I tell you a secret: this is my personal favourite! I believe that this mobile is not only lovely to look at but also has the longest ‘life’ when it comes to babies’ visual development. Even though generally animal mobiles are offered after the age of 3 months, due to its black and white colours the Montessori Whale Mobile can be offered much earlier. At the same time, it has a lot of benefits that keep ‘older’ babies attention engaged for a long time. Read on to learn all about this lesser-know mobile.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
This mobile depicts a pod of humpback whales, three adults and two calves. As with the other Montessori mobiles, the Whale Mobile is also made from light paper. Therefore, its elements move in the slightest air current. The shapes and proportions are the same as of the real animals. The calming, slow dance of the whales emulates how these noble animals swim gracefully in the water, providing your baby with realistic images. The black lines on the whales’ white belly represents their throat pleats and serve as an intriguing detail to your baby’s eyes.
SO WHY IS THE MONTESSORI WHALE MOBILE SO ATTRACTIVE FOR YOUR BABY?
This lovely, minimalist mobile perfectly blends into any Montessori (or non-Montessori) baby space. It does not include any batteries, does not make any noise. Moreover, as it has only five elements, it does not overstimulate your babies vision. Its soothing colours and simple shapes invite the eye and encourage observation. The calming, black, white and grey colours make it suitable for newborns as well.
This mobile has ‘hidden depths‘ which older babies will certainly find fascinating. As the adult and baby whales slowly swing from side to side, they invite the baby’s eyes to focus, build their concentration. In addition, they practice their dynamic visual tracking skills and visual discrimination in size. Not to mention that as the elements hang at differing heights, observing them assists in developing depth perception too.
WHAT ARE THE SCIENTIFIC BENEFITS OF THE WHALE 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
- Encourages switching their gaze between objects
- Allows the perceiving the details of objects while in motion
- Your baby learns that even though many variations change such as lighting, distance and the angles, the shape 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
- Younger babies, who are already able to perceive high contrast colours, will delight in observing the Montessori Whale mobile. You can start by offering them only the three adult whales. For newborns, it will be easier to see the details with their still developing eye sight. Observe your baby and when you think your little one is ready, you can add the calves to your pod.
- If you have them, you can alternate the Whale Mobile with the Swallows and the Butterflies, changing them weekly, or as your baby loses interest. (Read more about how to keep up your baby’s interest in the mobiles in this post.)
- By this time most babies are ready to reach and grab, so please make sure that you hang the whales high enough above your baby’s chest, out of reach. Please always supervise when in use.
FINAL THOUGHTS
From newborns to older ones, all babies find the Montessori Whale mobile fascinating. It allows you to play around with it and make it suitable for your little one’s age. Meanwhile, it offers all the visual benefits that a Montessori mobile is sure to deliver.
If you’d like to make it yourself, you can hang actual plastic whales up on a few sticks. Alternatively, you can buy it from my Etsy shop, individually, as seen in the pictures above, or as part of the DIY Montessori Animal Mobile Set. All you have to do is cut, hang and watch your baby’s content little smiles.
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