makes decisions ❤️

Sensory skills practice for your baby

1. Expose your baby to different sounds—the more “real life” the better. Show your baby each object as it makes the sound. Whistle, ring a doorbell, or turn on the dryer in front of your baby. 
2. Put an object your baby is already familiar with—like a ball, block, or wooden ring—into a bag or sensory pouch when they aren’t watching. Encourage them to put their hand in the bag and touch the object. Say “What is it?” and when they pull it out, you can say with excitement, “It’s a ___!” 
3. Let your child mouth safe objects as long as they want to. Helping them thoroughly work through a stage in development is far more valuable than trying to rush them to do something else with the object (like putting the ball in the hole or shaking the rattle). 
4. While you are holding your baby, let them try to turn on the faucet so they can see what happens. Start with your hand over theirs, and then help them keep their grasp as you both push and pull. With these activities, your baby can see how specific objects around the house are activated.

The Thinker Play Kit

The Thinker Play Kit encourages your 11 – 12 month old baby’s curiosity as they start solving problems, working on hand strength and investigating everything in their path.

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The Block Set

A brilliant set of 70 quality solid-wood blocks for building spatial, language, and problem-solving skills for more than 20 stage-based activities. See inside The Block Set by Lovevery.

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