Babies are constantly learning! From the moment they are born, infants are taking in their surroundings and learning how to listen, think, and explore. In the early years, parents aid this process in the best way possible—play!
Babies are constantly learning! From the moment they are born, infants begin taking in their surroundings and learning how to listen, think, and explore. In the early years, parents aid this process in the best way possible—through play! Playing is the first learning technique we ever encounter; it’s how we learn most of our motor skills and cognitive thinking. What better way to teach your baby than with fun learning activities?
Fun Baby Learning Games is a fantastic resource for new parents and infant caregivers looking for ways to play with their babies. With dozens of activities from birth to age three, there’s hours of learning to be had with this little book. Here are a few activities to try with your baby today:
Cotton (birth-three months)
Materials:
What it Teaches:
Sensory experience can stimulate your baby’s brain and encourage her to explore. Start small with the soft texture of a cotton ball, the perfect size for baby hands!
What to Do:
- Slowly and gently open up your baby’s fist
- Put a cotton ball inside her hand
- Observe your baby’s reaction. She is likely to show pleasure from exposure to the soft texture
Give and Take (three-six months)
Materials:
What it Teaches:
At this age, children are beginning to grasp and hold objects. This not only helps develop their fine motor skills, but also opens up a whole new world of ways to explore now that they can hold what they see!
What to Do:
- Place several safe, interesting, easy-to-handle objects for your baby to touch. Make sure nothing on the items can be swallowed
- Give your baby one of the items
- Put out your hand and ask your baby to give it back to you
- Continue to play with the items you’ve chosen
- See if your baby can initiate the giving process
Inclined Plane Rolling (six-nine months)
Materials:
What it Teaches:
Seeing a ball roll down a hill introduces the concept of cause and effect. Your baby might begin to experiment with the setup, determining if the ball will always roll down the hill or if other objects will do the same thing. We are never too young to partake in scientific curiosity!
What to Do:
- Set up an inclined plane with your baby watching you
- Roll a ball down the inclined plane
- Invite your baby to place the ball on the high end of the plane so that it will roll down
- Guide your baby to find the ball and bring it back to you to play again. For added fun, present other objects like toy cars or cubes and see how they move down the plane
- Repeat the activity for as long as you and your baby continue to enjoy it
