50+ Ways for Babies to Play

http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/51125/50-ways-babies-play

MARCH 25, 2014 BY RACHEL

Babies learn about the world by touching, tasting and moving in their worlds.

Here are some ideas of ways that you can be intentional in engaging and purposeful in interacting with your tot, to help them develop and gain confidence.

Engaging your Infant:

Treasure Baskets. Fill a basket with objects from around the house for your kids to explore and discover.

It’s been such a long time since I posted about our treasure baskets and thought an update was in order! If you haven’t heard of these or made one before you are in for a treat. Treasure baskets are virtually free to create, take a few minutes to put together, are natural and help to develop so many skills and abilities in babies from 6-18 months.

Please read here to find out more information on heuristic play and the use of treasure baskets with infants.

Baby Pop still loves to play with her basket and now I have got her a round one which makes it much easier for her to access all of the contents from all angles. The objects inside are interesting to look at, feel, shake and taste, yet safe and non-toxic. There is no particular “purpose” to any of them, yet they can be manipulated, explored and played with in a multitude of ways. The basket promotes curiosity and a natural desire to investigate and think, which are wonderful skills to be seeking to develop in babies!

As before, we change some of the objects regularly to keep the basket interesting and fresh to play with. I can usually tell when I need to do this as she starts to fling things out without even looking at them, at breakneck speed. It’s very entertaining to watch but let’s me know things have got a bit stale again!

The current list of contents includes:
* various pine cones, picked up on a walk a while ago
* ribbons of different patterns and textures
* a wooden massager with roller balls
* a range of beaded necklaces and bracelets
* a thick, felted apple
* an interesting wooden toy with jointed parts
* a large shell from the beach
* one of our salt dough ducks (she loves this!)
* a huge, sparkly bouncy ball with glitter shreds suspended in water inside (beautiful and mesmorising!)
* a couple of laminated photos of babies cut out of magazines (she talks to these!)
* a wooden box with a lid
* some thick pipe cleaners, with sharp ends tucked in firmly
* a heart cushion with a range of buttons sewn on tightly
* a little tin filled with pebbles that makes a delightful noise when shaken (sealed shut)
* and…. plenty of other tidbits too!

These things were from around the house or picked up on outings to the countryside or beach. Thanks to my lovely friends who know about this basket and now collect interesting finds for me! (have you got a relative or friend who could look out for things for you too?)

Create color coordinated baskets of toys. Watch your kids discover the color similarities.

This week the boys and I did a lot with the primary colors (Blue, red, and yellow). We spent time drawing, painting, and mixing colors. I thought a great way to keep Baby Bell involved was to make her treasure baskets to go with our color theme for the week. I made her three baskets, a yellow, a blue, and a red. Each day I introduced a different basket. Treasure baskets are a wonderful way for babies to explore and use their senses.

Montessori and Mirrors. Help your baby’s brain develop as they interact with a mirrored image of themselves.

It wasn't until recently that I became aware of Montessori's work regarding infants. Previously I thought Montessori was only about activities for preschoolers and the Montessori Method of education. Certainly this is where a lot of her work is but she also had so much to say about newborn and infant children. In setting up our home environment for our second child I have really tried to follow and understand her work in this area.

In his bedroom we have installed a low wall mirror. Underneath the mirror is a soft blanket to create his movement area. This is where he is starting to spend his limited awake/active time. It is also where he has his tummy time.

Initially I thought about not installing the mirror. It took us a long time to put it up and it was a bit of a hassle. It would have been easier to forget about it. But now I am so glad that we persisted. When I first put him on the blanket and he saw his reflection he was instantly engaged.

The wall mirror provides the chld

the opportunity to see and study their own reflection, study their own movements and connect their movements with that of the reflection, this also helps the child (over time) to control their own movements
another way of seeing the room
encouragement to lift their head especially during tummy time, "controlling the head is the beginning of his mastering of the environment."

The movement area gives the child lots of space for moving around, which a child requires from the start "infants can slither from birth".

Now that we have experienced time spent using the wall mirror and this movement area I can see how beneficial it is and how easy it would have been to overlook it. Certainly it is something I would recommend to anyone setting up an environment for a newborn or infant. It is worth the hassle.

I think as Otis gets older he will spend more time in this movement area. My next step is to put up his mobile and over time introduce some materials for him to use.

Teething Necklaces. These are easy to make and your baby will enjoy having something to chew on – perfect for a diaper bag!

Josie has been teething like crazy the past few weeks no actual teeth have popped through just yet but she is drooling and chewing up a storm on anything she can get into her mouth. This past weekend when we were exploring the city I had her with me in the ergo carrier and she was a busy bee. I kept thinking that I wish I had a necklace on that she could put in her mouth and play with that I wouldn't be picking up repeatedly and cleaning off. I have often admired the teething necklaces made my Tweet Baby Designs and thought that I might be able to make one myself using an old sheet and some beads. It didn't take long to put this one together and Josie seems to love it.

I made this necklace for me to wear and Josie to play with - it's nice to have it on me so that she can't drop it but I couldn't get a picture of the two of us so this one will have to do this morning...here is how I put it together.

You will need:

♥ a long piece of fabric or vintage sheet cut 5" wide and as long as you can make it. Mine was 54" long.

♥ some large wood or plastic beads. I had these lucite beads on hand since I have an insane amount of jewelry making supplies around here but you can buy cheap bags of wood beads at the craft store.

♥ scissors and a sewing machine

1. Cut a strip of fabric 5" wide by roughly 54" long. sew it together with right sides facing and then flip it right side out and form a long tube.

2. Measure about 13" from one end and then tie the tube into a knot.

3. Slip your first bead into the tube and then tie another knot right after the bead.

4. Continue adding beads and knots until you have about the same length as the first side of your tube left. Finish with a knot.

5. Now cut each end of the tube into three equal strips - feel free to snip and then tear it, it doesn't have to be perfect.

6. Braid each side and then sew the ends together with a sewing machine. I didn't really bother making the back look nice since it is essentially a toy for my daughter but if you wanted to make one as a gift or simply for yourself I would suggest a button on one end and a tiny piece of elastic made into a loop on the other for a simple button closure.

Ways Babies Play

Play with Ice. Babies are enthralled with different textures and temperatures.

Ice Ice Baby

I’m often inspired by the everyday simple things when it comes to thinking up activities for the babe. This time I was inspired by how much fun the munchkin man was having sticking his fingers in his grandmother’s water glass and playing with the ice cubes. I wanted to try it on a larger scale to see if he’d be as interested. I also wanted to dress it up a little bit

I had these cute little ice cube trays that I found at the dollar store and knew instantly they would be fabulous for summer fun. The perfect thing to add interest to our ice cube play! As you can see I added food coloring to some of the ice cubes too.

They were the perfect size for little hands to go fishing for….

As the ice cubes melted he found the colored water pretty fascinating too. Not bad entertainment for a nine month old on a hot summer day! Oh and there’s a bonus in that I just realized this knocks one thing off of our summer bucket list…. play with ice.

All you need is ice and a bucket!

Along with breaking out the pool to cool off every day, we found some other activities to do outside and make the heat more tolerable. We beat the heat.

Something easy for George to do [that Henry enjoyed as well] that kept him cool was simply a bowl of ice cubes. Though they didn’t stay frozen long, we added to them to keep the activity going.

George particularly enjoyed the ice
*siapkan es batu di dalam baskom, biarkan si anak makan tu es batu

Muffin Tins Play. Give your child objects for them to sort and put into muffin tin.

making toys out of random things we have around the house. I also love repurposing the toys we do have, mixing up parts etc. Often some of the actual toys become much more fun when mixed with some of the non-toy items.

The other day it occurred to me that those little plastic balls from one of the little guy’s toys (that were spilled all over our living room floor) would fit perfectly inside the cups of my muffin tin. So while he was napping I ran around and collected them, plopped them in, and set it out and waited for him to get up from his nap. I couldn’t wait to see what he would do with it!

Immediately he was drawn to it and grabbed a couple of balls. Then a couple more. As he emptied the tin I would fill it back it back up. Although I didn’t set out with the idea of this becoming a game, I think Mr. C had other things in mind.

He would giggle when I shook it around on the floor and the balls would spin in their cups. Eventually he figured out the best way to use this “toy” was to dump the balls out and watch them roll in all different directions! He thought it was even funnier when Mom dumped the balls out so that they would all roll in his direction.

Kids love sorting colored balls in muffin tins.

Colored Bottles. Seal colored water in bottles for your child to shake and explore.

Today I decided to try something a little different with the munckin man. I wandered around Babies R Us this morning looking for a new toy, but nothing quite fit the bill so when we got home I decided I would try to concoct a new experience for the little guy myself. There was a water bottle sitting on my kitchen counter and that seemed to have potential, then I remembered all the green food coloring left over from St. Patrick’s Day. But why stop with green? So, I ended up coloring three bottles….red…. yellow (because I think that’s his favorite color)…. and green. (I know…it was not lost on me that this has some sort of ‘stop light’ game potential with an older child. I’m filing that thought away for later). I put different amounts of water in each bottle because I’m hoping he’ll pick up on the fact some are easier or harder to lift, roll around etc.. Very simple. I set us up outside on the deck just in case we sprung a leak or had a spill. (Bonus points for taking the activity outside).

I set the three bottles up in front of him and let him go to town. I was curious to see which one he would go for first. Maybe yellow? He did! Score 1pt for Mom knowing her kid

Then of course, yellow went in the mouth, as does everything these days. He tried that for a little while while I became nervous about the cap hazard and then decided he green looked good. Green went in the mouth too. uuuhh.frazzled Mom nerves kicking in. I wondered if he wondered if green would taste different? He played with green and yellow for a little bit and then eventually went for the red. (btw…once he “tasted” the first couple bottles he never put them in his mouth again). I would obviously supervise this activity because of the caps – or find a way to glue them to the bottle).

Doesn’t he seem to be saying… “Hmmm, which one should I choose?”

It was a thrill watching C explore. I don’t actually know who had more fun, he, or I. He was all smiles and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him. You could just see his mind working to figure out what these were, what he could do with them etc. He was LOVING this! He was oblivious to the fact that I was taking pictures because he was enjoying himself so much. Who needs store – bought toys

Kids Learn their Colors

Matching Colors. Young children can begin to recognize similarities and differences in objects with this color activity.
Inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest from this post, I thought contact paper would be a cool sensory experience for little X. I wanted to be sure to discourage mouthing the contact paper because whatever it is that makes that stuff sticky cannot be good for little stomachs! I decided to flip our sensory bin (an underbed storage container I bought from Fred Meyer for $9) and cut a strip of contact paper that would fit in the middle. I also made sure to line the rectangular strip on all sides with packing tape so it wouldn't lift up easily.
I can't resist rainbows, and given the opportunity, must include them wherever I can! So I decided to go with several different textured items, all of which would stick fairly well and all of which we had in rainbow colors! X immediately noticed the stickiness. He touched it a few times before gravitating to the ball pit balls. He rolled the blue one around a bit, listening to the sound it made sticking and unsticking as he moved it around the contact paper.
Then he decided he needed to hold the ball, so off it came. Once he was in possession of the ball, he was interested in inspecting the other items on the table a bit more. He looked at the soft feathers first.
Then he just explored the plain contact paper.
*nyamain warna dari beragam bentuk kayu dengan banyak warna, dibandingin dengan bola, bulu, dan bulu

Snack and paint – use baby food as finger paint with your new eater.

I made some quick edible paint for babies to explore.

Painting for babies is a great sensory experience for them, because they are rarely really painting.

George joined in, but this one was all about Louis. I wanted to use real food in the paint to get Louis to explore new textures and tastes without forcing it at the dinner table.

I simple pureed some fruit in the food processor. And that’s it.

I used a handful of blueberries, three kiwis and a banana. Not very much is needed. I made way too much even.

I added a couple drops of food coloring to each just to enhance the color that was already there. But that’s totally not necessary.

The kiwi and blueberries are pretty watery when they’re pureed. I added a squirt of, our sponsor, Ella’s Kitchen pureed baby food just to thicken it up a tad too.

Quick note: Ella’s Kitchen also never adds water to their pouches, just pure fruit and vegetables, so some flavors are a little watery too while others (like the combination flavors) are thicker!

Practice stacking. Use chunks of food as building blocks with your baby. They can put food on top of each other while they eat.

Sensory Food Play Activity #1: Sorting & Stacking

First, seasonal fruit was cut into squares and balls so that baby could easily stack them. We used cantaloupe, mango, oranges, pears, apples and bananas.

A little dice work and a melon baller are the only tools needed. After taking some time to stack the fruit, we started sorting by colors and shapes in an ice cube tray.

The colors, textures, smells and even our words describing the fruit all made her senses come alive. You can see the curiosity and excitement as she explores with her hands and mouth.

Sensory Food Play Activity #2: Exploring Slippery Foods

For the next activity, we used pasta and boiled eggs. Sometimes little palettes don’t enjoy slippery/slimy textures. By first exploring them with her hands and smelling the food, she slowly learned about these new textures.

We used a spinach pasta to add color as well as a bit more texture and nutrition than traditional white flour pasta.

Sensory Food Play Activity #3: Painting with Purees

Finger-painting is something that even the pickiest eater will get into. Ella’s Kitchen squeezersprovide the perfect ‘paint.’ We put a few drops on the tray and let her start to touch and taste it.

Seconds later, she was using the squeezers herself. She added to the paint and was up to her elbows in yummy fruits and vegetables!

Using food to learn about the world is not only stimulating, it’s soothing. Sensory play can often provide comfort for a cranky baby. Remember, babies rely on their senses to organize what they are learning. So go ahead, take an hour and get the high chair a little messy!

For older tots who are beginning to enjoy pretend play, consider creating an edible sandbox for them to explore.

I set up a very simple indoor sandbox that’s completely edible for Louis to play with. This really should have been one of the ideas to turn outdoor activities into indoor ones!

Of course, if you mention sandbox, the other boys are right by his side in seconds.

They’ve missed their sandbox this winter! So it was definitely time for an indoor sandbox!

If you’ve been a reader for awhile, you’ll already know that I’ve been partnering with Ella’s Kitchen to bring you sensory activities for kids to try at home in ways that will also help introduce them to food that’s good for them! I recently shared another edible sensory bin that’s a sneaky way to get them to try their veggies.

We’re finding all these fun sensory ways for the kids to play because Ella’s believes that, just as adults do, babies eat with all of their senses – so it’s not just the texture or taste that’s important. That’s why they make sure all their yummy, organic baby food appeals to all their senses, with bright, colorful, squeezy packs to grab and squish.

All it takes is a couple measuring cups and spoons and the boys were having a great time scooping out the oatmeal and digging for the ‘treasures’.

Paint for babies to play. Be daring, watch the kids smear and create.

Painting with an infant is messy. I don’t like using paint brushes with tiny kids because paint flings everywhere, they look like spoons so they tend to go straight in the mouth and even ones with thicker handles are hard for little hands. Instead using easy to wash plastic toys like these blocks are a great way to paint and explore .

Gather your materials. You will need some paper, paint, blocks, plastic plate, painter’s tape and an eager baby.
Start by using the painter’s tape to secure the paper. This is a must for us, for whatever reason my daughter has a serious fondness for paper. This keeps it as art instead of food.
Pour some paint on the plate.
Dip the block in and go for it.
She examined it for a long time.
Then started moving it around the paper. I took the other block and tapped it on the paper but she wanted to roll . It’s tempting to show babies and toddlers how to do things by holding their hands in yours and moving them, resist that urge when it’s a free exploration like this . Show them by example and then just narrate what they are doing. *( ETA – reader Brooke asked for an explanation about this and I want to make it clear that it’s not wrong to help your child do tasks by holding their hands , I was referring to free art explorations like this. My reasoning being that by letting them explore with their own motivation that they will direct their own play. I hope that clears it up ! Thanks Brooke!)
She managed to get it up to her mouth but because the blocks are big not much made it in and was easy to wipe off.

With toddlers and preschoolers you can make fun shape prints with the blocks by slamming it down so if you have multiple ages this is a fun easy project for a rainy day.

Foster Independence in your Child

Fine Motor Bottle Toy. Your tot can thread toothpicks or other small objects into a bottle.

Grab a pitcher. Practice hand-eye-coordination as your tot pours. As soon as they are able to hold a container, they will love seeing/feeling water pouring.

Baby Obstacle Course. Use pillows and cushions to create an obstacle course for your child to navigate.

Grab a Bowl and a Ball. Play a game of roly bowly as your kids swish the balls in the bowl.

Dumping. As soon as babies learn to drop objects, they will love placing objects into tins and in-time, pouring.

This summer, add some fun to your child’s outdoor play with ice. Add a shoestring to connect your ice cubes for more fun!

Stacking Up and Down. Stack blocks on top of each other and watch your baby topple them over.

Play Ideas for Youngest Babies:

Finger Play - these are several different ways you can engage your baby, with only your fingers.

Explore Textures and Prints with a sensory mat made of a variety of animal themed fabrics.

Create a Texture wall. Use embroidery hoops for a variety of textures – hang them low enough for your child to roll to and reach easily.

Create a Play Space. Use mirrors and other brightly colored toys for your child to roll to and reach.

Toys to make for Babies:

Collection of Baby Buckets. These are simple toys you can make for your toddler from recycled items.

Tugging Toy. Make holes in a box and have strings with different textures and things tied to them for your child to pull.

Clipping Toy – toddlers love to clip buckles.

I Spy Bottle. Talk to your baby about the objects they an see inside the bottle as they shake it.

Make a squishy bag. Tape it to the tray on their seat for your kids to explore.

Alphabet matching puzzle. Use foam letters to create a game for your young children.

Create a fabric game for your child to pull and play with a variety of textures.

About Life

January 18, 2015

COPAS game anak