Playing with Dust: The Sensitive Period for Small Things

I was watching my son play with a small speck of dust on the floor today, and it reminded me of one of the most noticeable sensitive periods in children.  The sensitive period for small objects begins to appear around the age of one (or earlier/later depending on the child).  Children at this age become fixated on small objects and drawn to small details (their brains are hardwired to do so!).  Little rocks (like my son is picking up in the picture above), little objects, little pieces of dirt, they all hold a special fascination for the very young child; a fascination they will keep for the next for the next few years (if your child is four, he or she may be doing the same thing!).    My son can spend a fair amount of time pushing around and interacting with something I never would have even noticed.  He can quickly point out the discrepancies in what you may have thought was a very clean environment.  

The development of this sensitive period is the brain’s way of understanding and observing the little things that make up the world; things that adults often overlook because their brains are focused on the big picture.  For a child to ever understand the big picture, they must first deconstruct that picture down to the very smallest levels of minutia.  They must discover all the little pieces that comprise that picture. This attention to detail also contributes to the physical development of the young child.  To interact with these small objects, they must develop highly skilled coordinations of the body and hand, such as hand-eye coordination, dexterity, development of the pincer grip, and control of fine movement.  These interactions become an interplay in their minds between the discoveries of the world and the mastery of their physical abilities. 

Children at this age need time and patience from adults to encourage them to explore these little things.  It's a difficult endeavor to support, considering when they first become fascinated with these small objects, they also want to put them in their mouths.  It's difficult for adults to allow this level of exploration to happen when it can be dangerous.  When my son was younger and in the stage of putting everything into his mouth, I tried to balance letting him explore with keeping him safe.  I would let him interact with the object and only intervene when I saw his hand start towards his mouth ("out of the mouth" I would say as I pushed his hand and the object away from his mouth).  It meant I had to be vigilant, but it also meant I wasn't stifling his developmental explorations.  Now that he's older, sometimes things head towards the mouth but he hesitates and I am able to remind him to keep the object out of his mouth before he does.  

My favorite thing about this sensitive period is the impact that it can have on the adults around the child.  It’s a gift for adults to take time to remember to appreciate all those little things.  Sometimes we are so focused on the big picture, only the child's unique fascinations can remind of us of all the beautiful components of the world.