If you spend anytime on Pinterest, I'm sure you've noticed that there are an abundance of ideas for fun, creative, educational, and cheap activities to do with toddlers and preschoolers. However, my little one isn't quite to that stage. Yet she's at the point where she needs a constant play companion and gets bored easily. I've been searching for some great activities for an older baby and haven't found much so I decided to solicit some advice from some experienced moms, search the web (ahem...Pinterest) for ideas, and compile them for other parents or caretakers running low on ideas.
What I love about this list is that most of these ideas use items you have already lying around the house (which makes them easy and free) and many of the others have cheap DIY options. In my seven months of motherhood, I've noticed that Lucia has very little need for "real" baby toys; she actually prefers to explore the everyday items around her. So save your money and space by forgoing the expensive baby toys in favor of teaching and playing with what you have on hand. (For more tips on saving with baby, see the Baby on a Budget series.) Another observation I had about these activities is that they overlap each other - the same materials can be used in various ways to create new activities.
So see what you have around the house, make a quick trip to the dollar store, and start playing (and learning) with that adorable baby of yours!
1. Ice Play
From Becky of
Growing Up Naturally In-Home Child Care: "Put ice cubes in mesh feeders or freeze popsicle sticks into them while freezing. For additional fun, add food dye while freezing and give baby paper to "draw" on with their colored ice." What great ideas for keeping baby cool in the summer. And food-colored ice as paint? What a fun, fairly mess free, and non-toxic option! Another simple idea I found at
Plain Vanilla Mom is to fill a container with water, toss in some fun shaped ice cubes (with food coloring for even more excitement) and let little hand "fish" for the ice cubes.
2. Edible Finger Paint
For those who can handle a little more mess, have your child "paint" on large sheets of butcher paper with various foods. Laura of
Diapers and Drivel suggests using "room temp yogurt or room temp pudding or room temp cool whip depending on the age of the baby and allergies." Heather,
occasional contributor at Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints, says "
since black and white is often still "hot" at this age try chocolate pudding and whipped cream." Sonja of Shy Babies wrote a post about edible finger paint and suggested ways to get older children (siblings) involved as well, including having them experiment with mixing together different colors and combining art and snack time by having them "paint" on pie crusts, sugar cookies, or graham crackers.
3. Signing
Silica of
The Adventures of McBaby
has seen much success from signing with her little one: "We have been
signing with our son, Alisdair, consistently since he was about six
months old, and now at the age of 15 months, he can sign about 75
different words! Since we didn't know much sign language, we used
The Baby Signing Book which has an ASL dictionary as a reference, and the
Signing Time videos
to help us learn. One of our favorite things to do with signing is
songs - favorites now are 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', the alphabet,
and 'Itsy Bitsy Spider.' But any song or lullaby will work - just sign
the words you know when you come to them!"
4. Sensory Bottles
I first became aware of sensory bottles when I worked for a short time in the one-year-old room of a daycare. My daughter loves to hold bottles with just plain water in them, so she's certainly ready for sensory bottles. If you are unfamiliar with sensory bottles, here's Heather's explanation: "On the go at that age, my son was fascinated when I'd take an empty 8 oz. water bottle, take off the label, put in a few tbsp of glitter and sequins, and fill it with water. I called them shaky kaleidoscopes." Almost anything can be put in a bottle with water to make sensory bottles: food coloring, oil, feathers, beads, rice, etc. I love this tutorial at Southern Thomas, which uses awesome Voss bottles, a variety of items inside, and a carrying case made out of an old cardboard beer bottle carton! (And the total cost for her sensory bottle project? $6.50!) Another example from Pink Pistachio includes ribbon strips, dice, and little pom-pom balls.
5. Blocks
Although (most) babies of this age aren't yet able to build with blocks, don't make the mistake of thinking they are too young for blocks altogether. Build a tower and let baby knock it down. And then do it again. This helps her understand cause and effect (if you push on the blocks, they fall down
every time). Don't get stuck thinking you can only stack "real" wooden or plastic blocks - fabric blocks (DIY
tutorial from Just for Daisy), empty food boxes (especially those individual serving cereal boxes), egg cartons, etc. can be just as fun!
6. Dump and Pick Up
Along the same line as blocks, make a game of placing certain items in a container, dumping them out, and (if the baby is old enough to do so) putting them back in to do it all over again. Katie has a fun (easy and cheap!) suggestion of items to use: "My son especially liked clothespins in a large can (I used a utensil holder). They were clangy and interesting. Dump it out, put it back in."
7. Cook Together
When you cook, bring baby in the kitchen with you. Put him in a high chair or other seat and hand him cooking utensils to play with while you work. Savannah of
Simply Me writes of her son, "He loves to makes noise and when I'm cooking I give him a wooden spoon and a pot and let him go crazy! It lets me be able to cook in peace and it entertains him." Wooden spoons, whisks, pots and pans, and measuring cups all make great baby toys. If you don't mind a mess, as you work with different ingredients, offer your little one the chance to touch them. While baking, put a little of each ingredient: flour, oil, etc. in a bowl separate from the one you are using. Let your baby put his hands in it and run the ingredient through his fingers.
8. Indoor Sledding
One of my favorite ideas comes from Laura of Diapers and Drivel: "Tie
an old towel to a laundry basket and put baby in basket. Then pull them
around the room." How simple, simple, simple and fun!
9. Bubbles
For an outdoor activity, Heather, occasional contributor at Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints,
suggests a bubble machine: "Just point it so the bubbles will float
past where she's sitting." And, of course, a good old fashioned bottle
of bubbles and wand will work just as well. (Imagine how fun this could
be for baby and older sibling - older sibling blows the bubbles, baby
sibling pops them and giggles!) For a fun DIY option, check out this tutorial at Rhythm of the Home for homemade bubble wands and bubble recipe. Erika of Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints: "Bubbles are fantastic for hand eye coordination which eventually helps with writing, holding a pencil."
10. Read, Read, Read
I hope I don't need to remind you to read to your baby, but I couldn't leave reading off the list since it is the quintessential baby activity. Have fun with it - use stuffed animals or puppets along with the story, use different voices for each character, add your own extra narration to the story (especially useful for those baby books that only have a few words per page!). In addition to reading to your baby, let her "read" to you and to herself. Leave baby-friendly board books and cloth books in her toy bin. Create a "reading time" each day, before bed or a certain time during the day. Let her see you read for fun (perhaps sit next to her and read your book while she reads hers!). Our current favorite books are
Good Night, Little One, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, cloth
Thank You Prayer book, and
The Corduroy Giant Shaped Board Book.
Which are your little one's favorite books?
Laura of
Diapers and Drivel suggests making your own book: "If you have a laminator you can make your own books with pictures of family (particularly ones you don't see often). You can also add different types of fabric for texture feeling. You can do shapes that are 3D or colors." There are many great tutorials for homemade cloth books, but if you aren't very crafty, you can purchase this
Who Loves Baby? photo book and just slip in your own pictures (my mom gave this to me as a baby shower gift so that baby wouldn't forget her loved ones living out of state and Lucia loves it!).
11. Massage
Infant
massage is such a great way to bond with your baby. There are also
some great health benefits to infant massage (read more about them here).
Massage can get a bit trickier as your baby gets older and more mobile,
but establishing a "massage time" during the day, for example before or
after nap time or as part of the bedtime routine can help. I took an
infant massage class when Lucia was three months and our instructor
suggested integrating massage with storytelling for older babies and
toddlers. Tell a story about a garden and demonstrate the "raking" by
raking your fingers down your child's back, "plant the seeds" by gently
pressing on the back with your fingertips, and "cover the seeds" by
gently pressing your palms back and forth across the back. For more
resources on infant massage, check out the International Association of Infant Massage website.
12. Obstacle Course
Once your little one is crawling, Meri encourages that you set up an obstacle course to help increase motor skills. Use pillows and cushions that baby has to crawl over, boxes to crawl through and attach towels or sheets to a table that baby has to go under. You can also include various materials and textures that baby has to crawl on (perhaps silky sheets and fuzzy blankets) and toys that baby has to push or move out of the way (like the Fisher Price 1-2-3 Crawl-Along Snail).
13. Tactile Books/Cards
The idea for Tactile Exploration Cards comes from make, do & friend. Cut out cards from cardboard or other sturdy materials and paste on various materials of different colors and textures. Some ideas include lace, sand paper, foam letters, a sponge, different fabrics, etc. Be creative in varying materials! Another option would be to make a homemade book with these, either by binding together cards or by purchasing a blank board book (like this one) and gluing your materials to the pages. (Another fun option would be to add texture to the board books your child already has - add "fur" to the animals, glue fabric clothing on the children, etc.)
14. Peek-a-boo
Get creative with the classic game of peek-a-boo! Meri suggests convert large boxes into peek-a-boo boxes. And Laura of
Diapers and Drivel has an idea to turn chore time into play time by
playing peek-a-boo while putting sheets on your/their bed. I always play peek-a-boo with my little one while my husband is holding her. I peek around his shoulders or his sides, I've even knelt down and peeks through his legs. After a few times, Lucia catches on and starts looked wildly around for me when I disappear and giggles with delight when she finds me. It never gets old for her! Incorporating a mirror into peek-a-boo and having the little one look for herself is fun too!
15. Hanging Toys
Once my daughter started sitting up, I thought she was too old for hanging toys until I read this post by Hannah of Paint on the Ceiling. Once babies are able to sit, crawl, and even walk, hanging objects just become more fun. Baby can hang on them, crawl between them, or tangle them up. Vary the objects - stuffed animals, balls, cloth blocks, mirrors, and include ones that make noise when they move or when they are knocked together. I especially love Hannah's idea to hang the objects outside over a blanket. Sometimes you just have those days when you have to get out of the house.
16. Bead Tracks
Heather: "I made my own bead tracks (like the Brio ones you see in doctors offices). Super popular and he could spend HOURS with them. All you need is a block of wood, coated wire that will hold it's shape well, and large beads." What a great DIY project (and much cheaper than buying one)! I tried finding some tutorials and examples online, but only came up with ones made out of styrofoam instead of wood; if you find one (or if you do it yourself and make your own tutorial), let me know! Or non-crafty types can always purchase one like this Melissa And Doug Bead Maze.
17. Shakers
Turn
your little one into a musician by filling a container with
noise-making objects. This is similar to a sensory bottle, but without
the water. Laura of Diapers and Drivel recommends using "an old medicine bottle (child safe of course) and fill it with beans".
For another fun (and beautiful) option, check out these shakers
made out of clear plastic Easter eggs that I found at Mama Smiles. I
think that old spice bottles would make great shakers as well. If you
make several shakers, vary the object inside so each shaker makes a
different noise. If your container is clear, different bright colors
aid in exploration. Some ideas to fill your bottles: buttons, rice,
sugar (or sprinkles!), coins, beads.
18. Have a Ball
Again,
this one should be obvious, but sometimes we need reminders from time
to time that we don't need to constantly plan structured activities;
sometimes, all you need is a ball. There is so much your little one can
do with a ball, roll it, bounce it (or watch you bounce it in those
early months), and of course, take a little taste. If you do want to
make ball playtime even more "educational", you can provide a variety of
balls with different shapes, sizes, materials, and textures for your
baby to explore.
19. Fun with Sponges
Sponges
are really fun playthings for little ones (with and without the
water). I previous mentioned them as a fun addition to tactile cards or
books because of their interesting texture. Play with them at bath
time or simply give (a clean) one to your little one to explore. To
"fancy up" sponge play, try making sponge balls
with the tutorial from One Charming Party. Or turn sponges into blocks
and build a tower with your little one (I love this idea from Toddler Approved to use sponge strips to build and play with before you turn them into sponge balls).
20. Sensory Bins
A sensory bin is a container of some
sort that contains several different materials and toys to let you baby
or young child explore various shapes, sizes, textures, colors, even
smells. Several of the activities already mentioned are "sensory bins"
of some sort - a container with water and ice cubes, a bowl of cooking
ingredients, etc. Sensory bins can be made of various items you have
around the house. Often, especially for older children, the sensory
bins have a theme (for example a "nature" themed sensory bin might
include dirt, rocks, leaves, and plastic insects) but since the purpose,
especially with littler ones is just to let them explore new items, a
theme isn't necessary. I really like the sensory bin made up of rice,
large noodles, and plastic shapes in a glass casserole dish from
Play, Create, Explore. I made a similar one last week for Lucia with wooden shapes and lentils. Another fun one I found is a
sensory bin filled with various balls. Some other ideas: cotton balls, coffee beans, ribbons, sand. W
hat are your favorite sensory bin materials?
21. Tickle
I can't express how excited I was the first time I realized my baby was ticklish. I tickled her under her arms and she laughed and laughed. (My first thought: I can make my baby giggle on demand? Yes, please!) If you are a parent, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how fun tickling is for you and baby. But perhaps I can suggest a neat twist on traditional tickling: check out these homemade tickle sticks from make, do & friend.
22. Open/Close Games
Jamie of For Love of Cupcakes: "You can get a tin in the Target dollar bins and put crayons or little toys inside. Little One will have hours of fun!" You probably don't even have to buy a container, you probably have several extra containers at home (old oatmeal or yogurt containers would work). If you want to keep the lid with the container, cut a little hole in each and tie them together with a ribbon!
23. Velcro & Magnets
Make a velcro board for your baby like this one from
Chasing Cheerios. Attach a few strips of velcro to a piece of wood and to several toys or objects. Baby will love pulling the items off! Similarly, you can put magnets on the refrigerator (or on a DIY magnet board made from a cookie sheet covered in fabric like
this one) for your little one to play with. Remember, you can make anything magnetic by simply gluing on a magnet or two so you aren't confined to the magnets you find in the store. Use different shapes, textures and colors to make this interesting to your little one!
24. Sorting
According to Heather, "Egg
cartons make great places for "sorting" things - my son used to LOVE
using them for that. Have them sort cereal (Froot Loops were always
popular) and other edibles once they can chew them." I think plastic Easter eggs (or perhaps the Easter egg shakers pictured above) would be fun for little ones to play with in the egg cartons as well. Meri suggests using large vegetable trays to sort large objects. Other household containers for sorting include muffin tins and ice cube trays. At the early stages, perhaps sort items by color or type before giving them to baby and then just let him play with them however he wants. Later on, you can help him sort by giving him different colored items (food, toys, balls, etc) and putting a piece of colored paper/painting on the bottom of each section of the container for him to match the colors.
25. Nursery Rhymes, Songs, Finger Plays
There
is a reason that nursery rhymes, children's songs and finger plays have
survived generations (and in some cases, centuries); nothing can
replace one-on-one contact with your baby. When you sing and play with
your little one, you are developing language skills and bonding.
Do you still remember some of the nursery rhymes from when you were
little? That's because they are powerful learning tools! I'll admit,
I've had to look several up because I couldn't remember all the words,
but it's been fun for me to revisit them. Find ways to make ones even more interactive; Meri suggests, "Use one size fits all winter glove to make "Five Little Monkey's" out of felt and sing song." A few of my favorite nursery rhymes: "Where
is Thumbkin?", "This Old Man", "I'm a Little Teapot", "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and "Three Blind Mice". What are your (little one's) favorites?
None of these activities are meant for baby to do alone! All of these should be supervised, especially the ones with small items and water.
If you have any ideas that aren't included in this post, be sure to leave them in the comments or email them to me at
messywifeblessedlife@gmail.com and I will incorporate them into a future roundup of ideas.
Please include any blog posts you have written on activities with your baby and I'll be happy to link to it.
Go with the flow. It seems that many couples consider their wedding the first step in a well thought out plan: we'll buy a house in x amount of time, we'll start a family in x years later, then I'll get a promotion and move to a better part of town, etc. But when you get married you start a life together and life is unpredictable. Embrace the unexpected because it will make you stronger as a couple. When you get married, you are bringing two different people, with often drastically different experiences and ideas, together. By making hard decisions, addressing the unexpected, and defining your values and priorities as a couple, you are forming your own family. Don't make the mistake of thinking of the unexpected in only negative terms; it can be positive too. When David and I married, we planned to wait until he graduated to start a family. Five months later, we found ourself joyfully trying to conceive. You don't know how marriage will change you, your desires, and priorities, so wait until you are married to set your life course together and still then keep it flexible.
Don't ignore problems. The newlywed year sets a precedent for the rest of the marriage. That's not to say if you have some problems your first year that you are doomed to repeat them throughout your marriage, after all, just like anything else new, there is a learning curve in marriage. However, you do need to take issues seriously from the get-go and address them as they come up. Don't assume that things will magically get better as the marriage goes on; it won't. If something bothers you now, it will still bother you in twenty years and your spouse will never know it bothers you if you never let him know. Be quick to forgive, but don't move on until the issues have been addressed.
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