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Cognition 12 - 18 m
Understanding Evolving in Leaps and Bounds
At this point, no problem seems unsolvable for your baby and no obstacle too hard to overcome. You can almost hear his mind fast at work – at meals, at play and when observing his surroundings.
Performing a Sequence of Actions
At about 12 months, your baby begins to solve “sophisticated” challenges. At 15 months, for example, you may see him drag a chair across the room and climb on it in order to reach that shiny glass piece you placed "out of his reach". It may seem like an easy task, but think about all the steps involved the understanding of relationships between actions required.
Sizes and Shapes
The next time an aunt or grandparent bring a gift, notice how your baby may be more enamored with the box it came in rather than the gift itself. He loves to place objects inside boxes and pots. With incredible thoroughness and great determination, he will joyfully spill all of his toys out of their baskets. You may assume he just likes making a mess, but in reality he is busy learning to categorize containers and contents, comparing relative sizes and shapes and discovering new storage alternatives at the same time.
- Your baby is a little scientist and begins to explore her world meticulously and incessantly.
- The relationship between containers and contents is an endless source of exploration and discovery as she places objects inside and outside their containers.
- Her ability to solve problems vastly improves.
- Nothing will stop your baby’s drive to experiment, so make sure her environment is safe and supportive of these activities. Your baby does not understand danger, so appropriate supervision is mandatory.
- Your baby learns by repeating… incessantly. While this may try your nerves, try to understand that repetition strengthens cognitive processes in the brain, helping her to acquire and perfect new skills.
- Let your baby take the lead and follow suit. For example, if your baby is very active, she will grasp the concept of fast vs. slow and up vs. down with more time on the playground. If she prefers exploring with her hands, she will learn the same concepts sitting quietly on the floor at home with building blocks.
Cognition
