The first 7 years of your child's life is the most important for development, but do you get stuck with activity ideas for your baby??
Here are some fun, engaging activities to try with them at home using things that you most likely already have lying around.
TUMMY TIME:
Tummy time is a great activity for babies!! Babies need to spend at least 30mins a day (at first, it doesn't have to be at the one time)
Tummy time will strengthen your babies neck and help them to learn to roll over.
There are different ways you can do tummy time with your baby to make it fun for them.
- Fresh from the bath and still in the nudey lie baby on a soft towel on their belly for a few minutes
-Place your baby on their tummy on a very colourful, rainbow blanket and let them look at all the colours.
- Place your baby on their tummy on a play mat and let them explore all the different colours and textures
- Place your baby on your bed and you sit on the ground so they can see you
- Place baby on daddy's chest and talk to your baby (can also do on mum but if your breast feeding they usually will want to them feed)
- Place baby on their tummy in front of a mirror so they can look at themselves
- Place baby on tummy and place a colourful book or toy in front of them to look at
TALKING, SINGING, READING:
Communication is so important for newborn babies. You may feel a little silly talking to your baby because they can't talk back to you but this is a very important part of their development. They learn sounds, gestures, languages, facial expressions, to smile, make noises.
Singing to your baby can be very soothing, reading books- doesn't have to be a children's book, giving them a play by play of your day, have a chat while changing their nappy. l
It really doesn’t matter what you are saying just as long as you are communicating with your baby as often as you can throughout the day!
BABY JUNGLE GYM:
Or play mat, lie baby underneath the jungle gym, play mat or mobile and jiggle/move the toys around to draw babies attention.
Some play mats have different coloured lights that flash and can be exciting for babies to define shapes and colours.
This activity is great for babies hand eye coordination because they will start to try and grab at the different toys, see all the different shapes and colours and keep them entertained
VISITORS:
Your friends and family have been waiting for the arrival of your baby as much as you have, so let them visit you or if you feel up to it go visit them. It is great for you and baby to have people to talk to and babies really thrive from seeing different faces and hearing different voices!!
OUTINGS:
As soon as you feel comfortable to do so, leave the house!! get out and about!!
Put everything you need into your baby bag, including a change of clothes, burping cloth, swaddle, wipes, nappies, put baby in the pram and go for a walk. Baby will see trees, clouds, unfamiliar faces, animals, hear birds and other noises that they haven't heard before.
Go to the beach, let them get their little toes into the sand and the water (if its warm enough to do so)
Go to playgroups or nursery rhyme groups that your local community will have on, even at a very young age, babies love the music and seeing other children playing.
Just remember, everything is new and exciting to your baby, every touch, sound, sight, colour, they are all exciting so don't freak out and think you have to get overly creative with what you do with your baby. Just have fun and include them in your everyday life and development and learning will come hand in hand
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