Activities with babies and toddlers

jbbonce

Elle83 wrote: »

Hi JB, bet you're getting excited with three or four months to go!

You've had some really brilliant replies here and you've already thought of plenty of things to do. Babies aren't just interested in ducks and teddies and nursery rhymes though but also in understanding how the world works so there are loads of everyday things you can include them in.

When you do the dishes, have baby in his or her bouncy chair besides you and from a month or two old you can give them a blob of fairy bubbles to play with (so long as they don't eat it!). They can't do much with it at that age but it's good for motor skill development and a nice way to involve them. When you sort the washing, give baby a few items to scrunch and munch on (preferably a blanket or towel lol). When you put your feet up with a magazine or newspaper, tear a page out of ads or whatever and let them scrunch it up and have a go at working out what to do with it. When DS was 6m old I left him on the floor to nip to the loo and came back to find him "reading" the free TV Guide out of the paper lol. He thought he was so clever laying there turning the pages like Mummy does!

I got DS into reading young and believe this has great benefits. You don't need to buy actual baby books for quite some time and even then you can use the library if you have a decent one. My Dad was reading The Times to DS from about 2m old lol. DS and I read a book before bed every night and have done since 3m old plus he now has his own book to "read" after lights out before settling himself to sleep and I think it's a great routine for him to be in.

The activities you think baby can't be involved with until he's a lot older can be started from newborn - you just take the lead while baby is taking in what's going on and developing the skills to get properly involved. If you want to do some gardening and start a "baby patch" then go ahead. Baby will be a few months old come next spring and you can start digging and sewing seeds and let baby play in the dirt besides you while you're at it. Explain what you're doing, give baby grass and flowers etc to examine and feel. You'll be surprised how quickly some babies cotton on to what's going on. Arts & crafts are another activitity you can get cracking with. Take it up yourself by making colourful charts and pictures for the nursery walls. I started doing that as a way to decorate the nursery on the cheap in fact! My DS started scribbling from 9m old because he'd participated in craft activities from such a young age.

Just concentrate on getting your baby involved with life to be honest. When they start to wean - give them a spoon of their own to whack about the place. When they get teeth, let them have their toothbrush after you've done your bit. Just try and remember that the whole world is totally brand new to baby and that everything from the light switch to the fridge is fascinating. Babies are like open books and the more you talk, explain and sing away to them the more interest and excitement they find in everyday activities and chores.

On the going stir-crazy front, if you're planning on living frugally while baby is young then you might want to consider buying your household products from the cheapest (various) stores. You could get your toiletries from Savers on a Monday morning, your fruit and veg from the market on a Wednesday and your groceries from Asda/Tesco on a Friday etc. The reason I'm making this rather obvious suggestion is that it'll not only save you money but also help you to build a routine and get you out of the house and though you've probably thought of this, you might not have realised the double benefit of doing it and setting a routine for yourself. I developed PND from being isolated in a strange place and shut up at home five days out of seven. People always used to say "go for a walk" and I just always felt like screaming "BUT WHERE?! I'M FED UP OF THE DAMN PARK!!!". Going round the market or shops with your baby IS an activitity and probably more educational than feeding the duckies if you think about it. You'll be amazed what you can find education and entertainment in when you've got a totally impressionable little person hanging fascinated on your every word.

Best wishes for the new arrival, I'm sure you'll be a great Mum

What a lovely and helpful post. Thank you so much