Infant Early Learning Exercises & Tools

Flashcard Memorization

• Flashcard exercises work wonders for improving a baby's letter recognition, vocabulary and visual understanding. Make or buy large flashcards with single letters and an image to teach your infant the alphabet. Read through five to 10 flashcards, slowly saying the letter and pointing to it on the card. Depending on your child, you may have to take it very slowly and try only a few different letters per day. Repeat the exercises once or twice a day for several days, until the baby seems familiar with them.

Reading

• In addition to flashcards, read to your child on a regular basis. Even though infants will not learn to read for a while, choose books with large fonts and generous illustrations. Sit your infant on your lap and let him look at the words as you read them. Follow the words with your finger as you read slowly and clearly.

Labels

• Label things around the house once your baby learns the alphabet and some basic words. Place stickers or sheets of paper with large, bold letters that give the names of everyday objects so that your baby will learn to associate words with physical objects.

Make Learning Fun

• Infants aren't always the most willing students. Often, they'd rather roll around on the carpet and play with toys or eat snacks. You need to limit the length of exercises so your baby doesn't get distracted or bored before you're done. Lessons of five to 15 minutes work well for typical babies. Offer rewards in the form of praise, kisses or snacks for lessons, so that your infant will get used to learning and the rewards. Limit outside noise or other distractions like the radio or television to get the most out of the learning time.