Gloved Hand (5 Minutes)
Materials: Knit glove (that you can ruin) and markers
Instructions:
1. Cut off the fingers of the glove.
2. Use the markers to make a face on the middle of the glove on the palm.
3. Support your baby by putting them on your lap and introduce them to the glove, making it talk and wiggling your fingers.
Tip: Further the engagement by using it to sing, talk, read, or just look at.
Peek-a-boo Hats (5 Minutes)
Materials: Colorful hats
Instructions:
1. Place your baby in a secure place, such as the bouncer or car seat facing you.
2. Place the first hat onto your, drawing their attention to it by moving it around on your head.
3. Point to it and say "Look at my hat!"
4. Repeat by using the other hats.
Tip: If you don't have a variety of hats, use other brightly colored objects that could stay on your head.
Floating Ducky (10 Minutes)
Materials: Sheet pan, rubber ducky, and water.
Instructions:
1. Place your baby on their tummy.
2. Set the sheet pan down with water in front of them
3. Float the rubber ducky in the pan of water.
4. Gently bump the toy around the pan, making it move back and forth.
Tips: Place a towel under the pan and the baby for easier clean up. Always make sure to watch your baby during this activity - even a shallow pan like this can be dangerous.
Disk-O-Baby (5 Minutes)
Materials: Hot glue gun, clear plastic lids (I used two old container lids that didn't match any containers), dry beans and rice (or any dry sound making items), and packing tape.
Instructions:
1. Place one lid upside down and place a few beans and rice on top.
2. Seal the second lid on top of it with the hot glue gun.
3. Wrap the edges with packing tape to ensure that the inside piece don't escape.
4. Place your baby on their back.
5. Shake the shaker above their head. Shaking on the right side, then the left, and then in the middle.
Color Wheel (5 Minutes)
Materials: Markers, straws, cardboard (cut into CD shapes), big board, and tape
Instructions:
1. Poke a hole into the center of the cardboard and color with bold, bright patterns.
2. Cut a small hole in the board for each straw/cardboard, just big enough to push the straw through.
3. Place the cardboard through the straw with 1/2 inch sticking out the back of the board and then secure it in place with the tape.
4. Prop your baby facing the board as you spin the cardboard with your fingers.
5. Repeat with each cardboard piece until your baby loses interest.
Burrito Roll (5 Minutes)
Materials: Blanket and favorite toy.
Instructions:
1. Loosely wrap the blanket around your baby.
2. Place them lying on their side on a soft, firm surface.
3. Use the toy to grasp their attention.
4. Bring the toy in an arc from the side they are facing slowly to the other side of them Encouraging them to roll onto their back and out of the blanket,
5. Repeat on the other side.
Tip: Offer a little assistance by lifting the bottom side of the blanket to help them start the roll.
Name Finder (2 Minutes)
Materials: None
Instructions:
1. Lay your baby on their back.
2. Walk a few feet away and call their name. Trying a few times to get them to turn their head to look at you.
3. Then move to a different spot in the room and try calling their name again.
4. Come back to them, snuggling them and then repeat the process as they are comfortable with it.
Sock It to Me (10 Minutes)
Materials: Markers and a white sock
Instructions:
1. Make a sock puppet by taking the sock and using markers to draw a face on it - with a mouth, eyes, nose, and ears, using different colors for contrast.
2. Lay your baby on their back.
3. Use the puppet to talk, read, sing, and play.
Face-to-Face (5 Minutes)
Materials: Blanket
Instructions:
1. Lay your baby down on their tummy on the blanket.
2. Lay yourself down in front of them so you are face-to-face with them.
3. Make funny exaggerated faces as you make eye contact with each other for as long as they are comfortable.
Tip: If your baby can't yet lift their head, gently lift it by putting your finger underneath their chin.
Wild and Free (10 Minutes)
Materials: Waterproof pad
Instructions:
1. Place the pad underneath your baby to keep your house nice, dry, and clean as remove their clothes and diaper.
2. Let them enjoy wiggling around in their birthday suit.
3. Then hold a toy above their head for about 10 second or until it grasps their attention, then bringing it to their side slowly and then the other way.
4. Lastly, place them onto their tummy for a few minutes of naked tummy time.
Star Gazer (30 Minutes)
Materials: Lights and a large box
Instructions:
1. Cut small x's into the side and top of the box, poking the lights through them.
2. Turn on the lights and lay the box on it's side.
3. Lay your baby on the back and let them gaze at the lights and sing the "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" song:
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are."
Crinkly Kicks (5 Minutes)
Materials: Blanket and tissue paper
Instructions:
1. Place you baby on a blanket near the couch.
2. Tuck a couple sheets of tissue paper under the cushions, letting them hang long enough that they drape to the floor.
3. Let them kick and rustle the paper.
Sock Crunch (5 Minutes)
Materials: Sock, markers, and tissue paper
Instructions:
1. Draw a design on the outside of the sock. Then stuff it with the tissue paper and knot it at the end.
2. Lay your baby on the ground while you sit at their feet and crunch the sock in front of them, to the sides, and in an arching motion.
Tip: Make sure to draw bright contrasting colors.
Sensory Blocks (5 Minutes)
Materials: Aluminum foil, cotton balls, ribbon, cut up sponge pieces, glue, and 3 medium-sized blacks.
Instructions:
1. Cut your material into small enough pieces to fit inside of the boxes and then secure them using glue.
2. Prop your baby on your lap, letting them gently touch the objects making eye contact with them, mirroring facial expressions, and talking them through what they are feeling.
Tips: You can also gently rub the blocks on their skin. Don't be afraid to mix and match textures.
Stick on You (5 Minutes)
Materials: Stickers
Instructions:
1. Sit down with your baby facing you.
2. Place a sticker on your face, identifying it "Look, it's mama's nose!"
3. Repeat by moving the sticker to a new facial feature each time.
The Balloon Dance (5 Minutes)
Materials: Balloon
Instructions:
1. Hold on the sides of the balloon a couple feet away from the baby's face.
2. Make it dance by bobbing it in different directions: up and down, side to side, or in and out.
Ready: Sing, Stop, Go! (5 Minutes)
Materials: None
Instructions:
1. Hold your baby so that they are facing you.
2. Begin to sing your favorite kid song.
3. Then shortly after, take their hand and cover your mouth as you stop singing.
4. Remove their hand and start singing again.
5. Repeat the process until the song is done.
Balloon Feet (15 Minutes)
Materials: 2 helium balloons
Instructions:
1. Place your baby on their back and loosely tie the balloons onto each of their ankles.
2. Encourage them to kick their feet saying "oooooo" and "aaahhh" as they swish them around.
Rainbow Ribbons (2 Minutes)
Materials: Toy to attach ribbon strings to and colorful ribbon
Instructions:
1. Cut the ribbon into even pieced long strands and attach them to the toy (knotting securely).
2. Lay your baby down on their back and hold the toy over their head, letting the ribbon dangle above them.
3. Slowly move the toy up and down.
Firefly Jar (2 Minutes)
Materials: A clear jar and lights
Instructions:
1. Place the lights into the jar and dim the lights in the house.
2. Place your baby in your lap and sing the "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" song:
" Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are."
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