3 Reasons this Mirror is Great for Babies and Toddlers

The very first time I placed a mirror in front of my 1 month old, I knew that including a mirror as part of playtime was essential. My little guy stared at himself, studying every part of body. He then moved on to studying his environment and toys in the  mirror's reflection. I observed that he was enamoured with comparing what was happening in the mirror and what he could see while not looking in the mirror. Using the mirror always won out, keeping him very engaged. His engagement propelled me to find different sizes and structures of mirrors that would best suit his needs. If I could only choose one mirror, I would always choose a large wall mirror. Large wall mirrors mounted as close to the floor as possible, will grow with your baby as he/she grows into a toddler. That being said, I bought another mirror that I purchased at IKEA and have found to be indispensable.

Here are 3 reasons why I love this particular mirror:

1. The mirror itself is a good size.

Most of the mirrors I found for babies were just too small. My little guy could see his face but not the rest of his body. A small sized mirror did not keep him engaged for long. I also had to keep moving the mirror so that it stayed in front of him as he was learning to move around. This did not allow for uninterrupted play.

Then I found this mirror at IKEA and was a great size. My baby could move his head, body, arms and legs around and still see most of himself in the mirror. Once he learned to sit up, the mirror was tall enough so that he could see his full self. Even now, at 14 months, he brings his toys to sit in front the mirror to watch himself play.

2.  The mirror can stand on its own, making it easily portable.

I also like the fact that this mirror closes up for easy transport and can stand up by itself. It has been useful in hotel rooms and especially for specific play activities that I prefer to set up in different rooms of the house. For example, I really liked to use it in the bathroom during water play. It was so easy to stand the mirror in front of him while he splashed around the water. Moving water play to the bathroom also helped me with easier clean-up.

3. The mirror can  be attached to baby gates.

Although the mirror comes with instructions to attach it to a wall, I prefer to fold back the shutters on the mirror and use the velcro already attached to the mirror to hang it on any gate or play pen with bars. Again, having this kind of portability has been very useful as I can easily move the mirror from room to room.

Currently, my son enjoys sitting in front of this mirror and dropping his toys behind it. He then spends lots of time trying to slide the mirror up the gate bars to retrieve his toys.

Using this particular mirror has turned out to be a great support in creating learning experiences for my son.

How One Baby/Toddler Uses a Balance Beam

When I choose toys, tools and equipment for my child, I try to invest my money in some main pieces that will grow with my son and that he can use for years to come. Two learning tools that my son has enjoyed and has helped to improve his gross motor skills are a large wall mirror and this balance beam from IKEA.

When I first purchased this balance beam, my son was about 8 months old and I assumed that he would not actually use it for a few more months. My assumption ended up to be completely wrong. Once the balance beam was assembled, I realized that it was actually quite sturdy so, I wanted to see what my son would do with it. I placed the balance beam in front of a large wall mirror with plenty of room to play around all sides of it. Within a day, he began using the beam to pull himself up into a standing position. He enjoyed keeping himself amused by standing and slapping the hard top surface of the beam, all the while observing himself in the wall mirror.

Soon, he used the balance beam to support his first attempts at walking. He learned that if he used it as a support, he was able to walk all the way around it. He also began to use the top surface as a place to set his toys, spending lots of time moving toys from his basket, onto the balance beam, then back to his basket.

Once he became more confident walking with support, he discovered that he could crawl underneath the beam. Crawling under the beam was a challenge he happily took on. He learned that although he could fit his head under the beam, his bottom stopped him from getting his entire body all the way under. He soon learned different ways to lower his bottom to get the rest of his body under the beam. Looking in the wall mirror helped him to see where he was getting stuck and, I think, learn more quickly how to manoeuvre his body.

Now, at 14 months, he has learned to climb over top of the balance beam, sit on it and bend over it, looking at himself upside down in the mirror. He still uses the surface to play with toys, stacking blocks and comparing the sound of the surface to the sound of other surfaces in the room. All of these things he discovered completely on his own.

As much as I think that this balance beam was a great purchase, I don't think that my son would have used the beam as effectively without being able to see himself in a large mirror. The combination of these two pieces provided a challenging, open-ended learning environment where my son could learn about his own body, at his own pace. I am looking forward to observing and sharing how he will next use these two great learning tools.