Sniffing Daffodils: An Object Lesson for Moms
Pretend with me for a moment.
Your young child has just finished a breakfast of scrambled eggs and sliced apples. As he leaves the highchair or table, you have two options:
- Bundle up and take a walk outside or
- Set him up on the sofa with a show on TV or playtime on his tablet
The morning is brisk but clear and you really need to do the laundry. However, a recent headline has you wondering if all the time baby boy plays on screens is healthy. Plus, it doesn’t help that your mother is giving you grief about his screentime. Your last text to her went something like this, “Seriously, Mom. It’s the twenty-first century and the screens are safe! Besides all he’s playing are educational apps.”
Doubt has crept into your mind, though.
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Today’s object lesson illustrates why taking the short walk is the better educational/developmental choice.
“Let’s take a walk down to the park,” you say as you clean up the table.
He wails, “Nooooo! I want my tablet!”
“Maybe when we get back. Come on. Let’s get our coats and boots on.”
After a short bout of pouting and foot-dragging, he stomps to the front door.
“Get your coat off the hook and I’ll help you put it on,” you say as you zip your own jacket.
He gets one arm in but needs help with the other. You have him grasp the zipper and you place your hand over his. Together, you zip his jacket. “Yay! You helped zip your own coat. Now, sit down and get your boots on.”
He plops down on the floor and after some struggle, pulls his new rubber boots on. Bundled in his thick coat and wearing clunky boots, he needs a little help to stand.
“Can you open the door?” you ask.
He clunks to the front door and tiptoes up to grasp the handle. After a few attempts, he opens the door.
“You did it!” You fist bump and he smiles with accomplishment.
You walk alongside as he holds the handrail and descends the steps to the sidewalk. At the end of the walk, you turn right making a beeline towards the park. It isn’t long before you spot a bright spot of yellow beside your neighbor’s mailbox.
“Look, it’s daffodils! Spring is on the way!” You squat down and sniff. Your child squats down and sniffs too.
“Nice,” he says. “Can I touch it?”
“Gently,” you answer. “They’re delicate and easy to damage.”
“They’re so soft,” he replies, beaming with his new discovery.
“What color are they?”
“Yellow!” Baby boy replies.
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In this brief trip to the neighbor’s mailbox, your child and you engaged in constant back and forth conversations and social interactions as you shared information and experiences.
Your child practiced climbing down from the chair, getting dressed, opening the door, and walking down the steps. All very important gross and fine motor tasks that are not learned sitting on the sofa.
A total of ninety-one words were exchanged including action words (such as open, touch), nouns (such as coat, boots, daffodils), descriptive words (such as yellow, soft, delicate). A color was identified, the scent of the daffodil and the softness of the petals were all experienced by your child and those memories logged into his brain. Finally, he’ll always remember a sweet time of togetherness with mom doing something as simple and lovely as taking a moment to sniff daffodils.
If you’d made the choice of plopping him down on the sofa and allowing him to play something on the tablet, would he have practiced dressing or going up and down the steps? Would he have had a back and forth conversation about what you’re doing or where you’re going? Would he have learned how beautifully delicate and wonderfully scented the neighbor’s daffodils are? Would he have a special memory of the time?
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Each moment in your child’s day is a learning opportunity. Time spent using the senses of smell, touch, balance, and movement build extensive networks of brain connections and promote stronger vocabularies. Virtual play on screens doesn’t provide these vital sensory experiences and offers, at best, shallow learning opportunities.
After all, seeing a daffodil on the screen doesn’t allow your child to ever touch its delicate petals, learn how much force it too much when handling flowers, or memorize how sweet it smells. He will have no memory of the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the spring winds. He will have no care about gently handling the neighbor’s property. No opportunity will arise on that tablet for him to look you in the eye and smile with the pride of his accomplishment.
Tablets and TVs are easy distractions. There is minimal real-world learning going on, however. When he gets to pre-school or kindergarten, he needs to be competent in dressing and navigating stairs and playground sand. He needs to have mastered what touch is too hard and what’s not hard enough. He needs self-confidence and that comes from mastery of the natural world where gravity exists as well as people and their feelings.
Making small changes in your choices, mom, have huge developmental impacts. I’m here to help you make the right ones.
And when you get back from your trip to the park, have junior help, as best he can, with sorting the laundry. He needs to understand the real-world first.
Is your baby on track with his/her development? Click here for help.
(Photo by Adobe Stock)
Additional reading:
Young Children and Screens: 7 Ways Your Child Loses
