Amusement and Activities

Amusing your baby

Your baby’s actions and responses to sounds and situations will reflect his mental, physical and sensory development. In the initial two months, once he is able to keep his eyes open for a long period of time, he will possibly enjoy looking at bright-colored and moving objects.

As his ability to co-ordinate will start developing, say by three months, he will try to touch and feel any object around him. So, it’ll be a good idea to start keeping toys of contrast colors within his reach then.

By the time he reaches five months of age, he is likely to put whatever he can manage to grab into his mouth. So you’ll need to be careful while choosing the toys- avoid toys having sharp edges - they should be soft, small, light, colorful and made of safe material. You can also buy some stuffed squeaky toys that make noise and will catch his interest instantly.

Since babies at this stage tend to lose interest in objects very fast, you need not invest in buying expensive toys. Objects as simple as pen, keys, buttons, or a mobile will attract his attention just as well. Keep a number of these simple objects in front of him and see the fun he has with them. However, always try to keep an eye on your little one when he’s playing so that he doesn’t hurt or choke himself by putting these into his mouth.

Toys that your baby will enjoy up to the age of one year:

• Hanging toys – Bright colored toys of varied shapes and sizes hung in your baby’s crib, pram or highchair for meals will keep the baby engaged and make him feel less lonely and bored.
• Pull toys – Toys with strings are delightful objects for babies. Trying to pull the toys around and bring them closer towards himself will help provide dexterity to your baby’s fingers.
• Push-button toys – Phones and remotes are a great attraction for babies to fiddle with. As they tend to learn fast, they can imitate to use objects the way the adults around them do.
  

Activities to help build your baby’s skills

As your baby’s sense to relate to sound, movements and texture will be fairly developed by around seven to eight months of age, this will also be the right time to help him build his interacting and social skills too. Interaction is an important aspect for emotional bonding between you and your baby, and a vital tool to teach him about communication and sociability. Try to spend some quality time with your baby besides just looking after his physical needs. While play activities help the baby to refine his movements, enhanced coordination of different perspective will help develop his sensory and mental abilities. Respond to his actions and reward him for his positive efforts with your hugs and cuddles. This will help him become confident.

Some fun activities for you and your baby:

• Hide-n-seek: Mind-stimulating and fun, babies really enjoy this game. Take a couple of your baby’s toys and hide them under a pillow, cushion or a blanket. Then ask your baby to find them for you.
• Peek-a-boo: Cover your face and reveal it with different expressions and sounds. This act of vanishing momentarily and appearing again will fill your baby will excitement.
• Play with toys: Babies tend to get easily bored playing with the same toys. You can make it interesting and more fun by providing sound and movements to them.
• Using picture-books: Babies love bright and colorful pictures, so you can actually make the time truly enriching by reading out stories while pointing out names and objects. Your baby may not be able to understand everything, but will still appreciate the sound of your voice. As he grows older, he will be able to recollect, recognize and point out the same objects when asked.