Little Explorers

Very young children want to explore everything in their world and their most important organ for doing that is their hands. In their unconscious manner, children want to know about the properties of materials: metal, rubber, plastic, wood, stone, fiber. They need to experience by feeling, such characteristics as smooth, hard, bumpy, rough, crumbly, floppy, and rigid. And, yes, it is very important to safely learn hot and sharp!

Yet, too often, we abruptly tell them, "no!" or slap their hands when it really isn't necessary. I worked in a toy store for twenty years and I wish there had been more parents, who, instead of keeping small fingers completely at bay had been actively teaching their children how to touch and giving them the language and the experience necessary for further growth.

Young children need to pet, stroke, bang and manipulate all kinds of items made out of all kinds of materials. The most child friendly environment is one in which children have a rich variety of things they are allowed to manipulate: blocks made from different kinds of wood, books both hard cover and paperback, magazines, leather purses and belts, bits of silk, velour and wool, baskets, simple tools and age-appropriate goodies from the hardware store. The nerve endings in our fingers are among our most important assets and children with rich early experiences will be on intellectually sound ground toward preparation for later learning.

Kate's Hat

Kate's hat is pretty folky. I think of it as a "Baby Voyager Hat" because it reminds me of the red hats that early French explorers wore in the American Northeast. I worked this hat in back-and-forth single crochet with the stranding along the inside. The yarn is DK weight superwash merino wool. For the first time, I broke away from the 4-stitch repeats I had been using and included my 10-stitch chevron. I embroidered French knots in the lower triangles. After decreasing nearly to the end, I worked several rows straight including a row of half-double crochets for the drawstring. The last two rows reflect the colorwork of the body. 

 Richard took some fun family shots of Naomi with both children in their one-of-a -kind hats.

Tiny Hands

Many of us are familiar with this charming image of a fetus in utero sucking its thumb. What most people don't realize is that the fetus is already developing a more extensive relationship with its hands, touching its surroundings and its own body. New imaging technology has allowed doctors to catch glimpses of a variety of tactile movements during regular prenatal exams and scientists have been able to schedule more frequent exam rhythms to learn even more about fetal activity. Heidelise Als, Ph. D. studies developmental psychology at Harvard Medical School. She describes fetal tactile stimulation this way: "It touches a hand to the face, one hand to the other hand, clasps its feet, touches its foot to its leg, its hand to its umbilical cord." I am wondering, what early incarnation of the hand/brain connection these movements represent?