7 Indoor Playtime Activities For Baby Development

Activity #1: Rattle Time (For ages 0 to 3 months)

A newborn has the ability to see even at birth, although she cannot focus both eyes on a single object yet. Her distance vision is blurred, approximately 10-30 times poorer than that of most adults.

An infant’s visual system will not develop unless it is exercised. Focusing distance is at 8-10 inches.


Developmental Goals                

• practice grasping reflexes
• refine hand-eye coordination
• develop muscle coordination

Materials

• 3 kinds of rattles

Steps

1. Rattles are a must-have for babies. Using more than one color, shape, and size provides variety for your child. Catch the baby's attention by shaking one rattle from a reasonable distance. This encourages her to move her eyes in that direction, and attempt to grab it from you.
2.  Call out the child's name and let her see your facial expression as you talk to her. 
3. After a while, hold another rattle up and shake it again.

Tips

Provide positive reinforcement when the child successfully grasps a rattle:

•     “Lia, you did it! You are playing with the rattle. Listen to the rattle.”
•     “Do it again.”
•     “Now touch this one.”
•     “Can you shake the rattle?”
•     To capture the infant’s attention, use a high- pitched, sing-song style and short utterances. Speak slowly and carefully enunciate.
•     When speaking to an infant, place your face very close to his face so that he is able to see you.
•     If you’re done with rattles, try “squeaky toys.”

Caution

Check the rattles for sharp edges or construction defects. Because rattles contain small pieces, check the rattle occasionally for normal wear and tear. Dispose of defective rattles immediately.

 

Click here to check out Activity #2: Rockin' the Day Away.

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Read on for Activity #2: Rockin' the Day Away.

 

Activity #2: Rockin’ the Day Away (For ages 0 to 3 months)

Infants have a lot to tell people around them. They begin so by communicating with cries, grunts, and facial expressions. Moreover, they love hearing human voices.

Their first cry signifies the beginning of language development. The first responses of their parents and caregivers form their earliest social exchange and language learning.  

 
Developmental Goals

•     develop receptive language skills
•     practice communication skills

Materials

•     rocker or duyan

Steps

1.  Sit in the rocker or duyan, holding baby on your lap so that both of you are facing the same direction.  Sit by the window, looking out to your backyard or front yard.

2.  While rocking, talk about what you see outside. Use as many descriptive words as possible: “Look at your blue elephant. This is your toy. He looks happy, doesn’t he?”

3. Reinforce any vocalizations the infant makes. To illustrate, say: “Yes, the elephant is walking away.” “Tell me more about the blue elephant.” Doing this may encourage the infant to continue to take part in the “conversation.”


Tips

•     You can do this before nap time to help baby relax.
•     Variation: Singing rather than talking to the infant is just as enjoyable.
•     Periodically moving to different locations will provide new things to look at and talk about.

 

Click here to check out Activity #3: Fluttering Tree.

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Read on to check out Activity #3: Fluttering Tree.

 

Activity #3: Fluttering Tree
At 3 months old:
Hand-eye coordination improves. Baby clumsily swipes at objects. Movement milestones include reaching with one hand to obtain desired objects.

 
At 6 months old:
Most infants become more coordinated when reaching for and grasping objects. They begin to focus on an object at a distance and direct their hands straight at it.  Moreover, they are now able to bang the objects or bring these to their mouths in a more coordinated manner.

 
Developmental Goals

•     refine hand-eye coordination
•     practice reaching and strengthening arm muscles

Materials

•     wool yarn cut in an 18-inch section for each toy
•     2 or 3 interesting infant toys

Preparation

Attach one end of the yarn to each of the toys. Tie the other end of the yarn around the structure, allowing the toys to hang. Adjust the yarn so that the infant, while being held, can easily reach the toys.

 
Steps

1. Bringing the suspended toys to the infant’s view, touch each toy with your hands and verbalize comments: “Miguel, I touched the toys. Watch me. I used my hand.” “Issa, you did it. You moved the toys!”

2. Invite the infant to touch the toys using his hands. Say: “Can you touch the toys? Grab them. Use your hands.”

3. Raise the infant up so that the toys easily move with a swipe of the hand.

4. Position the infant so that the toys are a little farther away. Then invite the infant to move the toys again.

5. Encourage the infant to try, by saying: “Reach, Alden, reach. You can do it! Grab the toy.”



Tips

• If the toys move or are caught, praise the infant’s accomplishment. If the infant misses, provide further encouragement.
• If the infant swipes but continues to miss, move her closer to the toys so that she experiences success.

 

Click here to check out Activity #4: Ball and Tube.

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Check out Activity #4: Ball and Tube.

 

Activity #4: Ball and Tube (For ages 10 to 12 months)

At this stage, a toddler is continuing to develop an understanding of object permanence. For a 3-month-old child, objects that are out of sight are “lost” forever.

By 8 months, the child begins searching for objects that are covered, removed, or suddenly gone. The child’s growth is now evident. The child will seek the toys until they are found. The child also enjoys systematically dumping everything she gets her hands on.  The child explores the object while discovering what happens when she rotates her wrist.


Developmental Goal

•     continue developing cause-and-effect relationships
•     refine understanding of object permanence

Materials

•     6 to 8 tennis balls (or any ball that fits your tube)
•     2 diaper pins
•     a tennis-ball tube (the size of your alternative ball shall determine the size of your alternative tube)
•     2 non-breakable containers (pail, bucket, etc.)

Preparation

1. Place one container at the end of the pipe. Put the tennis balls in the other container.Check to make sure that when the tennis ball go through the tube, they land in the container.

2. Begin by encouraging the child to choose a ball from the container.

3. Then instruct: “Emily, put the ball on top. It will roll through the tube.”

4. If necessary, act out what you’re saying, then add: “Emily, put the ball in the tube.”

5. Ask the child: “Where did the ball go?”

6. Describe for the child what happens after she releases the tennis ball. You can go on to say: “Emily, the ball rolls through the tube.” “The ball lands in the container.” These comments have the value of helping the child understand cause-and-effect relationships.

7. Providing positive reinforcement may result in the child spending more time at the activity:“Emily, you’re working hard.” “You like this game. You have a big smile on your face.”

 

Click here to check out Activity #5: Dump and Haul.

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Read on to check out Activity #5: Dump and Haul.

Activity #5: Dump and Haul (For ages 10 to 12 months)
The child begins using pre-verbal gestures to communicate, associates words with objects, enjoys waving goodbye, and speaks her first recognizable word. At this age, they initiate familiar games and routines with adults.


Materials

•     * a big basket or pail
•     * toys that fit into the basket or pail
•     * 1 yard of cord (check for safety)

Steps

1. Tie a cord through a basket or pail handle. Let the child dump small toys into the basket or pail. Then drag basket/pail across the room as the child holds the cord.

2. The child can dump the contents into another basket or on the floor again.

3. Dump and haul, then dump and haul again.

Click here to check out Activity #6: Help Me Pack.

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Read on to check out  Activity #6: Help Me Pack.

 
Activity # 6: Help Me Pack (For ages 10 to 12 months)

Developmental Goals

•     practice communication skills
•     practice reaching, thereby strengthening arm muscles
•     enrich vocabulary

Materials

• a used shopping bag or a basket

Steps

1. This is a fun way of putting away all your child’s toys after play time.  Start putting toys and other objects in the bag while announcing: “It’s time to pack away all our things.”

2. Then encourage the child to join in and help out: “Dani, could you hand me Mr. Bunny over there?” “Why don't you get your own shopping bag and let’s pretend we’re out shopping?”

3. As you start filling up your bag, name and identify every object that you pick up.

Try this activity when putting items into a laundry basket, or fixing up your toy shelf.

Click here to check out Activity #7: Paper Cup Tower.

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Read on to check out Activity #7: Paper Cup Tower.

Activity # 7: Paper Cup Tower (For ages 14 months and up)

Your child is like a miniature Einstein, trying to explore and discover as many things about the world as she can every minute of her life. A child learns to solve problems through trial and error and tries to find out the cause-and-effect relationships of every object she holds and the actions she does.

Things fit together! What’s more, the objects look different when they do come together! These are some of the many “great” discoveries of your active toddler.   

 
Developmental Goals

•     a cognitive activity that allows the child to explore shapes and spaces
•     continue developing cause-and-effect relationships

Materials

• 10-12 pieces of paper cups or plastic cups

Steps

Let the child play with the cups, seeing how they come together and apart, and then come back together again.

 

Tips:

Do not use Styrofoam cups. Children could bite off small pieces and swallow, choke on, or inhale them.

 

Photography by Ocs Alvarez