Eye contact is an important skill for communication, social and emotional development in all children.  Below are some simple ideas to get kiddos of all ages 'looking in the right direction'.... 


Newborns

• Try propping your baby along your forearm, and cradle his/her head in your hand for support.  With your face 8-10 inches from baby, smile, sing songs, and enjoy those beginning moments of gazing into each others eyes and falling in love

0-6 months

• While on your back with knees to chest, lay your baby on their tummy, along your shins.  Slowly raise and lower your legs in a a game of "elevator," while making funny faces and sounds.
  
• Place your baby tummy down on a blanket.  Lay in front of your baby, talking gently, singing songs, and encouraging your baby to lift their head and hold themselves up.

Ages 1-3

• When your child brings you an item, get down to eye level.  Make comments and use a lot of facial expressions.
  
• If you're trying to get your child's attention and they are looking at or playing with something else, try this-- Touch their hand, wait for them to look up at you, and then talk to them.

Ages 4+

• If you're having trouble getting your child to look away from a device, the computer or TV, try answering yes and no questions without talking using a simple head nod/shake.  Doing this will encourage your child to stop what they're doing and look up at you to get their answer.
  

There are 44 sounds in the English language, which are developed at different times.  Some sounds are harder to make than others.   The easier sounds are learned earlier than the more difficult sounds.  The chart below can be used as a general guideline for ages that most children are able to say the consonant sounds.  The left edge of each bar represents the age that children begin to master the sound, and the right edge represents when 90% of children will master the sound.  If you have any concern about your child's speech development, it's best to seek the guidance of a speech and language pathologist.

Ok, let's admit it--- there are only so many times you can take the kids sledding, have a snowball fight, and create your very own Frosty...... now what??  Here is a surefire way to keep the kids busy!

Fill a big storage bin half way with snow and put it on the kitchen floor.  Then try these easy ideas:

• Give them different size and shape spoons for scooping
  
• Gather small toys to bury in the snow (bath toys work well)
• Use cups and pans (bunt pans work well) to mold the snow into snow castles (think sand castles)
• Fill spray bottles with water and a drop of food coloring- let the kids make rainbow snow.
• Let the kids build mini snowmen.  Use things around the house to decorate it.