Environmental Enrichment for Infant motor development

11 Mar Environmental Enrichment for Infant motor development

We are always looking for ways to help enhance and encourage gross motor development in infants. Environmental Enrichment can be used to help enhance infant motor development. Read on to find out what environmental enrichment involves and why it is so beneficial.

What is environmental Enrichment?

Environmental enrichment is basically about changing an infants environment to enhance motor development. It can involve changing any part of the environment from toys to environmental structure and even to a brand new environment.

Toys

• As infants develop their toy needs will also need to develop to keep them interesting and stimulating for the infant.
• Toy libraries are a great resource to ensure you are able to constantly update your child’s toys without costing a fortune.
• When infants are younger toys should be used to encourage them looking up when on tummy time such as a small mirror or book, reaching in all positions.

Environmental structure

• As infants get older not only do their toy needs change but the structure of their environment needs to change.
• This can be achieved by using something such as soft play equipment
• Toys can be placed at different heights to encourage children to reach up with their arms, move onto their knees and eventually pull to stand.

Brand new environment

• At all ages we can take our children into different environments to enhance cognitive and physical development.
• Spending time outside on a blanket on the grass can be beneficial for you infants (ensure you have used sunscreen).
• As infants turn into toddlers play centers and play grounds can be fantastic places to enhance development.

Why environmental Enrichment?

No matter our age we all learn best through doing something. Environmental enrichment is a way to stimulate, encourage and enhance physical and cognitive development. It works by encouraging the infant/toddler/child to perform the activity themselves. This is beneficial to having an adult forcibly move an infant through an activity such as crawling or walking. Ideally when encouraging physical development we want to be hands off as possible.

Environmental enrichment can also be used to modify tasks. For example if a infant is struggling to hold their head up during tummy time, we can modify their environment by placing them on an angle to gravity (i.e. tummy time on their parents chest when the parent is in a reclined position). This reduces the impact gravity has on the activity.

This is just a brief introduction to Environmental enrichment, most children will benefit from small changes however infants with developmental delay may require more indepth environment with help from a physiotherapist.

If you have any questions about this or think it could benefit your infant please do not hesitate to contact the physiotherapists at Western Paediatric Physiotherapy.