FM.C.25 LOOKS TO THE FLOOR WHEN A TOY DROPS
A tiny baby does not look down when a toy drops out of sight. He has no notion that it is still there, down on the floor. If your child does not look for dropped toys, you can teach him.
At Macquarie we usually start teaching this skill once the child is working at about the 6 months’ level, provided that he has sufficient head control in the sitting position to follow an up and down movement between his eye level and the floor.
How to Assess
Materials: A favourite soft toy (it should not make too much noise when dropped).
Method: Sit your child in his highchair. Shake the toy at his side, just below eye level. When he is looking at it, drop it so that it falls to the floor. (You can also have the child sitting on a lap, but it is hard for the person holding the child to see where he is looking.)
Score plus if your child tries to see where the toy went. He need not necessarily find the toy, but he must try to look down after it.
How to Teach
You can help in 2 ways: by starting with a toy that makes a noise when dropped, and by working up from a short drop to a long one. You will need toys that make a noise when dropped, such as those containing a bell, and ‘quiet’ toys.
If your child has difficulty looking to the floor from his highchair, you will need someone to hold him on their lap, positioning him so that he can lean over and follow the dropped toy.
Work through the following steps to find the point where teaching should begin.
- Looks to the floor when a noisy toy is dropped 15 cm. Hold the toy at eye level, and maintain your child’s interest in it as you move it slowly down towards the floor. When it is about l5 cm from the floor, let it go. If your child does not look for it, draw his attention to it on the floor –‘There it is!’
- Looks to the floor when a quiet toy is dropped 15 cm. As above, using a quiet toy.
- Looks to the floor when a noisy toy is dropped 30 cm. As above, dropping the toy from 30 cm.
- Looks to the floor when a quiet toy is dropped 30 cm. As above, using a quiet toy.
- Looks to the floor when a noisy toy is dropped 60 cm. As above, dropping the toy from 60 cm.
- Looks to the floor when a quiet toy is dropped 60 cm. As above, using a quiet toy.
- Looks to the floor when a noisy toy is dropped just below eye level. As above, dropping from just below eye level. Do not move the toy down slowly first, but do take time to ensure that your child is looking at it before it drops.
- Looks to the floor when a quiet toy is dropped from just below eye level. As above, using a quiet toy.
Playtime and Round-the-house Activities
Spend lots of time dropping things!
Remembering and Extending
When this skill is mastered, go straight on to the next skill in this sequence.