Think Like a Baby: 33 Simple Research Experiments You Can Do at Home to Better Understand Your Child's Developing Mind

by Amber Ankowski, Andy Ankowski

Raising a baby is joyful, amazing . . . and ridiculously difficult. But with some insight into what’s actually going on inside your little one’s head, your job as a parent can become a little bit easier—and a lot more fun.

In Think Like a Baby , coauthors Amber and Andy Ankowski—The Doctor and the Dad—show parents how to re-create classic child development experiments using common household items. These simple step-by-step experiments apply from the third trimester through age seven and beyond and help parents understand their children’s physical, cognitive, language, and social development. Amazed parents won’t just read about how their kids are behaving, changing, and thinking at various stages, they’ll actually see it for themselves while interacting and having fun with them at the same time. Each experiment is followed by a discussion of its practical implications for parents, such as why to always bring more than one toy to a restaurant, which baby gadgets to buy (and which ones to avoid), how to get kids to be perfectly happy eating just half of their dessert, and much more.

Genres: Parenting

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2015

About the author

Amber Ankowski is an expert in child development, with a PhD in developmental psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, experience teaching at several Southern California universities, and three young children that she both teaches – and learns from – every day.

She parents and writes with her husband Andy Ankowski, who studied creative writing at the University of Notre Dame, has written award-winning advertising for more than a decade, and believes keeping a sense of humor is a parent’s best friend.

Reviews

[Maria Shuffit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I did not read this entire book because a large part of it does not apply to me yet, and by the time it does, I will have forgotten it. Stupid brain.

This is a really interesting book if you are one of those parents who is fascinated at the stages of development your baby goes through and, like an obnoxious tot, is always asking "WHY?" Organized by age, this book gives a series of experiments that you can do to help you witness and learn about your baby's development. For each experiment, there is a brief introduction, a shaded box listing what you'll need to perform the experiment and the steps for the experiment itself, and is followed up by an explanation of what it all means, all put into language that is easy to understand even if you are not scientifically or psychologically empowered. I checked this book out from the library and if I don't manage to grab a copy for my personal collection at some point, I will probably be checking it out over and over again. Really interesting!

[Brooke Houser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the absolute PLEASURE of taking Amber's Child Development class at UCLA. One of my favorite classes and this book was a huge part of why. Her approachable presentation of science and learning is great for everyone- student or parent. I personally don't plan on having kids any time soon and loved every second of this book.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was full of fun, little experiments that a parent could do with their child. Each experiment was based off of psychology research and the tone of the book was written in a very fun, approachable way. I enjoyed reading it for class.

[Milagro Escobar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book with great developmental and psychological insight for parents or anyone with a child in their lives.

[Sweetpea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from the Goodreads First Reads program in exchange for an honest review. Loaded with child development experiments, discussions and tips, I thought this was a very interesting and informative book for parents.

[Staci Suhy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free as part of a first reads promotion