I took DD to my best friend's house on the weekend, just in time for her children to be "naughty".
It turned out that her children had dug many holes in the crawling mat on the ground floor. It hasn't been a week since my best friend said this!
Obviously, this is not the first time.
I don't blame my best friend for being angry. Looking at the large and small holes in the climbing mat is really angry and funny.
I can only comfort my best friend, who doesn't have the same model, and mine is not only digging, but also drilling!
Have you found that children under 3 years old especially like to stuff their hands or bodies into holes and holes?
When I was young, I liked to pick my mouth with my hands.
I like to dig and poke holes everywhere after climbing;
You can walk and run in the future. Don't mention it when the action is strong, but don't take the serious road wherever you can drill.
It is simply a capital "can't stop", and you can't wait to "explore" everything you see.
So, we can often see this:
Like this:
Or this:
My DD is now in the stage of digging holes, and I am keen on the "cat" in the box all day.
And the more you stop it, the more children have to try.
Why on earth is this?
Why children like to dig holes or drill holes.
Children dig around the house every day, drilling around.
The socket on the wall, the gap on the sofa ... are their goals; They are found under the table and in the cupboard.
In fact, they always have a soft spot for digging or drilling holes for two reasons:
Body self-awareness budding
Children's cognition of the outside world is constantly developing; The same is true for your own body.
I found that my hand can pick up a toy, throw something out and put my hand into a hole. ...
For them, this is a novel experience of "my body can still do this".
Yes, from children's point of view, their understanding of all aspects of their bodies is not perfect.
They may not realize that my fingers/arms/thighs ... work like this before they do something.
Psychologists have done a survey:
By showing 60 children aged from 1 to 1 year and a half pictures of normal human body structure vs abnormal human body structure, it is observed whether children can correctly judge that "human arm is on leg" is wrong.
The results show that 1 year-old children can't see the problem at all, while 1.5-year-old children can.
What does this mean?
Young babies can't fully understand their own bodies, so they need to experience and explore constantly.
What we call digging holes is precisely the performance of children in the exploration stage.
For example:
Digging holes with fingers can make him realize that my fingers have physical dimensions and can be drilled into holes of this size;
Getting into a small cardboard box and changing his body movements to "fit" himself can make him realize that my arms are on both sides of my shoulders and I can hold my thighs. ...
It is through this constant attempt that they can complete the development of their understanding of the body.
Spatial sensitive period
With the development of body knowledge, the baby's space sensitive period has also begun to sprout.
They began to explore the relationship between their bodies and space spontaneously.
In other words, they don't know the relationship between their distance and the size of space, and they need to constantly explore and perceive with their bodies.
At first, it may be grabbing and throwing ... moving objects in various ways and studying how you change the position of objects;
Older people may like to pile up building blocks and feel the sense of space from two-dimensional to three-dimensional;
There is also the most typical action, which is what we call making holes today.
This is actually Eva "matching" the right space with her body. ...
However, after all, the baby's concept of equal relationship is not so clear, so when matching, there are often deviations, which is the status quo that we often see that children are stuck.
Both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have done the experiment of "door choice" test.
Children's cognition of space can be judged by choosing the only correct hole in the hole.
The results show that children around 2 years old are not 100% accurate in judging the space through which their bodies can pass.
The whole 0-6 years old is actually the stage of the development of baby's spatial consciousness, so it is normal for 2-3 years old babies to always get stuck ~
Second, how to avoid safety accidents as much as possible
Like my best friend's child, just pick up the climbing mat, at least there will be no danger.
Some children like to pick out sockets and cabinets, which are very dangerous and easy to get electric shock or get stuck.
So what should we do for the children?
Ensure safety as the premise.
It is a good thing that children like to drill holes and explore, but they are young and have low safety awareness. Many holes and cracks in life are hidden great dangers for them.
For example: washing machine, wardrobe, corridor guardrail and other places with high card body; Balcony security window, bed rail, wooden chair armrest and other places with high incidence of jamming; Socket, nut, key ring, etc. Often blocked ...
All kinds of holes and gaps have certain security risks for children, so we should guard against them.
In addition to the care in place, it is also necessary to ensure that the children's exploration environment is safe.
For example, the socket should be equipped with an anti-electricity device, and the key ring should be placed out of the baby's reach. ...
Once the baby has a tentative dangerous action, there is no condition to talk about, stop it immediately, and at the same time teach the rules and divert attention.
For example, "the power outlet is very dangerous, don't touch it." Come and play with mom ~ "
Older babies can have safety education.
For example, now, I will take DD to read some picture books or cartoons about safety education, and try my best to make him aware of the danger of putting his body, head and hands into holes and gaps, so as to prevent problems before they happen.
Correct guidance is the key.
The baby's body consciousness and space consciousness are the inevitable results of stage development.
Moreover, the clearer the understanding of the relationship between body and space, the better the baby's cognitive ability and physical development.
Many babies often wrestle or accidentally bump into each other when they grow up. It is likely that the sense of space has not been established.
So we don't need to stop it, but try to provide an environment for them to dig holes/drill holes in a safe situation.
For younger babies, we can provide some toys.
Like me at that time, I gave CC and DD cave books and toys.
Let them dig casually, satisfy the desire to dig holes, and exercise the fine movements of their fingers by the way
At the stage when children like to make holes, we can play some games about making holes with them.
For example, build a tunnel with cardboard boxes and pack some hiding places to play hide-and-seek ...
He likes to drill holes, so we guide him to drill safe holes and enrich his perception of space while playing. Why not?
When children are in a space-sensitive period, the correct guidance of parents is particularly important.
Now it is necessary to protect children's curiosity, ensure their physical and mental safety and help them build a sense of space.
A C mother said
The little baby at home grows up slowly, and the strong curiosity always scares the old mother.
Every unknown place inside and outside the house seems to be full of attraction to children.
Drilling is common.
But as parents, we can't always predict the dangers our children may encounter.
I'm afraid he can't play. After all, children are small and have low safety awareness.
It is one thing to remind us often, and careful care is also essential.
Raise your safety awareness when you are with your baby, and you will have a chance to avoid danger in time.
CD Parents: Founder of "China Parents' Learning Program", C Dad-Master of China Medical University, Doctor of 3A Hospital; C Ma —— Editor-in-Chief of Children's Newspaper, and author of Good Parents' Temper to Get a Good Education.