Your baby is constantly learning through the world around him. Provide fun activities for your baby to experience. Here are 19 baby activities that we love! These simple activities will strengthen cognitive skills, fine motor skills, and language development. Support baby’s development in a fun way.
19 Activities for Your Baby
Baby Activity – Scoop and Pour
One of our favorite sensory activities is playing with rice or beans. Scooping and pouring using a cup, spoon, or hands is a fun activity for baby and a great way to strengthen hand-eye coordination . Scoop and pour rice, beans, or water in this sensory bin.
Baby Activity – Fill the Container
Save your parmesan cheese container and entertain your baby in so many different ways with this great idea as they strengthen hand-eye coordination.
Baby Activity – Make a Ribbon Kite
Use ribbon and a ring to make a ribbon kite. This kite is so good for strengthening big movements and gross motor skills.
Baby Activity – Abacus
Lace 5 balls on a string and tie it between two chairs. Watch your child move the balls back and forth along the string with this fun activity.
Baby Activity – Make a Collage
Contact paper (sticky side up) and different items are all you need for your baby to make their first collage. Use tissue paper, construction paper, feathers, or pieces of fabric. Read these tips for painting with babies before you get started.
Baby Activity – Learning to Match
How do you introduce matching to your baby or young toddler? You can introduce this skill in a few simple steps using what you have on hand.
Baby Activity – Lids and a Container
Save your extra lids and tops for this activity. Encourage your baby to put the lids in the container and then pour them out.
Baby Activity – Fun with a Balloon
Oh I just love this simple activity. Tying a simple ballon to a chair or play table is all you need and then the exploration begins. Watch your baby pull the balloon down or hit it and then follow it as it goes back up. This activity is full of cause and effect as well as strengthening hand-eye coordination and visual tracking.
Baby Activity – Climb the Mountain
This is a simple activity to set up and it becomes a soft obstacle course for your baby. This is a great way to develop gross motor skills.
Baby Activity – Where is?
Try this activity while you are preparing dinner. Put a few different objects on your baby’s high chair tray and play this game. What a great way to strengthen vocabulary with a simple game.
Baby Activity – Sticks in a Container
Save a tall container like a juice container and buy some large craft sticks from the dollar store. Show your baby how to put them into the container one at a time. When they are all inside, pour them out. This is such a fun game for your baby and they will have so much fun trying it over and over again.
Baby Activity – Velcro Board
Make your own toy for your baby in just a few simple steps with a few small objects you have on hand. They will spend hours pulling off and attaching the items to the velcro board.
Baby Activity – Sensory Basket
Use your scraps of fabric or find small scraps on clearance at your local craft store to make this sensory basket for baby. Exploring different textures through sensory play is so valuable for babies and toddlers.
Baby Activity – Rings in an Ice Cube Tray
What else can you do with those teething rings that you have so many of? You can make a ribbon kite (above) or use them with an ice cube tray. Show your baby how to put one in each ice cube section or put them in and have your baby take them out.
Baby Activity – Magnets
Magnets are an easy thing for baby to experiment with. Knocking them off of the magnetic surface, moving them around, or even trying to attach a magnet are all great ways for baby to interact with magnets.
Baby Activity – Sensory Bag
Make a sensory bag for your baby in a few easy steps. It is a fun idea to put sensory bags on the floor in front of your baby for plenty of tummy time. Or put on the highchair tray for a distraction while you wait for dinner to be done.
Baby Activity – Sensory Bottles
Save your old spice containers and turn them into simple sensory bottles for your baby. Make sure to glue the lids shut. These are great for the car. After baby gets older, they become great “spices” in the play kitchen and your child will have a great time pretending with them.
Baby Activity – Hidden Toy Game
Check out how we play this game and how it practices the skill of object permanence.
Baby Activity – Pom Poms and and Ice Cube Tray
Here’s a good idea that uses an ice cube tray and pom poms. Picking up pom poms and putting one in each part of the ice cube tray is challenging and so beneficial.
Baby Activity – Songs and Chants
Singing nursery rhymes, chants, clapping games, and finger plays are so beneficial for your baby. They are great for oral development, vocabulary, and bonding time together! Check out these baby action songs for ideas and how to get started. Or start with the song “5 Green and Speckled Frogs” and download the 5 speckled frogs printable puppets.
There are so many ways to nuture your baby’s cognitive development beyond this list of activities. Play peek a boo with different facial expressions, read board books together, and splash around during bath time.
Jason
Thursday 10th of January 2019
Good game lines for my baby.... We will get busy.... Thanks for this post