Learning with dad - a smart start to life, part 5

One of the all-time favourite acitivities of dads with their babies and small children has got to be massaging them. From a very early eage on it's just superb to see how they totally love the feeling of being massaged. Well then again who doesn't like being massaged - why would babies and toddlers be different?

Basically you can never do too much massaging of your baby and it doesn't stop when they are a toddler. Here is a nice variation that teaches them about "bent" and "straight" and the concept of two sides to the body which you can use to introduce them to "left" and "right" (all of that as you are doing the massage).

Here's what you can do: Lay your child in the "crocodile position" as shown in the illustration. As you are massaging talk about the "straight" side and the "bent" side. After a while, get your little one to swap the bent/straight sides. That's it - easy!

Enjoy,

Stef

For more exercises like these check out Margaret Sasse's book "Smart Start". It's definitely a good investment of 30 bucks and you can buy the book in most bookstores or online at Exisle Publishing.