How to Stimulate an 8-Month-Old's Senses
All babies are unique and develop at their own pace, but by the age of 8 months there are certain things you can expect your infant to be doing, or starting to do. He is likely to be moving around on his own, either by crawling, pulling himself around on his belly or shuffling around on his bottom. He will be showing a much greater interest in the world around him than he did a few months ago. When it comes to stimulating his senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, the possibilities are endless.
Instructions
Give your baby toys with moving parts to stimulate his sense of sight. He will try to inspect these objects, observe how they come apart and fit together and try to figure out how they work. At the age of 8 months, he will be using his vision and fine motor skills, for example, to crawl over to the other side of the room, pick up a toy and stare at it. Look at books with your baby. According to the website Kids Health, he will love books with large, brightly colored pictures and images of familiar objects. Take your baby to different places to give him lots of new things to look at. Talk to your baby frequently throughout the day. Tell him what you're doing and what things are. Keep your language simple. This stimulates his sense of hearing and teaches him that everything has a name. By the age of 8 months, your baby is likely to be able to recognize common words, such as "toy," "milk" and "bath." You may find that if you ask, "Where's Daddy?" he will look in the direction of his dad. He will also respond to his own name and the word "no." Over the next month or so, he will start attempting to put sounds together to form his first words. Continue offering your baby a range of foods to stimulate his sense of taste and smell. According to Kids Health, it can take ten attempts or more before an infant learns to like a new food, so don't give up if he won't eat something after a few tries. Help your baby combine his senses of taste, smell and hearing by telling him what each food is and describing how it tastes, for example, "This honey is sweet." When it comes time for him to say the words himself, he will be equipped with all the tools he needs. Make sure you have removed all potentially harmful objects from your baby's environment, such as hot or sharp items or things that could pose a choking hazard. Give him the freedom to explore the range of textures and surfaces around him to stimulate his sense of touch. Let him play with his food to experience interesting new textures, for example, a mushy banana and cold ice cream. Give him things other than toys to play with, suggests Baby Center, such as a cell phone and plastic cups in different sizes. He'll enjoy examining these with his hands as well as his eyes as he tries to work out what they do.
