Introducing Children to the Wonder of Prenatal Development

Mommy, mommy!  Look at my blood.

My breath caught in my throat as I heard my daughter screaming this while running in from the backyard. Normally tears accompany blood, but this girl of mine is tough, real tough.

I exhaled, as a quick look assured me she wasn’t leaving a trail of blood; she is simply filled with wonder…  Wonder at how she was made, wonder at the miracle of pregnancy and making connections with what she looked like while in my tummy with what she can see now.

A few weeks ago, my friend Danika Cooley’s new book, Wonderfully Made, arrived in our mailbox.  I hadn’t really talked to Greta about that since there was no obvious reason to do so.  But she has been full of questions for a while as we see pregnant ladies at church or at our weekly park day!  She is at the age where she is asking all kinds of questions about babies and how they bake.  And with her aunt having a little girl this summer, those questions are not going away anytime soon!

Since I know that many of you have new babies coming or already snuggled in your arms, I wanted to share about this book with y’all.  I’m a firm believer in giving our kids accurate, age-appropriate information.

This book definitely fits the bill. Kids who read and comprehend the material in this book will understand more than most of the college students who took my Human Anatomy and Physiology lab at the university. {I was amazed at the responses my students gave on my reproductive anatomy and physiology quizzes.  Apparently years of sex-ed taught them next to nothing about pregnancy, even questions as basic as where does the baby develop… }

The beautiful thing is that this isn’t a book about someone else’s pregnancy.  Nope. This book delightfully connects our children with their own development. It takes you back down what would be memory lane if we could remember and gives us nearly a week by week look at development.

Here is the page that Greta was referencing when she noticed (again) the veins she could see on her hands.

This book is perfect for every child, but I can see how it would be extra special and a fun resource to have around if you are expecting a baby and want to bring your older kids into the wonder of it all since they could easily reference the book at each stage of your pregnancy.

For us, we are content to simply be filled afresh with the wonder of being wonderfully made.

Pregnant and/or looking for hands-on ideas to learn about pregnancy and fetal development: I shared about what we did here!