Your baby is born with more synapses (connections between neurons) than you have in your brain. Over time, experiences shape how these synapses are pruned. By about 3 years old, their brain will be 80% developed!
Your baby is born with several interesting cognitive functions, such as:
- • Tracking sounds and interesting visuals
- • Remembering your face, scent, and voice
- • Differentiating your native language from foreign languages
- • Paying attention to your facial expressions
- • Learning in their sleep (if only adults could do this too)
One trait that we found particularly interesting is that your newborn can actually visualize objects from touch alone. To test this at home:
- 1. Give your newborn a 3D object and let them hold it. Make sure they cannot see it.
- 2. When they drop the object, put it back in their hands. Repeat this a few times.
- 3. Present the object alongside another 3D object of a different shape and see which one they spend more time looking at.
Your baby will likely spend more time looking at the object that they have felt, which speaks volumes about their spatial reasoning and cognitive abilities!
Early experiences definitely help shape your baby’s brain. That’s why it’s incredibly important to have stimulating and age-appropriate materials for them to explore and play with.
