Simulating Sense of Sight - Activity 1

Activity 1: Black, white and red images

From birth, the baby has a blur vision. Therefore, a baby can only see images with strong visual contrast. This is the reason why many baby products come in red, black and white.

For me, I used a set of black, white and red flash cards/pattern cards, and books to stimulate my baby’s sense of sight.

First allow the baby some time to look at the image and start talking to your child about the image. Describe the image by saying “This is a giraffe. This is its neck. It is long. Here is the eye.” You can even make the sound of the animal at this point in time. You will be surprise as some babies will try to imitate the sound that you are making.

* Try to show different shapes, curves, vertical lines and horizontal lines to your baby. As your baby grows older and reaches about 6 weeks, you can switch to images with smaller circles and more details. They can see better by 6 weeks.

These are some examples of the red, black and white flash cards.