Nursery World

How children see the world around them is integral to their development. Jennie Lindon takes a close look at ways to stimulate them Visual awareness is important for young children. Looking with care is one half of the development of attention skills; the other half is good listening. Young children need to use their eyes as a major source of information to support their early language, or else it is very difficult for them to make sense of words for objects and people. Vision is also crucial to support physical skills such as walking and running and holding objects.

Visual awareness is important for young children. Looking with care is one half of the development of attention skills; the other half is good listening. Young children need to use their eyes as a major source of information to support their early language, or else it is very difficult for them to make sense of words for objects and people. Vision is also crucial to support physical skills such as walking and running and holding objects.

0-12 months

Newborn babies can see clearly up to about a metre away. Beyond that point the world is fuzzy. They see in colour and have clear preferences for high-contrast objects, like striped and chequered patterns. They are also born with a strong preference for homing in on human faces.

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