Active Baby, Healthy Brain: 135 Fun Exercises And Activities To Maximize Your Child'S Brain Development From Birth Through Age 5 1/2

Active Baby, Healthy Brain: 135 Fun Exercises And Activities To Maximize Your Child'S Brain Development From Birth Through Age 5 1/2

Movement, play, and active exploration in the first five years of a child?s life are essential to the development of his or her body and brain. Now Active Baby, Healthy Brain presents 135 massages, exercises, and activities that engage your child?s love of play while also stimulating his or her brain development in multiple areas, including:BalanceCross-pattern movementVisualizationVestibular (inner ear) stimulationLateralityFine and gross motor skillsEach activity is presented on its own page with step-by-step instructions, appealing illustrations, and illuminating sidebars. The detailed instructions tell you exactly how to do each activity, as well as how to incorporate toys, music, dance, and games. No single activity takes more than two minutes, and all that?s required is ten minutes a day. More than thirty years in the making, Active Baby, Healthy Brain is an indispensable guide for everyone who is raising a child or who interacts with preschoolers.From Publishers WeeklySasse, founder of Australia-based ToddlerKindy GymbaROO, offers a practical handbook for parents hoping to boost their baby'sintellectual and physical development. The author, who died last year at the age of 80, divides her program into eight sections ranging from newborn to age five-and-a-half. In each, she offers specific, age-appropriate exercises and activities, accompanied by illustrations: each exercise takes only two minutes or less, totaling about 10 minutes per day. Along with instructions, the author provides the rationale behind each activity; for instance, in a section titled vestibular fun, she asserts that rocking chairs and swinging cradles not only lull an infant to sleep but also provide sensory stimulation, contributing to the accelerated development of motor skills. Sasse explains why tummy time is essential to building pathways in the baby's brain, and encourages the use of dance and music for stimulating nerve endings in the inner ear. For toddlers and older children, the author offers interactive activities that employ the use of beanbags, hoops, balls and other resources. Sasse's focus is on fun, but she also provides parents with an informative manual that outlines the crucial connections between movement and the health and development of body and brain.(Jan.)Copyright ?Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Review?Sass?s focus is on fun, but she also provides parents with an informative manual that outlines the crucial connections between movement and the health and development of body and brain.??Publishers Weekly?A fabulous legacy for our children and an excellent contribution to the area of children?s health and well-being.??Oh Baby! magazine?Charmingly illustrated and easy to read, this delightful book will be a boon to busy parents looking for fun ways to support their child?s development.??Linda Acredolo, PhD, co-author of Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love?Active Baby provides a wealth of very informative and user-friendly information about the young children?s physical development. It fills a void for daily parenting skills and makes a great gift for every new parent!??Rhonda Clements, EdD, former President of the American Association for the Child?s Right to Play, Professor of Physical Education at Manhattanville College, and author of nine books on children?s games and play activities?Rarely have I been presented with a book so user-friendly, complete, and profound in its breadth of understanding of early childhood development as Margaret Sass?s book. It is truly a must-have book for all new parents, grandparents, and people working with preschool children. Margaret has come to the heart of what is most essential for our precious children today?rich sensory experiences, movement, play, and human connection. Margaret has given the world a wonderful gift.??Carla Hannaford, PhD, biologist, educator, and author o