Did you know?
A child first needs to experience each of their senses individually before being able to combine and integrate them. They are born with 90 billion neurons, but these are not yet connected to one another.
Sensory discovery of each sense enriches each area of the brain (auditory, tactile, visual…) Then, sensory experience and re-experience at their own pace allows them to build connections between each of these areas.
In this way, multisensory stimulation leads to learning processes. There is no point in using all the mat's features at once from the very earliest age!
Our sensory cover is ideal for your baby from 0 to 15 months.
It is designed to introduce them to the world around them, spark their curiosity, while respecting their developmental pace.
A SENSORY AWAKENING GENTLY
-
Sight
Vision is the last sense to develop in the foetus, and visual acuity is not considered mature until the age of 2.
That is why our sensory cover is high in contrast: monochrome black and white with touches of vivid primary colours.
Around 3 months, coordination between peripheral vision (to the sides) and focal vision (straight ahead) begins to develop. This is why we chose Vichy fabric. Its intrinsic contrasts help your baby to better perceive relief (for example: the red rattle, or even their own hand), which will focus their attention. -
Touch
Developing the sense of touch is fundamental, as we are constantly in contact with something or someone. It is the first sense to develop in utero.
From a very young age, it is important to stimulate their curiosity by multiplying tactile sensations, as our sensory cover does: rough honeycomb, spotted velvet, smooth fabric, felt, a rattle, ribbons.
By encouraging tactile exploration, combined with their emerging sense of observation, your baby will gradually be prompted to grasp, and then to move around. -
Hearing
This is the most developed sense in the foetus — a newborn can hear from birth, but their ability to recognise the meaning of a sound develops over time.
Your child responds most to your voice: sing nursery rhymes (or pop songs — they work just as well!), vary your tone, mimic their sounds!
From around 3 months, your baby starts to pay attention to sound-making toys — stimulate their hearing with the hidden sounds in our sensory cover (rustling paper, a little squeaker).
FIRST MILESTONES
-
Developing fine motor skills
Once the newborn's grasping reflex fades, around 3 months, voluntary grasping begins to develop.
Step by step, their motor skills and movements will become more refined through exploration, right up to the development of the pincer grip between 9 and 12 months.
The rattle, with its rustling ears and natural grip, is ideal for your baby to hold; later, the ties and ribbons in different textures will help to make their movements more precise. -
Developing cause and effect
From around 6–9 months, your child becomes aware of their actions and their outcomes.
Several of the sensory cover's interactive features are designed to encourage this: a little squeaker, a rattle to find in the pocket, then to velcro and unvelcro. -
Object permanence
This is the understanding that an object continues to exist even when it can no longer be seen. This milestone helps the child grasp that even when their parents leave the room, they continue to exist (a great comfort for that well-known separation anxiety!).
Between 6 and 9 months, your baby will be able to find the rattle partially hidden in the pocket; between 10 and 12 months they will be able to find it when fully hidden. An experience worth repeating many times with other types of toys!
