Black and White Images for Babies: What are the Benefits?

When you think of babies, you may think of brightly colored toys and nursery designs. You hear the crinkling, crackling, and delightful laughs from their play. You may stock up on gorgeous toys with baby pinks, soft blues, and every pastel hue in between.

But have you considered black and white images for babies? If you haven't, now is the perfect time to start!

Hearthsong’s curated collection of Wee Gallery toys prioritize childhood development through high-contrast (and mega cute) black and white images for babies. They’ll be able to recognize patterns like sweet animals and even grasp concepts like numbers.

Humans have their most significant development during their childhood, but even from birth up to three months, a baby navigates the world through their budding senses. They’re tiny sponges of powerful potential and can learn so much within a short time.

When babies are born, they already start to visually explore their surroundings. But they have trouble identifying two different targets or moving their eyes between objects. They can best focus on one high-contrast image at a time since they are 50 times less sensitive to contrast than their parents.

While babies can see color, their visual acuity makes it much easier to see black, white, and gray tones for least up to four to six months.

Remember that babies can only see between 12 to 15 inches in front of them and begin to reach out for objects at around three months. You should keep baby-friendly objects within 8 to 12 inches of their reach.

Sure, you could stick with colorful images and toys before then, but maximizing their visual stimuli during any part of their critical growth period is essential for their development. Black and white toys are a perfect fit for visual stimulation and their attention spans. Plus, they’ll match wonderfully with any of their future favorite toys.

During their first few years, babies experience a critical period in their visual development. Each stage marks an exciting new checkpoint!

In their first few months, they learn eye coordination and focus. By 2 months, babies can focus on their parents or other people in their proximity.

By 3 months, they can follow objects with their eyes and reach out to grab close objects.

By 5 months, their hand-eye coordination and depth perception develop and continue to grow. Their color vison also improves by this point.

Between 9 to 12 months, playing hide and seek or memory games help foster visual memory. You can also help babies get a head start on vocabulary by naming objects as you introduce them by using Wee Gallery's Art Cards.

By a year-old, babies benefit from exploration involving looking and listening and can even recognize familiar pictures. You can tell stories, play more memory games, and roll objects (like a Clutch Ball) back and forth to further their visual development.

Note: It’s okay if your child doesn’t reach certain milestones right away. Patience is key! Taking your infant to their first eye exam at 6 months old is a great way to test for abnormalities and ask additional questions.

We loved Surya and Dave’s story of how they got the idea for their iconic Wee Gallery Art Cards, stemming from their desire to do what was best for their own baby. After becoming parents and reading plenty of baby developmental books, they created something babies around the world benefit from.

Guided by best practices, review, and advice from Jennifer Jipson, PhD. (Department of Psychology and Child Development, California Polytechnic University), Wee Gallery continues to develop beautiful products that are key to babies’ development. Browse Hearthsong’s Wee Gallery collection now.