Babies learn even from household items

New York: Do you know toys, appliances and even a sofa and coffee table can impact when your little one takes her first baby steps? All these items significantly impact the way a baby first crawls, walks or achieves other growth milestones, but many parents are unaware of it.

Priscila Cacola, an assistant professor of kinesiology in the UT Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation, co-developed a simple questionnaire for care givers of infants aged 3 to 18 months that she says can aid in the evaluation of toys and other items in the home known as home affordances.

Cacola said the tool could help parents better assess items for motor skill development or help infants do something like learning to walk. ”When parents buy toys, they are rarely thinking 'I wonder if this is going to be great for my child's motor skills', but if they look at the questionnaire, they can choose to buy toys that are different or that offer different opportunities for their infants," said Cacola.

If a toy is cranked and pops up, the child might want to go grab it, which could lead the child to walking. But the challenge is the thing that stimulates that child to begin walking, Cacola added. "Developing a child's motor skills is extremely important because motor development is actually the mediator of cognitive, social and emotional development," Cacola said.