Good day everyone!
As you know, we have a new addition to our family and now I will more often delight you with games and benefits for the little ones.
Today, I want to tell you about

Why do babies need black and white images?
Really, for what?
Visual perception is of great importance in the development of the human brain; the bulk of information comes to a person through vision. Seeing objects, the baby tends to reach out to it with his hands, take it, crawl and walk towards it, because curiosity and a desire to explore everything he sees around him appear.

A little about age characteristics vision in children.

A child sees the world that surrounds him from the very first days, but only over time does he begin to understand what he sees.

Characteristic for newborns natural farsightedness(distinguish objects at close range), since their eyeball size is small and light rays from objects located far away converge behind the retina. He sees optimally at a distance of 20 - 30 centimeters, his field of vision is limited (left and right up to 30 degrees, and up and down no more than 10 degrees).

Up to two years, the eyeball increases by 40% of its original volume, by five years 70%, by 12 years it reaches the size of an adult eyeball.

One of the visual reactions of a newborn is an indicative reflex to light stimulation, a flashing object to which the baby reacts by turning his head.

In the first days of a child's life, the eyes move independently of each other - there is no coordination of eye movements. From 3-6 weeks the baby is already able to fix his gaze, but the duration of this reaction does not more than 1-2 minutes. With age, the duration of fixation becomes longer.

The newborn sees, but does not distinguish or differentiate colors. This feature of the human body is due to the fact that in the retina of the eye there are cells called “cones” and “rods”. “Cones” make it possible to see colors and their shades, while “rods” allow you to see only black and white drawings. In the first months of life, his “rods” work more actively, and his “cones” begin to develop intensively by 5-6 months, so the newborn sees only black and white pictures.

This suggests that you should not overload the child’s visual and nervous systems in the first months of life with a large number of bright toys around. For now, black and white pictures are perfect for him.

Up to 2 months of life, he distinguishes only high-contrast, clear images.
Black and white pictures are recommended for the development of good vision in children.

The perception of space in children is formed from the age of three months.

The perception of the shape of an object begins to form from the age of five months.

By 7-8 months, he begins to perceive the distance of objects.

Babies of the first months distinguish best between high-contrast images - black and white colors. The use of just such pictures stimulates the formation of connections between neurons in the cerebral cortex, spurs natural childish curiosity, develops attention, and calms down during periods of overstimulation.

You can make the pictures yourself - draw them with a black felt-tip pen, pencil, paints, gouache, or on a blank sheet of paper. Pictures can be different: geometric figures and patterns, animals and vehicles, birds and trees.
The size can also be any: in A4 format or 10*10 centimeters. They can be hung, pasted on cardboard in the form of a collage, on boxes, cubes, or on disks. You can stick them on the crib with tape, if you moved with the child to the kitchen (the mother, in addition to the baby, also does housework), then they can be bent in half and hung on the side or door handle, in any place where it is convenient for you and your child to fix your gaze on it. The drawings need to be positioned so that they are in the baby’s field of vision and no further than 20–30 centimeters from him.

Many mothers who want to help their baby develop as fully as possible have heard that to develop vision in children early age Various pictures are used. On this page we have selected a collection for you to print black and white pictures for newborns. If you already know what these are and how to use them, feel free to scroll where you will find a link where you can download and print a selection of 100 educational pictures for newborns. And if you want to understand why children need to look at patterns at all, read the short preface.

Why do newborns need visual development pictures?

Kids see this world differently than adults. Many structures of the eye (for example, the retina and ciliary body) are not yet fully developed at the time of birth. And the brain, in which only about 15% of neural connections are formed at the time of birth, cannot yet process such an amount of information. At first, all that a newborn can see is the mother's face, the nipple (the areolas of your nipples most likely darkened during pregnancy, and this is no coincidence) or the nipple on the bottle. But gradually the baby grows up, and more and more details of this amazing surrounding world are revealed to him. Mom and dad can help the baby develop by stimulating him with pictures that he can already see. It’s worth starting to teach your baby to recognize objects with the simplest forms. As a rule, these are black and white contrasting drawings depicting geometric objects, repeating patterns or large schematic objects. Such pictures can be hung where the baby spends time free from sleep, as well as where you lay him on his tummy, so that it is more interesting for him to learn to lift and hold his head.
As the child grows up, the pictures he looks at should become more complex.
Here is an approximate plan for the “looking around”:

Black and white pictures for the development of vision in newborns from 0 to 1 month

Educational pictures for newborns (from 0 to 1 month) should be very simple. It is worth showing your baby simple black and white patterns consisting of large elements, without fine lines or intricate details. In a newborn baby's eyes, the cells responsible for black and white perception (rods) are more active, and those responsible for color (cones) are not yet practically developed. Therefore, newborns hardly distinguish colors and any picture looks black and white to them. In addition, his ciliary muscles (the muscles in the eye responsible for focusing vision) are still very thin and weak. This is why the eyes of newborns appear “wandering.” At this age, the baby first of all develops the ability to distinguish the most contrasting objects and focus his gaze on them. Print black and white picture and attach it in a place where it will be convenient for the baby to look at it - for example, on the wall of the crib.

Black and white educational pictures for newborns from 1 month to 2-3 months

Show your child simple monochrome patterns. At the age of one month (and even a little earlier), the baby's eyes acquire the ability to focus on fairly close objects - you may notice that the child has begun to follow your actions when you are in his field of vision. The ability to track moving objects begins to develop. Play with your newborn - show him a developing picture, and then move it - at first just left and right, back and forth. At 2 months, complicate the trajectory of the picture when playing: move the picture along the wave, in a circle.

From 2.5 to 4 months. Black and white and color pictures.

At 3-4 months, the child begins to develop color perception. When your baby is 3 months old, start adding color to your ornaments—babies first begin to see red and yellow colors, then blue and green. Make two copies of the picture - monochrome and with added color, and show it to the baby alternately - let him record and comprehend the difference. Gradually move to fully colored pictures.

Colored educational pictures for children 4 months to six months

By the age of 4 months to six months, children can already see all colors and focus normally on objects at different distances. Good educational pictures for 4-6 one month old baby are complex ornaments - for example, all sorts of folk crafts are great - Khokhloma, Gzhel and the like. Show your child two pictures - at once or alternately, so that he looks from one to the other. When moving the picture, hide it behind some object - for example, behind a sheet of white paper. If the baby has already formed the idea that an object that has disappeared from his field of vision does not disappear, and, moreover, continues to move, he will try to trace the trajectory of the object behind the obstacle.

If you love creativity, you can draw such contrasting drawings yourself using cardboard and a marker or gouache. Well, if you don’t have time to draw, we suggest downloading a free set of educational drawings for your child from the link:

The development of a child in the first year of life depends almost entirely on his parents, and that is why it is so important to help the baby get comfortable in this big and very interesting new world. Pictures are a wonderful help in the development of children's vision, but the most important object for a baby on which he will learn to focus, distinguish colors and details is always his mother's face. Spend more time with your baby, smile at him and play with him, and his vision will develop without any deviations.

When Seraphim was born into our family, I was very actively interested in the Montessori method. I learned about the low bed and other principles of creation, and I also learned about Montessori mobiles and black and white cards. Then I found a lot of contrasting pictures, printed them out and hung them like a garland near the place where Sima spent time when she was not sleeping. Now many of my friends have newborn children and I remembered that it would be nice to make such material so that mothers could develop the vision of tiny babies :)

Why black and white pictures?

It's simple. You've probably heard that newborns have poorly developed vision. In the first days of life, a child's eyes move chaotically. After 20 days, the baby is able to hold his gaze on an object for a short time. Gradually, the child’s gaze develops and he can see further and more clearly.

Newborns also cannot distinguish colors. Yes Yes! This is due to the fact that the retina of the human eye contains special cells (rods and cones). With the help of rods we see contrasting black and white images, and cones allow us to distinguish colors. So, in the first month and a half of life, babies have more rods, and cones develop a little later.

To help your child learn to concentrate, you need to show him contrasting black and white pictures. The principle of introducing new images: from simple to complex. At first it can be the simplest lines, geometric shapes, then animal silhouettes and ornaments. From 2 months -, then more.

I have developed a set of pictures from simple to complex. The very first pictures are very simple, then there are silhouettes of animals of varying detail. Select first those silhouettes that have a clearer shape, and then enter more complex drawings. The most detailed in my selection are the patterns. Introduce them closer to 3 months.

| pdf

You should change pictures no more than once a week.

How to use black and white cards?

1. Hold the picture in your hands and just show it to your baby for a while, talk to him about something, let him hear your voice. The distance to the picture is no more than 30 cm.
2. Attach the picture to the wall of the crib or somewhere in the baby’s field of vision at a distance of no more than 30 cm.
3. Hang the card on your mobile so that the design is horizontal.
4. Place the picture in a frame and place it next to where your baby is feeding. When he eats, he will be able to carefully examine the drawing.

I will be very glad if this material helps you enjoy new things together with your newborn little man. Let him learn early to distinguish what he sees so that he can soon carefully examine your face!

It seems surprising, but the development of a child begins in the womb. Visual perception is manifested in the baby's reaction to bright light, auditory perception is that the tiny person hears noise from the outside and the beating of the mother's heart. And immediately after birth there is an excellent opportunity to stimulate vision by showing the newborn contrasting images. Read more in our article.

The benefits of pictures

The vision of a newborn baby is still far from ideal. In the first month of life, the baby still does not distinguish colors, sees blurry silhouettes of objects, and sees much better at close range.

A baby's vision actively develops in the first 6 months of life. Of course, simple observation of the world around us, looking at ordinary objects will in any case shape our vision. But the use of black and white pictures for infants will have a beneficial effect on both visual functions and the overall development of the child.

Such images have a particularly positive effect on:

• Development of concentration;
• Stimulation of visual perception;
• Feeling of color;
• Visual acuity;
• Sensitivity of the eyes to contrasts.

Looking at cards with different silhouettes brings daily life newborns are given new impressions that feed the inherent desire of all children to learn everything new. It is very good if the mother finds time for such unusual activities with the baby.

How to choose suitable pictures

The choice of images for classes depends on the age of the baby and the level of development of his visual functions. Available online a large number of black and white pictures for children to print, every mother can choose images for activities with her child that are suitable for his age:

Using the accessory

Classes with drawings can be carried out in a variety of ways:

• Just show printed or hand-drawn cards. You need to start from a distance of at least 30 cm: further the baby will not be able to distinguish the image. Let your baby focus on the drawing and take a good look at the details.
• Drawings can be hung on the walls of the crib so that the child can look at them independently while he is awake.
• You can also develop your eyesight while walking around the apartment by hanging images along the way you move with your baby in your arms: on the walls, mirrors, and refrigerator.
• An interesting solution would be to use a mobile for educational purposes: you can hang pictures or toys of matching colors and shapes that will slowly move in front of the eyes of a lying baby. Children already watch with interest the smooth movement of this device, but it will still perform a function useful for vision.
• In addition to visual stimulation, it will be useful in the first weeks of life to recreate for the baby the conditions to which he was accustomed in the womb. Measuring is common for babies. Many parents note the amazing ability of babies to calm down and fall asleep to the noise of a vacuum cleaner or hairdryer, which is why selections of various noises are so popular. This has a beneficial effect on the nervous system of the newborn.

Classes will be interesting and useful if you follow these simple tips:

• Gradually change the techniques for showing cards: starting with a simple demonstration, move on to smooth movements, change trajectories, position relative to the child’s eyes. Move slowly so that your child learns to follow moving objects with his eyes. Let the baby look at the image, then hide it behind a white sheet and show it again.
• Remember to change cards about every three days. If the baby is interested in a particular pattern, leave it longer.
• Classes should not be too frequent and intense: treat this without fanaticism, do not overdo it, otherwise the child will stop paying attention to the drawings and the element of cognition will disappear.
• Classes with black and white pictures for children are productive only if both mother and baby are in a good mood.

Black and white pictures for children - video

You can see examples of a wide variety of contrasting patterns for babies in this video. There are many images here that can also be displayed on tablet and computer screens.

The development of a child begins even before birth and progresses very quickly from the very moment of birth, and it is in your power to help the baby explore the world in a variety of ways.

The formation of the human brain occurs in the mother’s belly. And brain development after birth is facilitated by the emergence of new neural connections. And visual perception is of great importance in this important process.

A person receives more than 80% of information from the surrounding world through vision. Therefore, for a complete and harmonious development small child you need to stimulate his visual perception. How younger child, the more intensively he learns. From birth, children need new experiences and food for brain development. If the brain processes only sound stimuli, it is not working at full capacity, which means that it is very important to provide the child with the opportunity to see different objects as early as possible. A child's vision develops gradually. Until two or three months he does not distinguish colors. For this age, clear, contrasting black and white pictures are best suited, which are installed at a distance of 20-30 cm from the child’s eyes. You can use them as long as the child likes them and arouses his interest. Sarah Brewer's book Super Baby describes the role of black and white images in the development of children aged 0 to 3 months.

Excerpts from the book "Super Baby" by Sarah Brewer

Vision plays a decisive role in the development of a child. Seeing various items in front of him, the child wants to find out what it is. The desire to reach for objects, crawl, and roll over comes from natural curiosity and the desire to explore everything that the child sees around him. In the first two months of his life, he sees best at close range. A newborn baby's field of vision is more limited than an adult's. Presumably, the child’s field of vision includes objects that are no further than 30 degrees to the left and right of him, 10 degrees above and below and at a distance not exceeding 90 cm from his eyes. When he suckles, he naturally focuses his vision on objects located at a distance of 15 - 20 cm. Usually by two weeks the child begins to recognize the faces of his mother and father. His visual acuity is 10 to 30 percent less than that of an adult, so it is more difficult for him to recognize fine lines, which he sees as a blurry gray mass. The retina of the human eye contains photoreceptors such as rods and cones. Rods are cells that are sensitive to low light and movement and can only distinguish shades of black and white. Cones are cells that are responsible for daytime vision and allow you to see different colors and shades. Newborn babies enjoy contrasting black and white pictures more than color ones because at this age their rods work better than their cones. All other colors are seen by them as shades of gray. Since black and white colors are most easily recognized by children, the use of black and white pictures stimulates the formation of connections between neurons in the cerebral cortex, develops attention, stimulates natural childish curiosity and calms down during periods of overstimulation. Also, newborns prefer straight or broken lines rather than curved or wavy ones. In addition, they are attracted to simple, schematic images human faces. By the sixth week, the baby can clearly focus his vision on different objects at a distance of about 30 cm from him. He is especially attracted to simple images of faces and concentric circles in different options. The child studies the outer edges of the drawings more closely than their middle. The human brain is fully formed during the period intrauterine development. The number of neurons does not increase after birth; the brain develops due to the formation of new connections between neurons. The number of contacts between neurons in the area of ​​the cerebral cortex responsible for visual information begins to gradually increase in the first 2 months after birth. Between 2 and 4 months, the number of connections between neurons begins to grow sharply and increases by no less than 10 times. At this time, the child’s vision improves sharply, he can follow objects with his eyes and turn in the direction where the sound comes from. He begins to like more complex designs, rounded lines and shapes, rather than straight and broken ones. From the child’s behavior you can see that he remembers what he saw. Many children begin to distinguish colors by two months because the cones in the retina begin to work. But they supposedly don't see until they're three months old. Blue colour as good as yellow or red. By four months, the child distinguishes all colors and can focus his vision on both near and distant objects. He enjoys watching parents and other people, especially children. He still prefers curved lines to straight lines and pays attention to more complex designs. At 4 - 5 months, the child begins to reach for objects that he sees; at 7 - 8 months, he can grab objects and try to put them in his mouth. A child whose visual perception is constantly stimulated is usually calmer and more alert while awake than a child who is deprived of such stimulation. The number of connections between neurons in the visual cortex peaks at 8 months of age, remains highest until four years of age, and gradually decreases by half over the next five years. Consequently, binocular vision develops during the first four years of life, and by the age of four it is fully formed. Visual acuity is practically established by the age of five and is finally formed by the age of ten.

What pictures for newborns do the little ones like - the benefits of pictures for the development of babies

Children are incorrigible researchers who begin to study the world as soon as they learn to hold their heads up and grab their mother’s finger. The vision of a newborn is more modest than that of an adult -The baby can clearly see objects only at close range . Further, visual capabilities change in accordance with age. And along with them comes interest in certain pictures.

• At 2 weeks“from birth” the baby is already able to recognize the face of his mother (father), but it is still difficult for him to see fine lines, as well as to distinguish colors. Therefore at this age the best option- pictures with broken and straight lines, simplified images of faces, cells, simple geometry.
• 1.5 month The baby is attracted to concentric circles (moreover, more so by the circle itself than by its center).
• 2-4 months. The baby's vision changes dramatically - he already turns to where the sound is coming from and follows the object. Pictures with 4 circles, curved lines and more complex shapes, animals (in a simple image) are suitable for this age.
• 4 months. The baby is able to focus his gaze on an object at any distance, distinguishes colors and observes the world around him. Curved lines of drawings at this age are more preferable, but complex drawings can already be used.

How to use black and white pictures for newborns - first games with pictures for children under one year old

• Start with the simplest lines. Maintain a clear black/white contrast.
• Change images every 3 days.
• When the baby shows interest in the picture leave it for a longer time- let the baby study it.
• Pictures can be drawn by hand on paper and hang it directly in the crib, stick it on the walls, refrigerator or on large cubes. As an option - cards that can be shown to the baby one by one, a contrasting soft ball with black and white drawings, an educational mat, a book, a carousel with drawings, collages, etc.
• Show your baby pictures while you walk around the apartment with him, feed him or put him on his tummy. A visually rich space (and constant visual stimulation) has a direct link to baby's restful sleep.
• Don't show your baby too many pictures at once and watch the reaction. If he doesn’t focus his eyes on the drawing and shows no interest in it at all, don’t be upset (everything has its time).
• Distance from the child's eyes to the image at the age of 10 days - 1.5 months - about 30 cm. Size of drawings - A4 format or even a quarter of it.
• From 4 months images can be replace with colored, complex and “hygienically clean”- the baby will begin to pull them into his mouth. Here you can already use high-quality toys with black and white drawings and cartoons for the little ones (movement of black and white lines and shapes to the right music).
• And, of course, do not forget about such nuances of the development of visual perception as communication with the baby at a distance of 30 cm, contact using smiles and “faces”, exercises with rattles(from side to side so that the baby follows her with his eyes), new impressions (tours around the apartment with a demonstration of all interesting objects).

Practical implementation of black and white ideas

You can draw pictures yourself on a white sheet of paper with a black bold marker, black gouache or ink, or print them out ready-made templates. Subject of drawings:

• geometric shapes (familiarity with shapes),
• emoticons (study of emotions),
• vegetables fruits,
• silhouettes of animals and insects ( Live nature),
• just broken lines, punctuation marks, etc.

The sizes of the pictures can be different, from ¼ A4 to A4 (a whole sheet), since the real objects that surround the child are also not the same in size. It will soon become clear which of them is more interesting for the child. You can post pictures on cardboard boxes, on boxes of perfumes, light bulbs, discs and cassettes, so that they can be conveniently placed in front of the child.

Pictures can be either flat (drawn on a piece of paper) or three-dimensional (drawn on cylinders, cubes, etc.). Cubes can be useful in the future, when the child grows up and will not just look at them, but play with them, study them. letters and numbers. Pictures can be static (drawn) or moving, when cut black figures (stripes, circles, hearts, butterflies, etc.) are attached to a bar in front of a white background and move slightly from any light breath. The pictures can also be placed as an overlay on the side of a crib.

There are no specific recommendations on when to move from the simplest pictures (squares, triangles, straight lines) to more complex ones. The child himself will make it clear that he is interested by carefully looking at some pictures and quickly skimming others. It is not necessary to cover the pictures with tape, since they are intended for an age when children will not put them in their mouths.

You can make a mobile (carousel), which hangs above the crib, from black and white pictures pasted onto cardboard. Some companies produce ready-made black and white toys (mobiles) and educational rugs. From four months you can replace black and white pictures on your mobile phone with color ones.

There are also black and white Wee See baby cartoons in which geometric shapes smoothly move across the screen and flow into each other to beautiful melodic music.

Website materials used: