Exploration allows children to learn the concepts that help them organize a mental map of their environment. Concepts such as in/out, up/down, over/under are learned by experimenting and acting on objects and spaces. If we adults do it for children, they miss out on important experiential learning.
Reaching, crawling, standing, cruising, and walking all take practice. The more active a child is in a safe, familiar environment, the more he can learn to safely move from one place to another.
“Am I on the bottom step or the top?” “How high is that mat?” “Is my toy next to my right hand or my left?” Without reliable vision, a child has to explore by touch, hearing, and movement even more than other children.
Our job is to let a child test a spatial concept (e.g. inside/outside) and to narrate for him what he is doing. This helps the child build a mental representation of that experience. He can build concepts by playing with a metal bowl or by crawling in and out of a cardboard box. A parent, teacher or grandparent can be nearby to narrate as the child learns at his own pace. This is the best reinforcer for developing new concepts as the child moves safely and confidently into the world.
