The next time your little one is playing with her blocks, watch closely. Does she rummage through the box, taking out only the blue ones?
That's what Baby L does! Blue is her fave right now!
If you pour all of her blocks out, you can see that the blue ones are scratched and banged up, while the red, green, and yellow blocks are practically new. Personally, I think it's just about the coolest thing I've ever seen! Early on, babies will sometimes start to develop preferences and favorites. And it's not limited to colors. Just a few examples include favorite sounds, favorite toys, and of course favorite foods!
At first I wasn't sure if L was choosing the blocks because of the color blue, or if it was because of the shapes. So I started watching her more closely, to see if there was a pattern.
At bathtime, Baby L digs through the foam letters in the bath tub to find the blue ones!
When she plays with her links, she gnaws on her blue links and carries them around with her, casting aside the others haphazardly!
Before dinner, we always read a couple books. Of these three books, guess which one she picks?
You guessed it. The blue one!! As a matter of fact, 123 New York is one of her all time favorite books. Right up there with Where's Baby's Belly Button and Good Night Moon.
Preferences are a sign that your baby is beginning to form categories for things. That is, L. recognizes "blue" as a category. She can discriminate non-blue things from blue things; an early and important step in her life as a learner. Just as a scientist observes, classifies, and sorts his or her specimens, Baby L is beginning to notice that not all blocks, links, or books are the same. Sorting and categorizing objects by color is just one step on her long journey toward developing an understanding of the world around her. Go Baby L!
So have fun watching closely and listening carefully to your little scientists. See what you notice. Post a comment and share!
I definitely gave favorite books - the ones I drag over to Mommy and Daddy to read over and over and over and over - but Mommy will have to keep her eye out for color preference - that's so neat!
ReplyDeleteMy 10 1/2 month old has developed a preference for purple in the last 2 weeks. I did the same at first! I wasn't sure if it was because her block was a star or because it was purple. But I soon noticed she was picking out the purple ball and her favorite stuffed animal is her violet dog! It's so amazing that she already has this ability to choose a preference in color! I really enjoyed your story. I have been searching for other babies with the same ability and it was nice to see that my daughter is not alone :-)
ReplyDeleteMy grandson William had a preference for blue. His blocks are all more or less the same so it is nothing to do with shape. He selects the blue ones from his trolley, throws other colours away and carries on with his activities with one blue block firmly in his hand. I think it is fascinating. A friend's little boy does the same but his preference is yellow.
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