What is the practice?
This practice uses both store-bought and homemade touch-and-feel books to involve an infant in looking at, touching, and exploring books while a parent describes what the child is doing or tells the child a story as she plays with a book.
What does the practice look like?
An infant who loves to reach, grab, and touch everything and anything in sight is shown a touch-and-feel book. The infant is seated on her mother’s lap facing away from her with the book held out in front of the child. Not surprisingly, the little girl immediately reaches for and grabs the book. Mom opens the book and to her daughter’s surprise she sees the fluffy tail of a rabbit! As the child runs her hand over the tail, her mother describes what she is doing (“The bunny tail is soft”). Page after page the little girl gets more and more excited.
How do you do the practice?
The best touch-and-feel books are ones that include things that your child likes and enjoys. These can be commercial books or homemade books. Search the Web using homemade touch-and-feel books for ideas for making a special book for your child.
How do you know the practice worked?
- Does your child reach for and grab the book?
- Does she get excited when she sees things that are familiar to her?
- Does your child vocalize more and “talk to” what she is looking at?
- Start by thinking about the things your child especially likes to look at and touch. The more interesting the book pages are to your child the better.
- Look for books that include as many of those faborite things as you can find. Trying making a “My Special Touch Book.”
- Find any position that is comfortable to your child to show her the book. Talk about and describe what she is looking at and touching.
- Repeat any movements or sounds she makes. This will encourage her to want to continue to look at the book.
- Make the book reading as fun and enjoyable as you can.
Take a look at more touch-and-feel play
A Touching Treasure
Victoria, who is 7 months old, often lies in her crib after waking up from a nap and rubs and touches whatever is in her crib (blanket, stuffed animal, crib rails). She seems to especially like the feel of different kinds of materials. Mom remembers a favorite touch-and-feel book she read to Victoria’s older brother that included different animals and textures. She knows Victoria especially likes looking at pictures of animals so she decides to see what her daughter will do with the touch-and-feel book. Victoria is beside herself! Almost immediately she is grabbing, touching, feeling, and vocalizing at the animals as her mother talks about and describes what Victoria is doing.
Touchy-Feely Book
Gavin’s mother knows how much her 1-year-old son loves to touch and feel different things. She also knows that Gavin especially likes things that move when he touches or pushes them. She gathers different things that her son likes to touch to make Gavin’s Touchy-Feely Book. The book has 10 pages with a picture of one of his favorite things on the left side and the fabric or material that “feels like” his favorite things on the right side (for example, a picture of a drum and a small piece of canvas). Mom describes what Gavin is looking at and makes up sounds to go with each of the objects. Gavin reaches and grabs the book and makes different sounds as he plays with his special book.
In Touch
Andrea’s physical difficulties make it hard for the 1-year-old to reach for things in front of her. Her father has found a way to read to her using touch-and-feel books that his daughter especially likes. Instead of Andrea reaching for and touching the pages of the book, her dad describes what she is looking at and then rubs her nose or cheek with the book page. Sometimes he uses stuffed animals or other materials to show Andrea how different textures feel.
