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By: Katie Pierce

Between naps, feedings, and diaper changes, your baby will be awake and alert, eager for lots of cuddling, discovery, and playtime.

Several simple and entertaining activities can help boost your baby’s development and elicit lots of adorable grins and giggles. Every experience is new to your little one, so every activity or interaction with you is an opportunity for bonding and learning. Also, note that most of your baby's learning in their first year will occur naturally as you talk, read, make faces, and interact with them every day.

Try these seven enjoyable games and activities with your baby, and watch how their eagerness to learn and bond with you grow!

1. Touch and Texture

Learning through touch and texture allows your baby to understand what objects are and how they feel. Even if your baby cannot verbalize yet what they are experiencing, they will learn what sticky, prickly, rough, smooth, and fluffy feels like on their skin.

Introduce different textures, and make learning fun with colorful baby kits and sensory boards. Sensory boards, also known as busy boards, are a fun way for your baby to experience different textures in one place. Cut little squares of various colored and textured fabrics and materials and attach each square to a poster board. Let your baby explore and examine each texture with their hands. 

2. Discovery Basket

Much like a sensory bin, a discovery basket lets your baby explore unique objects. Discovery baskets allow babies and toddlers to observe new items in a secure and supervised setting while also giving them the freedom to explore the contents at their own pace. They offer children the opportunity to use all of their senses while learning new things.

Simply fill a basket with kid-friendly items of all shapes, sizes, and textures. Consider a basket of kitchen tools, which may include everything from dish towels and spoons to colanders and plastic jars. Alternately, you can make a musical basket with objects that rattle, bang, and clang, such as measuring spoons, wooden ladles, and muffin trays. 

3. Fingers and Toes

Babies find their fingers and toes fascinating. When your baby's attention is drawn to their hands or feet, talk to them about what they’re seeing and touch and count out loud each finger or toe. Sing a song or recite a nursery rhyme, such as “This Little Piggy” or “Five Little Ducks,” as you count each digit. 

Repeat this activity several times because repetition (in a fun way!) helps children remember the sequence of numbers. Movement and rhymes also help children remember sounds. 

One of the best things about this activity is that you can do it almost anywhere and anytime. You can count fingers and toes in the bath, before bed, or while waiting at the doctor's office.

4. Building Blocks

Blocks are one of the most basic types of toys, yet they are far from boring. Blocks are universally engaging, and while your child discovers the delights of building and stacking, they are also learning a lot. Playing with blocks enhances their motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving abilities.

Your toddler will enjoy stacking blocks as high as they can and then seeing what happens when they knock them down. Your little one will develop dexterity and explore concepts like cause and effect, early math, and geometry. 

5. Puppet Play

Puppet play is a fantastic educational tool for children. These handheld toys have the potential to boost memory, language skills, creativity, social awareness, and more.

Playing with finger puppets helps develop your baby’s fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They also help children build empathy and appreciate different perspectives.

You may buy finger puppets online, but you can also get creative and craft your own hand puppet out of an odd sock and some stick-on eyes. Play peek-a-boo, sing silly songs, and shower your little one with kisses using the hand puppet.

6. Reading Aloud

Reading aloud to your child has several advantages, but it is especially crucial for laying a solid foundation for their learning journey. Starting early is critical since the root of language development is forming in your baby's brain even before they start talking.

Reading aloud to your child teaches them how to communicate and introduces them to concepts like the alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes. It also teaches your baby about their surroundings and develops their memory, listening, and vocabulary skills.

Hearing new words while looking at colorful pictures will stimulate your baby's brain. The more words your baby hears, the more words they will learn over time.

7. Making Music

Music can be fun and soothing for you and your baby. Listening to music together is a wonderful bonding experience, so turn on some relaxing tunes, hold your baby close, and sway to the beat.

Exposing your baby to music can also help them learn and master complex language concepts faster. A 2016 Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) study found that a series of music-themed play sessions boosted 9-month-old babies' brain processing of both music and new speech sounds. Singing, pounding on a drum, or shaking a tambourine develops the same parts of your baby’s brain required to master a language.

Conclusion

From sensory play that stimulates your baby’s senses to creative play that helps your child’s imagination grow, there are countless activities you can do together to help your little one to develop and learn.

Check out our blog for more ideas to keep your baby entertained as they explore and discover the wonders of their growing world.