Vision develops only when it is engaged .
Babies spend their first weeks and months of life learning to see the world. During this period, such skills as gaze fixation, friendly movements of both eyes, depth recognition, development of visual-tactile reactions, and spatial perception develop. Initially, the more visual information your baby receives, the more actively his brain develops. Therefore, a child whose environment is visually enriched is more calm and attentive during wakefulness than a child deprived of stimulation.
The first and most important visual objects that have a stimulating effect on the development of a baby’s vision from birth are the faces of mom and dad. Therefore, look at your child as often as possible, communicate with him, smile.
In second place are contrasting black and white structured images that the baby can “examine.” Looking at how my Main Reader liked to look at the autumn black tree branches against the light sky, I always regretted that we didn’t have a panda, a zebra, or at least a Dalmatian at home.
The period from birth to six months is extremely important for the development of a child’s vision, since it is during this time that the eyeball, the pathways leading from it to the brain, and those parts of the brain that are responsible for receiving and processing visual information are most quickly and intensively formed. Psychophysiologists are considering this age period, as critical for the formation of the visual system. It is the first six months of a child’s life that is the most sensitive to external stimulation time for the development of the visual system, optimal for conducting classes. As a result of such exercises, visual functions improve: light perception, visual acuity, color perception, contrast sensitivity, field of vision. Classes can be carried out on a changing table, in a crib, on a bed, etc., but it is better that the light source is behind the baby’s head, i.e. It is more convenient to place the child’s head towards the window.
In the first months of life, it is important to develop two visual skills: to fix and examine an object, and to trace it. Here are a number of exercises with pictures for fixation and tracing that will help your baby ( F - fixation, P - tracking):
0-1 month:
At birth, your baby's field of vision is limited - 30 degrees to the left and right of him, 10 degrees above and below, at a distance of no more than 90 cm from the body. His vision is 10 to 30 percent less sharp than yours, making it harder for him to see fine lines. He sees them as a blurry gray mass. In addition, newborns benefit from contrasting black and white patterns more than colors because during this period their rods (cells in the retina that are sensitive to low light and only distinguish between black and white) work better than their cones (cells that see colors). in bright light). In the first month of life, babies prefer simple geometric shapes, checks, stripes, dots, straight and broken lines over curved and wavy ones.
Already at 10 days, the baby can keep a moving object in his field of vision (stepped addition), and at 20 days he can focus his gaze on a stationary object and on the face of an adult talking to him. By the end of the month, he tries to follow a slowly moving black and white object or the face of an adult at a distance of 20-30 cm. He notices objects and examines them for a short time.
F: Show and also attach sheets of paper with black and white contrasting designs to the walls of the crib. Change them as difficulty increases. This will help the baby focus his eyes. Black and white photographs of mom and dad will also work.
It is useful to make a black and white mobile for your child. You can hang it on a hanger, having previously made notches on it for threads, or on crossed pencils. It’s even easier to buy a ready-made rotating mobile in the store and temporarily change the hanging toys to black and white ones.
P: Show your baby a picture at a distance of about 30 cm from the eyes. The child will notice her and fix her gaze on her. Slowly move the picture to the right, then to the left (horizontal tracking). In the future, bring the picture closer to the baby and remove it again (20cm - 1 meter - vertical tracking).
1 - 3 months:
The baby can clearly focus his vision on objects at a distance of about 30 cm and usually begins to smile and examine the details of his face and patterns. He is especially attracted to images of circles, rings, spots. In addition, he will look more closely at the outer edges of the drawings than at the middle.
The child is already following the object when he is taken a little to the side. Within 1-2 minutes he can visually concentrate on a stationary object. By the end of the third month of life, he turns his gaze to an object that appears in the field of vision: from the side, from above, from below. He follows an object moving in all directions at a distance of 20-80 cm. He waits for the appearance of an object that has disappeared from his field of vision.
F: Pictures can be hung on the walls throughout the house - the baby can already visually focus in an upright position (in the arms of an adult), so interesting walks await him.
P: At this age, complicate the trajectory of objects for tracking. To the horizontal and vertical movements of the picture in a straight line, add tracking along two diagonals, in an arc, in a circle, following the wave-like movement of the picture. Now you can trace pictures not only while lying on your back, but also vertically in the arms of your mother or father, and while lying on your stomach (when the baby holds his head confidently). Tracing objects in a circle can be trained using a mobile device by removing all objects from it except one.
3 - 4 months:
The baby begins to like more complex drawings; straight and broken lines are replaced by curved lines and shapes.
In addition, he remembers what he saw, watches a moving object, shifts his gaze and turns his head in its direction. During this period, the development of color perception occurs because the cones in the retina begin to work intensively.
F: You can introduce color (it’s worth trying from two months; in some children, cones mature earlier). At first, the baby is able to perceive red and yellow colors, a little later - green and blue. Then you can show any colors in in no particular order and combinations.
To fix the color, show your baby alternately, with an interval of 30 seconds, two pictures with a flower, differing only in color (they have the same shape and size). Do the same to fix the shape with images of a butterfly and a Christmas tree (the color of the objects is the same). 
P:
1. Take one of the pictures and a thick sheet of white paper of the same size. Show your baby the picture at a distance of 30-50 cm. Make sure he has fixed it, and then cover half of the picture with a white sheet. After 30 seconds, show the whole picture again.
2. Do the same thing, but this time hide not half, but the whole picture at once behind a white sheet.
3. Take two pictures and a white sheet of paper, folding them one by one, like a deck of cards: a picture, a white sheet, another picture. Show your child the first picture, and after he fixes it, remove it to the end of the “deck”. A white sheet will appear. After 20-30 seconds, show the second picture. The baby will be surprised.
4-6 months:
By 4 months, the child sees all colors and can focus his vision on both near and distant objects, the images received from the right and left eyes begin to combine into one - the baby develops binocular vision and visual depth perception. He will still prefer curves to straight lines and strive for more complex drawings. At this age, kids love to look at folk crafts - Zhostovo trays, Khokhloma, Gzhel, ornaments and carpet patterns. It turns out that in addition to receiving aesthetic pleasure, contemplating them is an excellent training for the child’s visual system - they have rhythm, symmetry and asymmetry, clarity and precision of the composition.
F: Show your child two pictures at the same time. The baby will look from one drawing to another. Show your child the picture reflected in the mirror.
P:
You will need a picture and a thick sheet of white paper about 40 cm wide. Show the picture to the baby at a distance of 50-60 cm. Let the child fixate it. Then slowly move it horizontally into the child's field of vision. After 2-3 displays, take a white sheet with your other hand and hold it in front of the child’s eyes so that the picture disappears behind it along its path and then appears on the other side.
If the child has already formed an understanding that an object that has disappeared from the field of view, firstly, does not cease to exist, and, secondly, continues to move, then you will be able to see how the baby will turn his gaze to the place where the picture will appear from behind the sheet.
You can draw black and white drawings yourself, or you can print out the same ones as ours.
To obtain printed materials, you can Here: ( black and white pictures and ready-made scans for homemade mobiles, color pictures, Khokhloma, Gzhel, ornaments and carpet patterns).
It remains to be said that moderation and good mood mother and baby. Play when the baby is happy, calm and not very tired, for example, after feeding. Do not get carried away only by visual-indicative reactions. For holistic development, it is important to stimulate and interact with all the child’s sensory organs: hearing, touch, smell, taste. And remember that the most important thing for the development of the visual system is not the number and variety of pictures, but mother’s smiling face.
List of used literature:
1. Sears W., Sears.M. Your baby from birth to two years. - M.: Eksmo, 2010. - 912 p.
2. Ivanova L.V. I am a mother. Health and development of the child from birth to one year. - St. Petersburg: Publishing House “Neva”; M.: “OLMA-PRESS Grand”, 2002. - 448 p.
3. Brewer S. Superchild. Before birth and after. - M.: Potpourri, 2003. - 256 p.
4. Results of psychological and pedagogical research neuropsychic development children of the first year of life, incl. N.M. Kelovanov, S.M. Krivina, E.L. Frucht, K.L. Pechora, G.V. Pantyukhina, L.G. Golubeva and others.
Most of the information about everything that surrounds us, i.e. About 80% a person receives through vision.
Therefore, when a child is born, in order for him to fully develop, stimulation of his vision is necessary.
From birth, the child carefully studies everything around him, and he constantly needs new and new impressions. A newborn reaches out for everything he sees, and it is this desire that is decisive for his development.
The child turns over, subsequently crawls to everything that interests him, and thus learns about the world.
When do children begin to see?
Children begin to see from birth; they are born with this ability. In the first two to three months, children distinguish only black and white pictures; everything else appears to them as shades of gray.
In addition, the newborn sees better at close range.
The radius of his vision is limited: to the right and left - at an angle of thirty degrees, up and down - at an angle of ten degrees. The distance of the object from the baby should not exceed ninety centimeters. Accordingly, during breastfeeding, the baby focuses his attention on all objects that are at a distance fifteen to twenty centimeters.
Two weeks after birth, the child begins to distinguish between mom and dad.
The peculiarity of his vision is such that when the baby looks, he distinguishes only clear, not blurred black and white lines and figures. Children see other colors as shades of gray. This feature is associated with the structure of the human eye. The retina of the eye contains a number of cells called cones and rods. Rods allow you to see only black and white objects and pictures, while cones allow you to see colors and their shades. When a child is born, his rods work more actively, so he sees everything in black and white.
Cards and pictures
There can be as many of them as you like. It is quite acceptable to draw pictures yourself using a black felt-tip pen or marker, pencil, gouache, watercolor or ink, or you can download ready-made drawings. They are easy to download from our website, print and use for activities with newborns.
Pictures can be made in various sizes: 10x10 cm or the size of an A4 page.
Black and white drawings can contain images of any objects: vegetables and fruits, geometric shapes, trees, schematic images of faces, numbers, letters, etc.
You can choose different sizes of black and white diagrams, since objects in the surrounding world also differ in size.
To develop good vision in newborns, they should be placed at a distance of thirty centimeters from the eyes of newborns: during the first two months, children focus their vision best at this distance.
To do this, just download them, print them, cut them out and stick them on the desired surface. Based on black and white schemes, cartoons for babies were even filmed, where black and white pictures for newborns float across the screen accompanied by pleasant, calm music.
Black and white pictures for newborns, if used in the first three months of a child’s life, can bring him considerable benefit.
Pictures with colored elements (red and blue)
Video
Application results
According to scientists, children are born with the same number of neurons, after birth are starting to install connections between neurons.
The more children can see and observe, the more connections are made.
When a child looks at black-and-white diagrams, connections between neurons are established, which are most activated by eight months and continue to remain at the same level until four years of age. It was noticed that children who are taught using black and white drawings show more attention and calmness during the waking period. Visual stimulation is beneficial for children's development.
How long can you spend studying with pictures?
The child himself will tell you how many, when and what kind of black-and-white pictures for newborns to show: he will look at some black-and-white pictures with interest and glance at others only occasionally.
Classes to develop good vision in newborns using black and white drawings should be carried out in the first two to three months.
At four months, black and white pictures for newborns are no longer relevant, since by the age of three months babies begin to recognize Blue colour, and then yellow and red, are able to focus their gaze on objects located close and far.
For the active development of a child after three to four months, more complex color images will be required.
A mobile above a baby's crib with black and white elements can be made not only of paper, but also of fabric. conclusions
So, when babies begin to see and distinguish the lines of clearly defined objects, i.e. By approximately 2 weeks after birth, parents can use black and white pictures to develop newborn vision. You can easily download them on our website or draw them yourself.
How many pictures are needed?
The more images the baby sees, the better. Of course, this does not mean that images should flash before your eyes. Let the child stop looking and study what he sees: he himself will make it clear that the images have become no longer interesting to him. Take a closer look at the baby’s facial expression, follow his emotions, and you will understand what else is necessary for your child’s development.
The child is constantly exploring the world around him. At first, he listens with interest to all the sounds around him. And later he begins to study his body: fingers, arms, legs, face. The baby, being in his mother’s belly, may already experience feelings, feeling sad with his mother, or smiling when he sleeps.
Once, during a consultation about lactostasis in a nursing mother, I happened to see black and white pictures for newborns, according to which the mother was engaged in the development of the baby. The situation was a little paradoxical: my mother’s temperature was below 40, and she told me that I shouldn’t miss classes with my one-month-old baby, because it helps him develop faster.
I became interested in what kind of technique this is and I’ll tell you about it today.
How are black and white pictures useful?
Studying black and white pictures helps to form:
- color perception;
- line of sight;
- visual acuity;
- contrast sensitivity.
The period from birth to six months is the active stage for the formation of the newborn’s vision system. Therefore, visual stimulation has a beneficial effect on the overall development of the newborn.
Which pictures should I choose?
In fact, the conditions of this technique allow you to use your imagination; the only condition when creating your own types of black and white blanks is to take into account the rules of use. It’s not at all difficult to find black and white pictures to print, or to redraw them. When choosing pictures, you can focus on the age of the newborn:
- The first month of life (learn about how the baby develops during this period from the article: What should a child be able to do at 1 month?>>>):
- simple geometric shapes;
- dots, cells;
- straight, wavy and broken lines.
- Up to 3 months inclusive (read about what a child at 3 months can do in the article: What should a child at 3 months be able to do?>>>):
- outlines of animals;
- figures of different sizes and shapes.
- The period is from 3 to 4 months (what changes at this age can be found in the article: What should a child be able to do at 4 months?>>>):
- complicated forms;
- drawn emotions;
- From 4 months to 6 (a child at six months is already changing a lot, unlike a newborn. Read more about development in the article What should a child be able to do at 6 months? >>>):
- simple ornaments;
- carpet patterns;
- Khokhloma painting.
Use limit only black and white version 4 months, after 4 months you can add other colors.
Important! You should not focus on developing only visual perception. To fully improve your baby, you need to pay attention to the development of all senses.
Where to hang pictures and how to deal with them correctly?
Not everyone succeeds in developing a child from the first days of life. To me, as a consultant breastfeeding and caring for a newborn, it seems that in the first months of life it is worth focusing on getting used to the new role. After all, you have so many changes in your life due to the birth of a child.
You need to be a little ahead, knowing the needs of the child and be ready for the new stage of his development. In general, by actively including a child in your life, you create an immense field for his development.
Interesting! The zone of proximal development is an area of additional development by a child of new knowledge with the help of an adult, which is not able to unfold during individual activity without the participation of an adult.
Imagine that you have a child in your arms, and you and him are doing some things around the house: bending, squatting, telling stories, confidently holding the child in your arms, and at every moment the child is included in this life: somewhere he will group his legs, where something will strain your back more strongly, somewhere it will blossom from your story and kind words to him.
On the other hand, with an adequate approach, when pictures and black and white patterns are simply present in a child’s life, but without distortions, you can use them too.
If you do not systematically practice with pictures, the result will not be visible. It remains to include active activities with black and white visual aid into your daily schedule and choose the right places to attach these pictures.
Here are some ideas for where to hang black and white pictures:
- Baby crib:
- mobile;
- walls of the crib.
- Game option:
- Homemade cubes with selected pictures;
- Do-it-yourself book or printable cards;
- Floor mat with a black and white pattern.
- Active movement zone:
- Doors;
- Window;
- Walls;
- Fridge;
- Mirror.
These are just a few ideas I've suggested, but don't forget - there are no clear boundaries or rules, so use your imagination and help your newborn develop in a fun way.
If you have a desire to help your baby in his development, you need to take into account several rules on how best to use educational black and white pictures for newborns:
- Start simple: introduce your newborn to the simplest black and white elements (lines, circles);
- A lot and often is bad. Do not bring pictures before the baby’s eyes too often; the newborn’s eyes will quickly get tired and he will begin to get nervous. Do not hang too many pictures around the apartment, as they will stop attracting his attention and become an element of the interior;
- Take advantage of your baby's active time. Develop your baby's attention during active wakefulness: when he lies on his tummy, or looks at the moving elements of the mobile, or walks past pictures with him in your arms;
- Don't forget to change the pictures. The recommended period for active perception of the picture is 3 days. Try to change them within a given period, and if you notice the child’s interest in certain patterns, do not rush to change the picture, let the baby study it for his own pleasure;
- Let's complicate the task. When the newborn gets used to constant visual stress, you can add a new exercise - the baby fixes his gaze on a black and white picture, and the mother slowly moves the picture left and right, as well as up and down.
Development should be like a game. No overexertion, monitor the behavior of the newborn and do not let him get tired of the pictures. Otherwise, your baby will begin to react negatively to the appearance of black and white patterns.
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 of black and white pictures for newborns for you to print. 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 begin to see red and yellow first, 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.
This is true, but does not fully apply to newborns.
Kids love bright toys because their vision is not yet developed; pastel colors and halftones are not for them.
And newborns see so dimly that a contrasting combination of black and white colors is ideal for them.
Black and white pictures for newborns are the best remedy to stimulate vision. They really like these pictures, they look at them for a long time and carefully.
These do not have to be any real paintings or complex images. The best are simple motifs, geometric patterns, faces, but large enough, clear and contrasting.
But what to do - where to get such pictures and how to show them? There are several options for this.
1. Clothes, diapers, bedspreads, rugs with black and white patterns
No, no one is calling you to decorate the entire nursery in black and white. But if the baby comes across something with a black and white pattern, he will be very interested. This could be mom's polka dot shirt or checkered bedspread.
2. The actual pictures
This can be either special black and white pictures for newborns, which can be found on the Internet and printed, or your own drawings with a black marker on white paper.
Pictures of faces for newborns are especially interesting. Pictures can be shown or attached in some way in the baby’s field of view - to the crib, for example. The baby will love everything.
3. Black and white crib mobile
Since you are unlikely to find such a thing on sale, you can make a mobile with your own hands. For example, sew black and white toys for newborns onto a felt mobile. You can hang from the mobile just pictures “facing” the child, or special black and white cubes for newborns.
>>>
4. Cards and books for newborns with black and white pictures
For example, “Hey baby! Book for newborns,” which consists of individual cards connected with a ring to form a book.
Other books come with special clothespins for a crib or stroller.
Such cubes can be found on sale, but an easier option is to print out the “pattern” of such a cube (see below), cut it out and glue it together. The cubes can be hung above the crib or attached to a mobile. Your baby will be enchanted!
Anything can be drawn on the cubes, but remember that face pictures are very useful for newborns. Offer him drawn emoticons or animal faces with eyes.
Here are a few options for cubes that you can save to your computer and print
