• To see as much detail as possible in everything she sees. Toddler gathers detailed knowledge:

Toddler’s ability to see well will continue to improve at this Level if she has continuing opportunity to see detail in a wide variety of objects in the world around her. Such objects include; tree bark, floor tiles, flowers, faces, trees, plants in gardens, sand shapes, paintings, pictures, photographs and other detail. The more opportunity she has to see many and varied things in the world around her the better her vision should become.

If she is healthy and well toddler will look at many things, objects, people, shapes, colours and movements in the world around her. Each time she looks at something new or different her brain functions, grows minutely and mentally checks and records what she is seeing; providing that she pays attention to it. Each new thing that she looks at adds to her store of knowledge and provides her with new visual information that she can use to solve future visual problems. For example if she sees what a flame looks like and she feels its intense heat she knows to beware if she sees something similar in the future. Her brain is relating her stored visual information to her stored touch (that is tactile) information. Similarly, if she sees a painting called ‘Sunflower’ by Vincent van Gogh and she finds it interesting to look at its many painted sunflower seeds, colours, shapes and brush-marks then she will likely look with interest at a sunflower, similar colours, shades or brush-marks in the future.

As adults we have usually become accustomed to many visual experiences and might now pay little, if any, attention to the many familiar shapes, colours or objects around us. Nevertheless, when we were children at this Level we also often paid close attention to particular details that no longer attract our attention. For toddler, the world is constantly providing new and fascinating visual experiences as she moves from virtual blindness at birth to seeing depth, colour, movement and other new visual experiences. And, by using her vision her vision naturally improves. And this is true of all her five senses. That is the general rule for toddler when she does her OMSDEP; she is fascinated by the world and, as she interacts with it, her ability to experience even more fascinating adventures naturally increases. At this Level therefore natural parents provide toddler with an environment containing many visually fascinating experiences.

If toddler looks, for example, in a natural bushland environment then she has many opportunities to use her vision to see a huge variety of colours, shades, movements, lines, shapes, patterns and other visual events. If she lies in a room with four white painted walls and a few items of white painted furniture, as has been the case in some childcare institutions, she will have very limited opportunity to see a variety of colours, shades, movements, lines, shapes, patterns and other visually fascinating events.

As mentioned above, toddler is refining her visual abilities at this Level and she is seeing more and more of a world full of new and changing colours and shapes. And, as she sees more colours and shapes, her brain naturally develops and she remembers them and she then further develops her ability to see even more differences in colours, shades and shapes.

Taking toddler to art galleries, museums, forests, aquariums, swimming, zoos, live theatre and other places where she will have many new visual experiences is of great benefit for her visual development at this level. Nonetheless, using the Magnificent Knowledge Bits of Information cards is also of great benefit during this period, because each visual

experience is then repeated three times each day for five days. Such repetition is ideal for toddler to adequately experience and learn the visual information presented. Even though the zoo, art galleries and other visual experiences mentioned above are multi-sensual, great fun and visually very valuable to toddler, she is unlikely to easily remember in clear detail all the things she sees once, and for only a brief time, if she visits those places for only one day. Toddler’s brain naturally grows and records information better when she makes many repeated visits to the zoo, gallery, aquarium or wherever. The Magnificent Knowledge activity using Bits of Information cards is a valuable supplement or substitute when it is not possible to give toddler repeated real-life experiences 3 times each day for five days. Another advantage in using the Excellent Knowledge Bits of Information cards is that once they have been prepared they are conveniently available for parents to show to toddler three times each day for five days. More information can be obtained on this subject by reading the book Magnificent Knowledge.

Painting and drawing:

The following activities are intended to allow toddler to experience many different colours and shades of colours.

Painting.

Encourage toddler to paint. Obtain a wide range of beautiful paint colours; preferably water based and in tubes or plastic bottles. You should be able to obtain about 10 different colours. Select one colour for toddler to use for several days. Invent a variety of activities to do with the one paint colour each day. For example on day one cut a potato in half and use it as a stamp to apply the paint to a sheet of white paper. On day two use the paint without thinning with water. On day three add water to make the paint very thin. On day four finger-paint. On day five make ‘butterfly’ prints by painting one half of a page and then fold the other half onto it. On day six paint a plaster figure. On day seven paint several objects such as a piece of timber, a metal fork, some paper and a banana to see the different effects. Invent other activities if possible and do them with the one paint colour.

After completing all the activities with the first selected colour select another colour and repeat the activities again. Do this with each of the approximately 10 different colours you have obtained. If you have 10 different colours and you do seven different activities then this will take 70 days to complete.

Then commence the same seven or more activities again and, as before, do one of the activities each day, but this time use two colours each day. Each time you begin to paint particularly spend time with toddler watching what happens as you both very gradually mix the colours on the surface you are painting and they change to new colours. If you have 10 different colours and you do seven different activities then this will take 35 days to complete.

Then repeat the process using three different colours each day.

Modify the above painting activities as required to keep the activities interesting for toddler. For example, if you have a black paint and a dark blue paint then toddler may not find them interesting to colour mix for seven or more days. You might then discontinue mixing dark blue and black after one or two days; and then start again with another colour. It is important though, that you do mix any two colours together for at least one day because, although you might know what the result would be, toddler is unlikely to know what the result will be; and this is her chance to develop her vision and to see and learn what happens.

Drawing:

Obtain a set of about twelve good quality watercolour pencils. Watercolour pencils are pencils that can be used to draw and then if the colour is wet it will run like paint. Each day help toddler to hold a pencil correctly and draw one or more lines on white paper. Then wet the paint with a wet finger and examine the different shades the colours make with more or less water.

Gradually encourage toddler to draw and paint shapes as you do the painting and drawing activities. Read the book Magnificent Drawing and the section titled “The pencil grip” in LEVEL 5: BABY’S HANDS.