The Best Tactile/Touch and Feel Books for Babies.
Our youngest has always been into books, having a grandma who used to run a bookshop can’t have hurt. Being the youngest of five has some benefits when it comes to reading material. We have a lot. Annoyingly we did get rid our some of our books for babies and toddlers. The silver lining is some great new tactile children’s books have been released over the last couple of years. Here is a quick round-up of five of her favourite books suitable for babies from 6 months old. If you like these check out our son’s favourite transport-themed books here.
The Benefits of Tactile or Touch-And-Feel Books.
Touch and feel books are interactive board books that have textures incorporated into the illustrations. Sharing these types of books with children provides many benefits for their development and growth. Here are some of the key reasons touch and feel books are great for children’s early learning:
- They encourage interaction and engagement. The tactile elements of touch and feel books captivate children’s attention and make reading more fun and hands-on. The textures give them something exciting to explore while you read.
- They build vocabulary. As children feel the different textures, you can name them and introduce new words like “bumpy,” “fuzzy,” “slippery,” etc. Associating words with concrete sensations helps build language comprehension.
- They develop fine motor skills. Touching and feeling the textures engages children’s fine motor skills in their fingers and hands. The act of turning pages also helps strengthen these skills.
- They stimulate the senses. The combination of sight, touch, and sound (as you read the words aloud) creates a multi-sensory experience that engages more of the brain. This boosts comprehension and retention.
- They teach concepts. Books with themes around emotions, seasons, numbers, etc. use the textures to help reinforce the concepts on each page. Feeling a scratchy wool texture on a sheep, for example, drives home the idea of wool being scratchy.
- They encourage bonding. Touch and feel books create special one-on-one interaction time between parent and child. Sharing these books together builds your bond.
Nosy Crow’s Listen to Baby Books
Listen to the Jungle – Buy Here & Listen to the Seaside – Buy Here
These two baby books are great fun. It took her until she was almost a year old to manipulate the little sound sensor on each page. Recently (17m) she has begun searching for it and repeating her favourite sounds with a giggle.
One of the benefits of these books is the links they have to many of the toys we have collected over the years. So whilst reading we can play with the animals. It can be fun to recreate scenes and even extend the play into the tough tray. You can create linked learning activities to the themes in the books.
Make Tracks by Nosy Crow.
Make Tracks: Farm – Buy Here
We actually bought this for our son who was drawn to it in a bookshop. This is a new series of chunky board books the one we have to based on the farm. Each page describes a vehicle and a sliding counter that you “drive” around a track. Brilliant for developing fine motor skills. It features basic vehicle vocabulary with simple first words and clear diagrams. Around the track there are text prompts to encourage discussion. Then trace 5 types of transport around 5 different tracks with a moving counter on every spread and the cover. The perfect book for children who love tractors, horse boxes, and combine harvesters. Full disclosure this may be better for toddlers 16m+ as we have a disconnected roundabout on one page (but easily glued back).
Peekaboo Love Baby Book
Peekaboo Love – Buy Here
This is turning into a Nosy Crow fan post. We have not been gifted any of these books these are books that we have seen in shops or online and bought. Peekaboo Love is her favourite book. We read this everyday, multiple times.
When she was younger I would slide out the interactive bits and she would push them back in. She has been able to manipulate them herself for a couple of months now. If left to her own exploration it would be damaged by now but with supervision each movable element of the book is sturdy. The art in Peekaboo love is vibrant and engaging.
Where’s Mr Penguin Baby Book With Felt Flaps.
Where’s Mr Penguin – Buy Now
The difference with this book or series of books is that the flaps are felt. This makes them much sturdier and easier for little fingers to manipulate. Where’s Mr Penguin is, like Peekaboo Love, illustrated by Swedish illustrator Ingela P. Arrhenius. Vibrant clear images bring each character to life as you go on a hunt through the wintery landscape in search of more animals.
Colours Early Baby Books
Jane Foster’s Colours – Buy Here
I wasn’t a big fan of this book that we have had since she was first born. However she liked looking through and getting me to repeat the name of the images on each page. It is a great book for introducing colours and simple vocabulary. In the picture below you can see we used it to theme all the items on her tray, matching them to the page of the book.
We hope you enjoyed looking at five favourite baby books. What books does your toddler enjoy exploring? Let us know in the comments. The links in this post are affiliate links which will not cost you an extra penny but if you buy a book within 24 hours of clicking on them we earn a very small commission that helps pay for the hosting of the website.
My little ones always loved the Touch and Feel books. So cute! Thanks for the post!