Play time is every baby’s favorite time of the day! Mothers around the world come up with their own play time activities that keep the baby engaged and spend energy. By 9-12 months your baby is more active and ready to discover new activities and games. These activities are not just for fun but also contribute to the sound development of a child. Sensory activities, or activities that engage specific senses of the baby, must be introduced from an early age. Motor skill development also comes in use and practice when engaging in certain activities. So while the soft and plastic toys are always a popular play thing, it’s time to use your imagination and put your crafty best foot forward!
- Homemade organic paints: Prepare natural paints at home that are devoid of chemicals and any substance that can cause harm to your baby. Finger painting with homemade paint can be a great and exciting activity for both baby and mother. The painted sheets of paper can be cut out into different shapes and turned into hangings, laminated and used as table mats, framed as a picture and various other possibilities!
- Make Music: While empty tins and vessels can be great musical instruments on their own, you could add tiny pebbles or grains in a bottle to make it even more fun! Make sure the pebbles are sealed in safely to prevent any choking hazard.
- Soap bubbles: Soap bubbles fascinate one and all! The children can have an extremely fun time bursting or just looking at you creating bubbles out of nowhere! Prepare the soap solution at home so there are no harmful chemicals around your baby using a gentle no tears formulated product.
- Create Assorted baskets: Also known as discovery baskets, this is a simple way to introduce new textures and shapes to your baby. Just fill a basket with various things from around the house – spoons, soft balls, fruits, cotton… anything. Just ensure nothing is sharp or has a potential to hurt the baby.
These are just few of the many and numerous ideas you can put in use! There are so many things around the house that can be turned into play! It’s fun and also costs nothing! Just ensure that the baby is seeing, touching, hearing, feeling and moving during the activity. It is engaging and helps develop certain skills and body movements. You need to be creative and imaginative and everything around you can be a prop!