Often young children are scolded for throwing things here and there. But a recent study reveals being messy may help the infants, especially toddlers, to identify objects better.
Earlier studies have revealed that toddlers learn more easily about solid objects as they don't change shape and size. The present study throws light on how toddlers develop the skill to comprehend new words from non-solid objects, according to the press release.
The study was conducted by researchers at University of Iowa led by Larissa Samuelson who have been working for years on behavioral trends in children. She says that toddlers learn faster if they are put in familiar settings like their highchair when learning about news things.
The findings are based on a survey conducted on a group of 16-months old toddlers and they were exposed to several food items mostly non-solids, which were referred to with made up words. A minute later the same participants were asked to identify the food items but in different shapes and sizes.
The study showed that the children who were playing around with the stuff, exploring and shoving it around were found to have better understanding of objects.
The settings also play a huge role in their learning process. The children in high chairs were found to possess superior identifying power compared to the ones who were made to sit at a table.
"It may look like your child is playing in the high chair, throwing things on the ground, and they may be doing that, but they are getting information out of (those actions)," Samuelson, the led author of the study, said in a statement. "And, it turns out, they can use that information later. That's what the high chair did. Playing with these foods there actually helped these children in the lab, and they learned the names better."
The study points out that exploring things helps in developing better vocabulary power. So next time when your child starts becoming messy don't stop him/her, it may help them to develop better cognitive powers.
