Soothing Sounds Firefly

Developmental Benefits

Language Development

Motor Skills

Sensory Development

Tactile Stimulation

Developmental Benefits

Soothing Sounds Firefly

Introduces the alphabet, letter sounds and vocabulary.
Babies start to babble at an early age and this can be seen as the first signs of language. They are predisposed to pick up the sounds of the language that they hear around them. Adults can facilitate babies’ language development by playing with them, focussing on particular toys, reading books and naming everyday objects. The more babies are exposed to language the faster they will begin to pick up it up. There are social skills involved in language acquisition such as realising that it is necessary to wait until the other person has finished speaking. Babies begin to learn about conversational turn-taking from an early age; if a baby is babbling the adult waits for a pause and then talks to the baby. Babies learn to take turns even before they are using words. Social interaction is important for language development and turn-taking games are a fun and educational way for babies and young children to learn.
Young children also need to practice their language skills. Toys that name alphabet letters and everyday words satisfy young children’s need for repetition and rehearsal when practicing words and sounds. For instance, young children can press a button repetitively to hear the same sound or word again. Babies and children learn a lot through repetition and pick up words rapidly in this way. Once children begin to read their vocabulary expands enormously.

Encourages fine motor skill development.
An infant’s growth and development in the first year of life is rapid. Many movements that young babies make are in preparation for the next stage of their development. When young babies watch a mobile they are constantly moving their head, arms, legs and even their mouths in response to the movement of the toy. Sound and movement attract a baby’s attention; if a toy is placed almost within reach of babies their movements become more animated. Bath toys provide opportunities to develop and use motor skills to great effect. For example, a young baby has greater control over their leg movements than their arms. You will often see young babies in a bath reaching with their legs towards a floating toy and kicking. All these movements strengthen muscles in readiness for the next stage - walking.
As babies develop they become more adept at grasping objects. Young infants learn to grasp an object, for instance a cube. The grasping, at first, is quite clumsy but through repetition, and across time, infants become adept at grasping and develop fine motor skills. Infants first use the ulnar grasp where their fingers close against the palm when trying to hold an object. Within another month they are able to move the object from hand to hand. After the first year, infants adopt the ‘pincer grasp’ where they use their thumb and index finger to grasp even very tiny objects. Shape sorters help infants to fine tune their visual perception and hand coordination. Soon infants are building towers with two cubes; this also requires fine coordination skills. As the child grows computer games have been shown to help with hand and eye coordination. Spatial skills can also be enhanced when playing games that require concentration, quick responses and finely tuned motor skills.

A variety of textures, visuals and sounds stimulate sensory development.
Sensory development is intimately related to motor development. Babies are born into a world that stimulates their senses and to which they react. These reactions are bodily movements which create learning experiences. Sensory development in babies can be facilitated through toys that provide opportunities for them to experience sounds, visuals and textures. Young infants need to be presented with an adequate but not too great amount of sensory stimulation.
From an early age babies use touch to investigate their world; as they learn to reach they begin to run their tongue and lips over toys and then look at them. Tactile stimulation is also combined with other sensory information. Babies can perceive input from different sensory systems in a unified way; for instance, vision and touch are closely coordinated when using a shape sorter. Babies who handle shapes and also fit them through a hole are learning to solve problems through touch and sight. Infants also learn about the links between sights, sounds and feel of toys when these are demonstrated by adults. They begin to associate the sight and sound of a rhythmically shaken rattle or the nursery rhyme played by a particular toy. During the first year of life infants’ visual development is rapid and they begin to identify objects through shape, colour and texture. They also develop the ability to visually track objects. Toys give babies and young children many opportunities to enhance their sensory development.

Mixture of different textures provide stimulation for baby.
Babies learn about the world through their senses. The sense of touch is intimately linked with other senses such as sound and vision. Babies are provided with stimulation from more than one sensory system at the same time; this is termed intermodal perception. They learn about the sounds that different objects make when they bang or touch them. Toys that are have different textures and shapes facilitate infants’ learning. Babies put toys and other objects in their mouths from an early age. They also begin to reach for and grasp objects and then move toys from one hand to another. Toys that are made of different materials and are different shapes stimulate young infants to grasp, mouth and shake them. Babies then gain greater motor control and begin to pick up small objects with their thumb and index finger. They also begin to bang objects together. This combines tactile and auditory stimulation; they feel the vibration and also hear the sound.
Bath time play is an excellent opportunity for tactile stimulation. Bath toys that are small and lightweight so that young babies can grasp them are excellent stimulus materials. Babies and young children can learn from handling toys in the water; there are many opportunities for grasping, squeezing and squirting water from objects. Tactile stimulation and learning is also experienced when infants and young children feel the weight of a toy when they have filled it with water and then after they have poured the water away. These types of experiences help young children to learn about the shape, pattern, surface, texture and weight of objects through touching them.

Best for ages:

Birth+

Highlights

Soft firefly with colour changing light. 15, 30 or 45 minute timer. Buttons trigger melodies, nature sounds, songs and more.

Description

Relaxation has never been this soothing, with the Soothing Sounds Firefly! This soft and cuddly firefly features a magical colour changing light to soothe little one. Enjoy relaxing melodies, adorable sing-along songs and fun phrases when pressing firefly's heart button. Pressing the leaf button plays calming nature sounds, whilst the moon button triggers soothing lullabies. Watch firefly's light gently change colour with the music! Colourful ribbons and different fabric textures provide tactile stimulation for added soothing. Enjoy a total of 33 relaxing melodies and songs, with a 15, 30 or 45 minute timer to suit little one's needs.

WARNING: Keep this soft toy out of the sleeping environment for babies under twelve months to avoid suffocation risk.

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Soothing Sounds Firefly

Developmental Benefits

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Soothing Sounds Firefly

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