Favorite Product #31

This week's favorite product is the 100 First Words Bright Baby board book.

**For some reason I am having trouble with the pictures so I will try and post it later**

While parents may find the Bright Baby (or other similar books) mind numbingly boring, kids love these books. The simplicity, bright pictures and clearly defined items are easy for them to understand. And learn. These books are great for preemies who are working on language development and fine motor skills (including pointing and turning pages). There are many different versions of these books - right now this one is Olivia's favorite. I think she likes the larger size of the pages.

Here are some ways to use this book to encourage your preemie's development:

1) Read the book - this is a great book to read to a preemie who isn't yet ready to "follow" a story and/or has a short attention span. You can get through each page quickly and yet still give your preemie the beginning love of reading.
2) Fine motor - turning the page. Encourage your preemie to turn each page when you are done. At first you may need to lift the page a little bit to get your preemie started but overtime he/she will get the idea.
3) Fine motor - pointing. As you read the book, start pointing at some of the pictures. Choose 2-3 on each page and point directly at the picture as you say the word. Encourage your preemie to do the same. At first your preemie may just randomly point to the page - and that's okay. Over time encourage your preemie to point at specific pictures. This not only helps refine her pointing skills, he/she is also learning to identify objects.
4) Language - As you read the book, clearly say each word. For objects that your preemie might be familiar with - point to the picture and say the word. Draw his/her attention to it "see, here is the ball." This will get your preemie to start identifying the word and the object together. As your preemie becomes more interested and starts building more words, you can increase the pictures that you point too.

Like with anything else, follow your preemies lead. He/she may only be interested in looking at certain pictures or just turning the page. And that's okay. It's all a part of the process.