Communication is a major pillar of healthy and successful parenting. You can communicate with your child, even before he or she start talking and can successfully perceive your words. You can communicate with your little one just by looking at them and establish positive eye contact. Eye contact is an essential part of communication and should be established before engaging with the child. Here are some ways to to achieve eye contact and positively communicate with your child:
- Hold objects and name them next to your face as you label them.
- See if the child notices when you are being silly (like when you try to balance a spoon on your nose). If not, get them to look at you and allow them to remove object or “stop the silliness”.
- Play “pee-ka-boo” games with the child, where you hide your face and wait for them to respond to you. This assists with gaining their attention for the interaction too.
- Put stickers on your nose and encourage child to remove. If you don’t have stickers, you can put a small dollop of cream.
- Allow your child to brush your hair, or wash your face or put face paint on you to encourage face to face interactions.
- Be on the same level as the child, so that you are face-to-face.
- Call their name or gently turn their head to get their attention.
- Stop and wait for eye contact to be established prior to starting your interactions with them.
In all interactions, do not force the child to give you eye contact. A child is more likely to look at you when they feel relaxed and having fun. So have fun with your children, spend time with them, laugh with them, play with them. And do it all while looking in their eyes and making sure they are looking back as well.
Check out these amazing products to help you make eye contact through fun activities, that you can find on Mumzworld.
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