The brain of a baby changes at jet speed during the first year. The first 3 – 4 months is pretty much only feeding, sleeping & pooping. But once these are established, at around 4 months infants start to explore their senses & environment around them. This is the best time to start fun & engaging activities that also help kids attain their Social, Cognitive & Motor skill milestones.
So here’s a list of some activities that are easy to do & fun for kids as well as parents.
Activities for the first 6 months
- Listening – The simplest of all activities to do is to talk & sing to your child while he listens to you in awe. Use different tones & pitches and watch the facial expression change. Baby talk might sound funny to us, but it’s a great way to develop the senses of sound in your baby.
- Tracking – All you need is a colorful soft toy or a ball. Make the baby lie down on her back & show the toy to her in front of her face. Once she has your attention, move the toy from one direction to another. This would help her improve visual tracking skills & stimulate her senses of sight.
- Singing – There is a reason lullabies are so popular. Whenever your baby has a meltdown, or sometimes just like that for fun, sing a soothing song to her. This helps to develop her sense of hearing as well as helps in emotional regulation.
- Mirror reflections – Make your baby look in a mirror. Show them other people in mirror; show them toys & other objects with different colors & shapes in mirror. Compare between the two and keep asking the baby “Who is that” This activity helps not just in sense of vision but also helps in development of social & emotional skills of baby.
- Body Massage – A warm & gentle massage is not only a good way to relax & connect with your baby but also a great way to help her explore her senses of touch.
- Grabbing – Once the kids realize they can grab stuff, they love to practice it with everything. So help her practice her grab with toys, rattles, blanket, spoons etc.
- Rattles – You don’t necessarily need store bought plastic rattles filled with metal balls all the time. They all produce almost similar sounds. Experiment & make something of your own using plastic bottles & different sizes & material like grains, pebbles, water.
- Sensory Boards / Books / Bins / crawls / bottles – Create your own sensory activity for your child.
Activities for the later months
- Stacking – Blocks & cubes are a great idea, but don’t limit just to that. Use utensils, books, pillows etc. to practice the skill.
- Reading – Starting reading at the age of 6 – 8 months is ideal. Kids start to develop fascination for colors, images & animated sounds at this age.
- Ziploc finger painting – The easiest mess free sensory art activity to do. Squeeze some paint on a canvas & place the canvas inside a Ziploc bag. Let kids smudge the paint with their fingers without messing their fingers and yet creating a masterpiece. You can do different variations of this activity with Vashi Tape.
- Transfer activities – One hand to other, one container to other, solids & liquids, with hands or spoons, with forks or tongs….. Help them transfer stuff.
- Color & shape sorting – at this age they still might know which color is which & what shape is called what, but they can easily distinguish between them. Help them sharpen that skill.
- Walk, Jump, Clap & Run – As they move from one benchmark to other, help them to strengthen the previous one & move to next one in fun way. Fill it up with rhymes, songs, dance & fun.
- Puzzles – Start with a 2 piece puzzle. Begin with color, shape & pattern matching & eventually move to missing piece puzzle.
