Building Meaningful Family Relationships Virtually
Here are some tips and tricks for keeping children's attention on skype
MOTIVATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
The key to this stage: ALL OF YOUR TIME MATTERS. It can be very difficult to think your time is being wasted when your infant is, well being an infant -- as they should :) They will cry and be distracted by -- anything -- but what matters is visual and audio recognition of YOU!
They want to hear your voice, see your mouth and eyes. This is CRITICAL to recognition in later stages.
Even if they are crying, distracted, not looking -- keep using tonal words, burbling, peek-a-boo and many more tips in the videos below. Keep going and DON'T GIVE UP -- it gets so much better soon!
Consistency in time and how they see you is a good thing to consider here. Morning Skypes at this stage while feeding the child (if partner or support allows) is a great distraction. They will stare at you and stare back so they learn your face. These little ones are simply building recognition.
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These may be rough times -- FOCUS on your CHILD -- nothing else. Focus on these precious moments to build recognition with your child. Use all of your time here -- minimize engagement with anyone but your child. I can't stress enough how much these tykes brains are processing -- they will remember even if it doesn't seem like it. Cherish, protect and don't be distracted during these key early stages. Simply focus on your child.
10 months
10 mo: The mouth and sounds are the key to getting a 10 month toddler's attention. This includes burbling, sticking tongue in and out, peek-a-boo, dance, wiggle-wiggle and animal noises. The key is repetition. It is also good to start a goodbye that is routine. Saying words in the same tone helps them understand what they mean (for example a high-pitched and consistent "I love you") also with nicknames and other aspects keep a certain tone for them. This will become important later with when teddy bears are introduced etc.
11 months
11 mo: The key here is keep repeating the same things that are working and mix in more hand motions and sing-song interactions. They are still focusing on your mouth and face for recognition. YAY -- they start to understand kissing and get happy!! Finger puppets of animals become of interest, Peek-a-boo takes a new level with 'where is Dada' and moving the screen out of frame. They get excited when you return (quickly at this stage). This and a few more tips in the video above.
12 months
12 mo: Introducing family! It's important to always remain in contact with the child and let them explore people you want to introduce. 'If you're happy and you know it' is a great song at this stage. Also more mouth games. We emphasize an 'I love you routine' at this stage. You can see how much they love hearing 'I love you' -- and they remember :)