Experimenting With Babies: 50 Science Projects You Can Perform on Your Kid shows parents how to recreate landmark scientific studies on cognitive, motor, social and behavioral development — using their own bundles of joy as the research subjects.
Each project includes instructions on how to conduct the experiment at home using ordinary toys and household items as props, an easy-to-understand explanation of the experiment's significance, and suggestions on how parents can incorporate these principles into their interactions with their child.
Mom and Dad can begin experimenting on the day their baby is born, and they can continue to test hypotheses well into their child's toddler years.
Covering everything from recognizing faces and sounds to depth perception and fine motor skills, this fascinating book is perfect for parents who are curious about their baby's growing ability to understand and interact with the world around them.
Experimenting With Babies will amuse and entertain parents — and the whole family. With the book's help, you can experience the thrill of scientific research from the comfort of your own living-room laboratory and find out what happens when the empirical meets the adorable.
You can purchase Experimenting With Babies at your local bookstore or through the following online booksellers:
You can buy Experimenting With Kids at your local bookstore or through the following online booksellers:
Just as "Experimenting With Babies" is the perfect gift for new parents, Experiments for Newlyweds is the perfect gift for newly engaged or married couples. Find it at your local bookstore or through the following online booksellers:
When you purchase a copy of "Experimenting With Babies," you're not only strengthening the bond between you and your baby — you're also helping other families unite with a child in need of a loving home.
Fifteen percent of the author's royalties from sales of the book will be donated to Show Hope, which offers financial assistance to families hoping to adopt a child and medical care to orphans around the world.
Shaun Gallagher, a father of three ongoing science experiments, is a former magazine and newspaper editor who now writes books and software.
In addition to "Experimenting With Babies," he is also the author of:
Experimenting With Kids: 50 Amazing Science Projects You Can Perform on Your Child Ages 2-5
Experiments for Newlyweds: 50 Amazing Science Projects You Can Perform With Your Spouse
Correlated: Surprising Connections Between Seemingly Unrelated Things
Shaun lives in Delaware with his wife and children.
Colin Hayes (colinhayes.com) has been a freelance illustrator since 1993. His work has appeared in Billboard Magazine, Consumer Reports, Esquire, Family Circle, Field & Stream, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Men's Health, New York Times, Outdoor Life, Outside Magazine, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal, and dozens of others. His advertising illustration work has included clients such as AMC TV, AT&T, Hershey's, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Sprint, Volkswagen and XM Satellite Radio.
He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two daughters.
In the March 7, 2019, episode of CBS's "The Big Bang Theory," Sheldon discovers a copy of Experimenting With Babies and attempts to experiment on the Wolowitz children.
"For most parents, coaxing your baby to eat Cheerios off the highchair tray is a pretty satisfying accomplishment. Shaun Gallagher has taken that parental fascination with offspring and turned it into an entertaining and helpful book."
— Chicago Tribune, "Taking a few baby steps with science"
"Shaun Gallagher taps into his creativity as a dad and his fun inner scientific geek in his new book, Experimenting With Babies."
— Parents.com, "Mom Must Read: Tap Into Your Inner Geek"
"Experimenting With Babies: 50 Amazing Science Projects You Can Perform on Your Kid illuminates how children acquire skills such as walking, talking and sharing, and how they develop, physically and emotionally, during the first 24 months of life. Shaun Gallagher pored over journal articles, most of which were published in the last decade, to find experiments that didn't require special equipment, could be performed easily and over a short period of time, and that had a 'clear takeaway' message for parents to reflect on."
— Maclean's, "Equipment Needed: Baby, Aged Zero to Two"
"Experimenting With Babies offers insights on infant development and parenting with a humorous twist. ... The heart of the book is not the experiments themselves, but takeaways that provide the new parent with developmental clues and suggestions for age-appropriate activities. Parents will appreciate these tips and Gallagher's whimsical tone, whether or not they experiment on their own tykes."
"This is a unique work that presents an enjoyable and intelligent look at child development. It is a graceful bridge between parenting and research and is ideal for anyone with a wee one."
— Library Journal starred review
"Experimenting With Babies is a wonderful book, giving parents a hands-on way to understand their baby's emerging mind. The experiments are easy, fun, and nicely annotated with the real science behind them. What a fabulous way for parents to get to know their new child!"
— Lise Eliot, Ph.D., associate professor of neuroscience at the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University and author of What's Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life
"With the marketplace urging parents to buy all manner of things to make their babies 'smart,' Gallagher's book offers parents a view based in science on how much babies really know and figure out on their own. Parents will have fun with this book and gain new respect and awe for their babies' amazing capabilities."
— Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D., H. Rodney Sharp Professor at the University of Delaware and author of How Babies Talk, Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, and A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool
| Project | Age Range (0-24 months) | Complexity | Research areas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soothing Scents | Emotional | ||
| Baby Blueprints | Cognitive | ||
| En Garde | Reflex | ||
| Happy Feet | Reflex | ||
| A Penchant for Patterns | Cognitive | ||
| Feet Lead the Way | Motor | ||
| Response Under Pressure | Reflex | ||
| I'm Hip to That | Reflex | ||
| This Little Piggy Was Named Babinski | Reflex | ||
| A Memorable Smile | |||
| Out on a Limb | Motor | ||
| Grasping Prep | Motor | ||
| Tongue Testing | Motor | ||
| Picture: Impossible | Cognitive | ||
| Pitch Patterns | Music | ||
| Spider Sense | Cognitive | ||
| Put an Age to That Face | Cognitive | ||
| The Face Matches the Feeling | Emotional | ||
| Stress Busting | Emotional | ||
| Propulsive Perceptions | Cognitive | ||
| Body Stretches | Cognitive | ||
| A Cappella Strikes a Chord | Music | ||
| Natural Interference | Language | ||
| Gestation of Gestures | Motor Language | ||
| Sizing Things Up | Motor | ||
| Mirror, Mirror | Cognitive | ||
| Capturing the Cup | Cognitive | ||
| Grabby Hands | Motor | ||
| I Want What You Want | |||
| Be Still, My Face | Emotional | ||
| The In-Plain-Site Switcheroo | Cognitive | ||
| The Goldilocks Effect | Cognitive | ||
| The Importance of an Audience | Language | ||
| A Gazy Connection | |||
| Shapes or Kinds? | Language | ||
| Demonstration and Deduction | Cognitive | ||
| Defending What's Mine | |||
| Taking Cues | Emotional | ||
| Walking Tour | Motor | ||
| Familiarity and Foods | |||
| The Retriever | Motor | ||
| I Know Something You Don't Know | Cognitive | ||
| Using Your Head | Motor | ||
| A Questioning Look | Cognitive | ||
| Power Napping | Language | ||
| Same or Similar? | Language | ||
| The Ambiguous 'One' | Language | ||
| Helping the Helper | |||
| Punishing the Bad Guy | Emotional | ||
| Don't You Know? | Cognitive |
