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Activities

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Things to do with the baby

Ideas grouped by the age they usually start working, youngest first. Pick an area to see only those ideas. Open one for the steps, the reason it helps, and the sign to stop. Every idea logs with one tap, the same way the read shelf does.

From birth · 1

Side-lying play
  1. Roll a towel and lay the baby on one side, back against the roll.
  2. Put a rattle where the upper hand can find it.
  3. Swap sides the next time, so both get a turn.

Why it helps

On their side the arms fall together in front of the chest, which is where hands discover each other. It also takes the pressure off the back of the head for a while.

Watch for

This is a play position and never a sleep position. Stay in the room, and put the baby on their back in the crib for any sleep, including a short one.

From 3 months · 1

Reach for what you want
  1. Hold a light rattle within arm's reach of the baby, slightly off to one side.
  2. Wait. Let the baby swipe, miss, and try again without moving it closer.
  3. Let them have it when they connect, then start again on the other side.

Why it helps

The misses are the practice. Every failed swipe is the arm and the eye calibrating against each other, and handing the toy over too early removes exactly the part that teaches.

Watch for

Keep it to a light, graspable toy with nothing on a string or a cord, and put away anything small enough to reach the mouth whole.

From 4 months · 1

Hold it with both hands
  1. Pick a toy too wide for one hand, like a soft fabric ring or a light ball.
  2. With the baby on their back or sitting in your lap, hold it at the middle of their chest.
  3. Wait until both hands close on it before you let go.

Why it helps

A toy too wide for one hand brings both hands to the middle of the body to share the job. Working as a pair in the middle is what later holds a cup steady, or turns a toy over to look at the other side.

Watch for

Use a toy bigger than the baby's mouth, with no parts that can come off. A quick check is an empty toilet-paper tube: anything that fits inside it is small enough to choke on, so keep it out of reach.

From 5 months · 1

Heavy and light
  1. Take two small, matching plastic bottles: fill one halfway with water and leave the other empty.
  2. Screw both lids on as tight as they go.
  3. Hand the baby the empty one first and let them hold it for a while.
  4. Swap in the heavier one and watch the arm dip, then adjust.

Why it helps

The dip is the interesting part: the arm was ready for the weight of the first bottle and had to correct. Holding things of different weights is how the hands and arms learn to match their effort to what they hold.

Watch for

Use small, sturdy plastic bottles, never glass, because sooner or later one lands on a face. A cap that comes off is small enough to choke on, so check the lids every time, and throw a bottle away at the first crack or leak.

From 6 months · 2

Pass it hand to hand
  1. Give the baby a light block or a teether in one hand.
  2. Offer a second one to the same hand, so the first has to move across.
  3. Say what happened and let them work out the order themselves.

Why it helps

Moving an object from one hand to the other means the two sides of the body are trading information. The same skill later loads a spoon and holds a cup steady with the other hand.

Watch for

Everything offered will go in the mouth, so use objects too big to swallow, with no batteries, magnets, or parts that twist off.

Bang two blocks together
  1. Sit facing the baby and put a block in each of their hands.
  2. Take two blocks yourself and bang them together slowly, saying “bang” each time.
  3. Pause and wait for them to try. Any clack counts, even a lopsided one.

Why it helps

Hitting two things together means both arms aim at the same point at the same moment, which is harder than it looks. The clack is instant proof that it worked, and watching you first turns it into a copying game.

Watch for

Use blocks bigger than the baby's mouth and light enough that a wild swing does no harm. Stop if the blocks start landing on their own face or fingers, and switch to soft fabric blocks for a while.

From 7 months · 4

Pull scarves from a box
  1. Empty a tissue box and tear away the plastic film around the opening.
  2. Push three or four light scarves inside, with a corner of the first one poking out.
  3. Let the baby pull them out one by one, then stuff them back in for another round.

Why it helps

Pinching a corner and pulling against the light drag of the fabric gives the fingers and the wrist real work. And there is always one more inside, which keeps the baby reaching back in long after a single toy would have lost them.

Watch for

Scarves are for play you are watching, and they go away the moment it ends, because fabric can wrap around a baby's neck. Choose plain scarves with no ribbons, strings, or tassels, and check that no plastic film is left on the box.

Crumple and tear paper
  1. Give the baby a sheet of plain paper or a clean paper bag.
  2. Scrunch it into a ball and shake it, so they hear the crackle.
  3. Start a small tear at the edge and let them pull it the rest of the way.

Why it helps

Paper answers every movement with a sound and a change of shape, so the baby sees at once what their hands did. Tearing takes two hands pulling in opposite directions, which is a different kind of teamwork from holding.

Watch for

Torn paper goes straight into the mouth, so sit right beside the baby and take out any wet, chewed pieces. Use plain paper only: no glossy or printed paper, no tape or foil, and never a plastic bag, which can cling over the nose and mouth.

Rake food off the tray
  1. Strap the baby upright in the high chair and sit at the table with them.
  2. Scatter a few soft pieces on the tray, food that squashes easily between your finger and thumb.
  3. Let them sweep the pieces in with the whole hand, however messy it gets.

Why it helps

Before the fingers can pinch, the whole hand works like a rake, sweeping small things into a fist. Food on a tray gives that rake something worth collecting, and the reward goes straight into the mouth.

Watch for

The baby sits upright and strapped in, with an adult at the table for the whole meal. Keep to pieces that squash easily, and leave out the foods pediatric guidance names as choking hazards: whole nuts, raisins, whole grapes, and popcorn.

A pot and a wooden spoon
  1. Turn a pot upside down on the floor.
  2. Give the baby a wooden spoon and tap out a few beats yourself first.
  3. Let them bang, then copy their rhythm back to them.

Why it helps

A drum gives a big sound for a small movement, which makes cause and effect easy to see. Copying the baby's beats back turns the noise into a conversation, with turns and pauses, long before there are words for one.

Watch for

Set up on the floor well away from the stove, the oven, and anyone carrying hot food. Use a light pot and a smooth wooden spoon with no cracks or splinters, and stop if the noise makes the baby startle or cry.

From 8 months · 2

Pinch a pea
  1. Seat the baby upright and strapped in, with you at the table.
  2. Put one soft, pea-sized piece on the tray at a time, like a cooked pea or a blueberry pressed flat.
  3. Wait while they work out how to pick it up with the thumb and first finger.

Why it helps

One small piece on an empty tray is too small to rake, so the fingers have to try something new. The thumb-and-finger pinch that comes out of it is the grip that later holds a crayon and does up a button.

Watch for

Press round foods like peas and blueberries flat first, because round is the shape that blocks a small airway. Keep the baby seated and watched, and practice only with soft food, never with beads, buttons, coins, or anything else small.

Poke and point
  1. Put a ball in each cup of a muffin tin, big enough to fill the cup.
  2. Show the baby how to poke one with a single finger, then dig it out.
  3. Around the house, point at things and name them, and see whether their finger follows.

Why it helps

Using one finger on its own, with the others tucked away, is new control for a hand that has mostly grabbed with everything at once. The same finger later becomes a way to ask: pointing at what they want, then looking back to check that you saw.

Watch for

Every ball must be too big to fit in the mouth: anything that slips inside an empty toilet-paper tube is too small. Check the tin for sharp or rusty edges before you hand it over.

From 9 months · 1

Drop it in the bucket
  1. Set an open bucket or a pot on the floor with big blocks beside it.
  2. Let the baby pick each one up and let go of it over the opening.
  3. Tip the bucket out and let them fill it again.

Why it helps

Letting go on purpose is a separate skill from grasping, and it arrives later. It also involves sitting down, standing up, and bending over many times, which is more leg work than it looks.

Watch for

Blocks bigger than the baby's mouth, and a light bucket that does nothing if it lands on a foot. Take away any container a baby could get their head inside.

Ages say when an idea usually starts working, not when your baby should manage it. Babies reach these months in their own order.