Last updated on March 28th, 2019 at 05:28 pm
For a mom who’s with my baby 24/7, thinking of ways to entertain him can be an effort. I need to come up with interesting activities that can help him to build important skills.
The activities I will present in this post is age appropriate for 6 – 24 months. This is the time when babies start to explore physically, mentally and more.
They are learning how to stand alone, walk, see colors more vividly, use stronger grips and have better understanding of their surroundings and interact with people more.
The most common thing we know when we hear Baby Skill Development are Fine and Gross Motor Skills and that is what we aim to expose our kids to. Activities that will get them to use this skills.
Let me present an overview.
What are Fine Motor skills?
Fine motor skills involve the use of the smaller muscle of the hands, commonly in activities like using pencils, scissors, construction with Lego or other toys and things.
What are Gross Motor skills?
Gross motor skills are those which require whole body movement, such as standing and walking, running, jumping, sitting and more. They also includes eye-hand coordination skills such as throwing, catching, kicking as well as riding a bike and swimming.
(Source: https://childdevelopment.com.au)
Now that we’ve learned its importance, Let me share ways with you on how to get your baby busy while boosting his brain and body skills.
This is a mixture of Do It Yourself, no prep and planned activities. Feel free to do those convenient for you.
1. Ref Magnets
Good for their stand practice and keeps them occupied for a long time. They can also see themselves in the ref’s surface so its like looking in a mirror. They also reach for the magnet or look for it whenever it drops.
2. The Ribbon Bar
I created it differently though as we only used a hanger to hold the ribbons making it more portable in my opinion (excuses… the bar seems hard and expensive to replicate).
3. Dig Out Toys on Jelly
This is easy and cheap. I will be doing this again soon as the baby enjoyed it. Warning: This is messy.
4. Discovery Basket
This occupies my boy for a long time and whenever he sees a fresh basket with new items he is very excited. I usually prepare this at night so when he wakes up this is my first trick as I am still sleepy to do active plays.
The gist is you have this basket/box where you put items from different parts of the house. Example: Bathroom, Kitchen, Bedroom, Office stuff…
His favorite are the baking/kitchen items. He loves the whisk and spatulas.
5. Cut and Paste
Using a double sided tape and cut out art papers, He gets to stick the papers on the cabinet. Its not much fun for him though, what we found more fun is the anti mosquito stickers. I stick it in his nose, belly, knees etc. he laughs and does the same to mommy.
6. Newspaper or Aluminum Foil Step
Because of their texture once the baby kicks or placed their feet it produces a sound. Thus, the sense of hearing and touch are stimulated.
7. The Messy Spaghetti
Cooked pasta with food color. I am hesitant to add food color as he will be eating the pasta for sure. Instead I will add a little beetroot for color but won’t mix too long for it might blend with the taste of the pasta and beetroot tastes like soil😑 so that is a no-no.
8. Balloon Tied to Foot
Seb did not appreciate it much because he was too young when I introduced this to him. 3 Months. Maybe I will try again soon. I’ll buy one of those charactered balloons they sell in the market.
9. Coloring Materials
Crayons and Colored Pencils are my go to when it comes to entertaining this little kiddo. He “tries” to draw using crayons while I doodle with him and my favorite is whenever he tries to put the colored pencils on its case. He gets to practice his fine motor and thinking skills.
10. Sensory Play
From rice, to beans, sand, clay and other items. You can do this fun yet messy activity either indoor or outdoor depending on your messiness tolerance.
We’ve done several of this but my favorites are this two. See how its done here!
Get Your Toddler Busy With Sensory Play Using DIY Moon Sand
No Cook Play Dough Recipe
11. Pimp the Walker
Seb’s walker is a hand me down and the toy in front of it is damaged so I just discarded it and created a new one. A very detailed car dashboard. It took quite some time and effort. I used a cardboard and sharpie and voila… ganda diba?
The following items are highly recommended as this focuses on their mental and language development and focuses on your bonding as mom and baby.
12. Read
Read the Bible. I bought “First Bible Stories” and read it to him whenever we can. From the Creation, Isaac, Abraham, Noah, Jonah of the Old Testament and now we are on Jesus’ time at the New Testament.
It is a review to me on the bible stories and It seem that I really am the one enjoying because whenever he tries to grab the book I say “No, this is Mommy’s book”. The book is too pretty.
Read Everything. From labels, to signage and any other reading resources. I am a reader myself and I hope for him to develop a liking for it too. As I believe that reading is a solid foundation to having a good grammar. I credit my sister for my interest in reading. I remember the first book that my parents bought for me was Sweet Valley Kids.
13. Massage
From newborn to infancy up to before he becomes too active and squirmish. Massage is a favorite activity. I have a thing for trying out new oils and watching youtube videos of baby massages. Complete with a lullaby on Spotify.
It was a bonding moment then but now that he cannot keep still… 😭
14. Sing and Dance
Dance to Nursery Rhymes and maybe your favorite song too. Singing is one of the best ways for him to explore his speech and be expose to different concepts such as the Alphabet, Animals ad more. Get your moves on and dance with that bubbly baby.
15. Talk to your Baby
This will help him to develop language and communication skills. It may feel like a one man show now with your baby’s response still lacking. The more talking, the more he listens and understands. Talk about everything to your child to help his vocabulary to widen.
Those are my activity set. Try some of them with your little one and enjoy your bonding time together.
I hope that this post reaches out to Mothers like me who’s looking for activities that can keep their babies occupied giving them TIME – either to bond or to do something while the baby is busy.
If you love who you are doing it for then it will never feel like a chore.
Kids and Screen Time has become a parenting issue in modern times. Let’s discuss on the Alternatives and Solutions on this in my related post.
Alternative Activities for Children Instead of Screen Time
Related post: Fun Activities To Keep Your Toddler Engaged For A Long Productive Time
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