Don’t you just love looking at these bright coloured, gorgeous little butterflies? Believe it or not, babies are just as taken with the Montessori Butterfly mobile as you are! This mobile is definitely a step up for vision development. For this reason, it’s not surprising that it is the last one in the series of the Montessori visual mobiles. As the little ones try to track the dancing elements, their visual tracking skills are thoroughly tested! What else can this mobile in store? Read on to find out more!
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
This Montessori-inspired mobile consists of five different types of butterflies, hanging in differing height. Usually, the types of insects depicted are the ones that you would find in your own country or continent. Accordingly, they should be as close to realistic-looking as possible, in order to continue the Montessori principle of only offering concrete, real-life images to babies. I have seen many types around, some of them focusing on black-and-white colours which can be presented earlier than the suggested age of 3 months+. Others offer whimsical, fantastical looking insects. At the end of the day, it’s up to you what you prefer.
SO WHY IS THE MONTESSORI BUTTERFLY MOBILE SO ATTRACTIVE FOR YOUR BABY?
When you hang the Montessori Butterfly mobile above your baby, s/he can watch a swirl of slowly moving colours. The butterflies delicately dance and fly through the air, emulating the real movement of these lovely insects. This mobile is so lovely and soothing to look at that your little one’s attention will be engaged for a long time.
WHAT ARE THE SCIENTIFIC BENEFITS OF THE BUTTERFLY MOBILE?
- It develops their eyesight with age-appropriate stimulus
- It strengthens the muscles in the eyes, neck, arms and even core muscles
- Binocularity – the two eyes working together
- Depth perception – being able to see the object that are hanging in different heights
- Dynamic visual tracking – being able to follow a moving object
- Stimulates visual discrimination in size and colour
- Encourages switching their gaze between objects
- Allows the perceiving the details of objects while in motion
- Inspires observation of colour and shape
- Stimulates the brain with its bold colours
- Your baby learns that even though many variations change such as lighting, distance and the angles, the shape, the colour and the size all stay the same
- By offering images that babies find extremely attractive, it encourages focus and concentration, starting the foundation for their cognitive development
TIPS AND TRICKS
The mobiles that are introduced after the 10th week all depict realistic animals that can be found in nature. For instance fish or whales swimming through the water, or swallows or butterflies flying in the air. It is recommended to alternate these weekly, or when you see that your baby loses interest in them. You can re-introduce them again later, and this time your baby will look at them with improved visual abilities. (Read more about how to keep up your baby’s interest in the mobiles in this post.)
FINAL THOUGHTS
This Montessori mobile ends the sequence of the visual mobiles on a high note. The Butterfly mobile engages the whole range of visual skills your baby has developed so far. In addition, stimulates them to build their focus and concentration.
If you’d like to make it yourself, just type ‘Montessori Butterfly Mobile DIY’ in your search engine. Alternatively, you can buy it from my shop individually, or as part of the DIY Montessori Animal Mobile Set.
Click on the links to read more about how the Montessori Visual Mobiles, the Montessori Tactile Mobiles or the Sensory Baby Play help your baby’s development.
How did your baby react to this mobile? Please share your photos on my Instagram site. #montessoriedited, @montessoriedited