Monday, March 19, 2012

Fun, Safe, and Affordable Activities

For BABIES

  • Make Funny Faces

Try a smile, a big open mouth, raised eyebrows, or a stuck- out-tongue. Also try talking to your little one. Why is this good? It helps stimulate your baby’s social, visual, and emotional development.  
  • Tickling. 
Why is this good? Tickle time promotes body awareness and social development as well as tactile stimulation. It also gives you a chance to respond to your baby’s cues and body language

  • Help Your Baby Explore
Carry your baby in your arms or put him in his stroller and hit the road. First stop: Your yard or a walk around the neighborhood where there's no end to things he can discover: a blade of grass, the bark of a tree, a warm stone, a wet leaf.  Pick things up so he can get a closer look. Brush a leaf against his cheek (it tickles!), hold a flower to his nose (it smells!). Then go home and have him turn the light switch on and off, or feel the water in the faucet. Why is this good?  New sights and sounds stimulate a baby in just about every way. Touring his world helps him learn to be actively curious, builds vocabulary, and promotes visual and sensory development. 


  • Play “Peekaboo” or “This Little Piggy” 
These games not only strengthen that special bond you share with your little one, they stimulate a baby's senses, gross motor skills, visual tracking, social development, and her sense of humor!,

  • Obstacle Course
Put up an obstacle course of pillows, stuffed animals, and books in the room, then hold babies hands and  crawl along side her as you guide her around the objects. This activity boosts gross motor skills, coordination, balance, and lower-body strength. Plus, mastering the challenge of stepping over and around objects is great for her walking skills and her self-esteem ("Good job, Taylor!").

  • Pouring Game 
To foster that love of the game, offer your little one some plastic bowls, cups, and buckets in a variety of sizes, an assortment of shovels and spoons, and pourable items such as sand, rice, cornmeal, or water to play with. Make sure you've got the time and space to make a mess as a baby's finesse with this task goes only so far. Perhaps you can spread a plastic tablecloth on the kitchen floor first, or better yet, head outside if the weather's nice. To get your baby started, show her how it's done by pouring water from one container to another or scooping up sand with the shovel. Then she'll be ready to roll (and tilt and dump and scoop!) on her own. This sensory-stimulating task also boosts fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. Plus, it builds vocabulary as you narrate the action.


16 comments:

  1. I know a lot of these activities are coming to mind because of Taylor who is now 8-9 months old... and that's definitely a discovery time. What I think is funny about it though, is that my older boys still love doing all of those type of things. They love exploring new areas, picking things up off the ground, etc etc. So these tips are certainly good long past the stage of typical infant discovery. Plus, it is always a good thing just spending time together.

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    1. Thanks Andy for saying that. I was hoping that Taylor would still enjoy doing these things after her infancy stage.

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  2. Great, simple to do activities with your little one. As I was reading them, I thought how I wish I had read those same ideas 30+ years ago when my children were small. I did some of them but wish I would have done each of them more, like the walking and feeling leaves or tickling your face with them. Like Andy suggested in his remarks, I agree that these ideas carry on past the baby days so none of us should stop the interaction. I now have the opportunity to interact with my grandchildren and I'm remembering many happy memories as I recollect destroying as many ant hills as we could find on walks, picking up the biggest rocks we could hold to throw into a swift moving stream, or playing the peekaboo game with the little one and seeing those huge smiles. It's like I have a second chance to do a better job, so thanks for the suggestions.

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    1. I think that one that I enjoy doing the most with Taylor so far is making the funny faces or trying to make her laugh. When she smiles or laughs it's like her whole body is smiling or laughing because she moves arms and legs all over the place. I think the other activities will come later when she learns to crawl and has more balance.

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  3. Some of these definitely extend beyond baby years. Grant is 3 years old and still loves to discover and especially loves to scoop and dig! Good post.

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    1. That is good to know... I hope that Taylor will enjoy doing these activities when she is a few years old too!

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  4. These activities are clearly mom activities. I am more into playing catch, reading, and eating with my kids.

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    1. You mean to say that you have never smiled at your kids or tickled them?.... those count! Playing catch, reading and eating with your kids are other good examples of what else you can do with them. I am sure we will be doing these things as she gets older. Thanks for your comments:)

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  5. I remember doing the majority of these activities with my girls, and now when I have the opportunity, with my grandkids. Their favorites seemed to be making funny faces and seeing them laugh, and of course tickling. The "peek a boo" turns into hide & sick as they get older, and when found (from hiding) they get a good tickle! Letting your baby/child explore is a really fun activity too, along with developing their senses.

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    1. Thanks for sharing this. I think Taylor loves the explore part the most. Everything that I put in front of her face she grabs and has to put it in her mouth:) She also loves to look around at everything when I take her outside

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  6. It was fun to read these because my 5 month old loves the first 4 (he's not big enough to do the last 2 yet). It makes me feel good that I'm doing something right so far! I'm sorry I can't read these more often. I don't have the internet at my house. I do love the ideas on your blog though. Thank you!

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    1. I just have to say that your son is adorable:) Also, Taylor does the first 4 activities too. I am glad that you were able to read at least one and I appreciate your comments

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  7. Playing with babies is so fun. When we lived in Santa Barbara and Asher was a baby I used to take him on walks outside and I would speak french almost the whole time. I don't know why I did it, I'm not even a fluent french speaker... I guess I just wanted him to hear different sounds.

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    1. How interesting.I did not know that you spoke French. I bet Asher was really intrigued as you spoke it to him in that language. Once in a while Chris will speak to Taylor in Spanish and she really studies him when he does it.

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    2. yeah, i found a few more things to do and try that I haven't been doing. Thanks!

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