One thing I find strange is how many parents want to make a baby mobile despite all the fancy, high-tech ones they can buy in shops. I've often wondered why. If I disregard saving money, the only conclusion I reach is that you can actually make a very good learning toy if you do it right. Unfortunately few parents know how to make one or even what to look for when buying one. The sad thing is that many parents still believe that commercial baby mobiles are far superior to homemade ones. But that's not true! If you make a good one... - You can vary and change how much stimulation your baby gets - Prevent your baby from losing interest and keep his attention, thus getting much more "play and learning value" from your mobile - It's a simple technique for increasing and growing visual stimulation - It gives you the right way to encourage grasping with one hand and using both hands together at a very early age, and... - Very few other baby mobiles give your baby the chance to discover the textures and shapes of different objects So, how do you make a good learning baby mobile? Step 1: Find a long dowel rod (at least 12mm/half inch diameter) or even a normal yardstick to use as suspender bar for the baby mobile's crosspiece. Step 2: Fix this dowel or yardstick (suspender bar) to the top of the cot approximately above your baby's chest. Step 3: Use a piece of cardboard or plastic tube, wooden clothes hanger (removing the wire hook) or even rubber hose as the crosspiece. No sharp objects allowed. Step 4: Tie a strong piece of string to the middle of the crosspiece. Tie the other end to the suspender bar at the top of the cot. Step 5: Tie a piece of string to each end of the mobile's crosspiece. Step 6: Tie small objects to the end of the string tied to the crosspiece. The object must dangle at the distance of Baby's outstretched hand when lying in the cot. Step 7: Tie other small objects to the same crosspiece, making sure the crosspiece still balances. Step 8: Finally... make sure that the swing of the crosspiece is such that when Baby grabs an object, he can handle, touch and feel it. What are the best objects to hang from the crosspiece? Everyday toys like colorful booties, blocks, rattles, squeaky toys, small plastic bottles and teething rings work well. In fact... you can use almost any child-safe object as long as it's colorful, have different textures and contrasts light and dark colors. If you want to get even more from your baby mobile... Tie only a few objects to the crosspiece at a time, but change them more often... maybe once or more often per week. This keeps your baby's curiosity and interest for much longer. The thing I like about this baby mobile is that it encourages and teaches your baby to use his senses to work together - one of the first skills all infants must master. Only once this skill has been fully mastered will he automatically further explore and discover the crosspiece objects.
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