11 Simple Activities for

Babies: 0 to 6 Months
Encourage your infant's development with these fun and easy activities.

The first six months of baby's life are amazing time, as he transforms from a floppy-
headed newborn into a tiny person who can sit and play when propped up. While your
baby will develop at his own pace, there are ways you can encourage that growth—and
compelling reasons to do so.

"Stimulating your child's brain during this time and providing situations where they can
explore helps them to learn things that get them in touch with their environment," says
child and adolescent psychologist Robert Myers, Ph.D., founder of the Child
Development Institute and assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry and Human
Behavior at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. "Doing
developmental activities with them also bonds parents to their child and makes them a
better observer, so when they go to the pediatrician, they can give the doctor good
information about where the child is developmentally."•

 Related: Baby Milestones: Your Baby's 6th Month

To help get your creative juices flowing, we rounded up some simple, development-
promoting activities suggested by three leading child development experts. Read on and
get inspired!

1. LISTENING

What to do: Sing and talk to your child using exaggerated tones of voice. Watch your
baby's facial expressions and see how he reacts to different pitches.

Skills learned: Language development

2. TRACKING

Materials needed: A small, soft, colorful toy, like a sponge ball or stuffed animal.

What to do: While your baby is lying on her back, hold the toy in front of her face and,
if needed, wiggle it slowly or gently touch her with it to get her attention. Then move
the toy from side to side, and encourage her to follow along with her eyes.

Skills learned: Visual tracking, visual development

3. DANCING

Materials needed: Music

What to do: Put on one of your favorite songs and, while holding your baby securely to
your chest, gently move around together in time to the music.

Skills learned: Listening. "This also encourages an interest in music and strengthens
bonding with the parent, which is important for emotional development," Dr. Myers
points out.

4. SINGING

What to do: Next time your little one is having a meltdown or resisting a nap, sing him
a lullaby in a soothing voice. Don't remember any of the classics? No problem—you
can find song lyrics online or just make up your own.

Skills learned: Listening, emotional regulation

5. REFLECTIONS

Materials needed: Baby-safe mirror

What to do: Show your baby her reflection in the mirror, then ask, "Who is that?"•
Repeat with your own reflection and a sibling's or a stuffed animal's.

Skills learned: Visual, social, and emotional development

6. BABY SIT-UPS

What to do: If your baby has good head control, lay him on his back, place your hands
under his arms, and gently guide him into a sitting position. As he gains muscle tone
and strength, do these sit-ups by holding his hands and slowly bringing him to sit.

"Just like adults' muscles strengthen when used over and over, the same is true with
babies," explains Roni Cohen Leiderman, Ph.D., dean of the Mailman Segal Center for
Human Development at Nova Southeastern University, and co-author of Let's Play and
Learn Together. "In fact, as your baby develops strength and balance, he may begin
pulling himself up faster than you are guiding him."•

Skills learned: Motor skills, head control

7. MASSAGE

What to do: When your baby is in a quiet and alert state, undress her down to her
diaper and lay her faceup on a soft towel or blanket in a warm, quiet room. Working in
sections as her tolerance allows, gently but firmly stroke her legs, arms, and belly. "We
want to make sure babies are touched often and gently," Dr. Leiderman says. "That
touch is how babies thrive."

Skills learned: Body awareness, bonding

8. FOLLOW THE LEADER

What to do: See how many actions your child can imitate in a row by tapping the table,
opening and closing your hands, clapping, and waving. Tip: Start with something your
baby is already doing, like banging a fist on the table.

Variations: Increase the challenge by adding new and more complex movements, but
pay attention to your baby's reactions. Scale back if she seems frustrated—the activity
should be fun.

Skills learned: Imitation, back-and-forth conversation, memory

9. FLYING

What to do: Lay your baby belly-down across your lap, and place your hands around
his midsection so he's fully supported. Then gently lift him up and move him up, down,
back, and forth, like a rocket jetting into space. For extra giggles, add sound effects.
"Babies like the element of surprise and learn through it," says Dr. Leiderman. "They
are also seeing the world from a different perspective, and there's a gleeful aspect to
that."

Skills learned: Body movement and stimulation

10. KICKING

Materials needed: Tissue paper

What to do: Tuck one or two sheets of new or used tissue paper under the cushion of a
sofa or upholstered chair so that it hangs down to the floor like a curtain. Remove baby's
socks, and place her on her back, with her feet against the tissue and her knees slightly
bent. "If she's slow to start kicking, gently rustle the paper with your hand or tap her feet
against it,"• suggests Rachel Coley, occupational therapist, author of Begin With a
Blanket: Creative Play for Infants, and founder of CanDoKiddo.com.

Skills learned: Body awareness, cause and effect, sensory integration, chin tucking

11. GRABBING BASKET

Materials needed: Empty paper towel or toilet paper tubes cut into 1- to 2-inch rings, a
low basket or a shallow pan

What to do: Fill the basket or pan with the paper tube rings, and place it in front of
your baby while she's in tummy time, propped on a pillow, or sitting on your lap with
hands free to play. Encourage her to push and bump her hands up against the rings or
use use the wall of the container to help her grasp them.

Variations: Swap out the cut tubes with ribbon strips or bath puffs to provide a
different tactile sensation. (Always keep eyes on your baby and keep her within arm's
reach when using ribbons.) Golf balls are another fun filler, as they make a great noise
when placed in a metal pan.

Skills learned: Grasp and release, tactile stimulation, hand-eye coordination

Your baby may be halfway (or more!) through her first year of life, but she'll
experience many more physical, mental, and social and emotional changes
before that first birthday actually arrives. Not only is she more interested in the
world around her, she'll soon be crawling, cruising, or walking around in it.
There's no stopping her progress into toddlerhood, and with a little TLC, you
can help her reach the next stage.

"Playing and connecting with our babies gets their brain development going,"
says Roni Cohen Leiderman, Ph.D., dean of the Mailman Segal Center for
Human Development at Nova Southeastern University and co-author of Let's
Play and Learn Together. "Our love, attention, time, and touch with our baby are
the most important parts of developmental activities. Everything is underlined
with parent-child interaction."

Wondering the best ways to encourage baby's growth? Dr. Leiderman and two
other experts offer these simple but powerful development-boosting activities.

1. PEEKABOO

Materials needed: Small toys or books, blanket

What to do: Place a toy or book under a blanket, leaving part of the object
showing. Then ask your baby, "Where is it?" and encourage him to look for it.
"Babies will usually grab it and dig under the blanket," says Robert Myers,
Ph.D., a child and adolescent psychologist, founder of the Child Development
Institute, and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and human behavior at
the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. "If yours doesn't, you
could remove and then replace the blanket."

Variations: After your baby has mastered finding a partly hidden object, move
on to hiding it completely under the blanket.

Skills learned: Fine motor skill development, object permanence

2. STACKING

Materials needed: Plastic measuring cups

What to do: Take turns stacking the cups and knocking them down. You can
also have a "race,"• where you both stack cups at the same time.

Skills learned: Understanding cause and effect, fine motor skills

3. PUZZLES

Materials needed: Wooden puzzles

What to do: Around her first birthday, your baby will be ready for large wooden
puzzles, Dr. Myers says. He suggests ones with colorful shapes or pictures.
"Show and tell them first how it works—you may have to guide their hands,"•
he says. "Clap and cheer when they are successful."

Skills learned: Problem solving, fine motor skills, visual skills

4. READING

Materials needed: Board or cloth picture books

What to do: Regularly read books to your baby, pointing to the pictures as you
read and engaging her by changing your voice for different characters. Invite
your little one to participate by encouraging her to laugh or act surprised by the
story, touch the pictures, and turn the pages.

Skills learned: Language development, listening skills

5. CLAP WITH ME

What to do: Around 6 to 8 months of age, your child will learn to clap, Dr.
Leiderman says, so encourage her with this rhyme:

Clap, clap, one, two, three

Clap, clap, clap with me.

Clap, clap, four and five.

Clap, clap, clap, bees in hive.

Clap, clap, six, seven, eight.

Clap, clap, clap, you are great.

Clap, clap, nine and ten.

Clap, clap, let's do it again.

Skills learned: Imitation, rhyming

6. RHYME TIME

What to do: Sing songs with real or made-up words that rhyme, like "thump,
thump, thump, bump, bump, bump, jump, jump, jump." You might feel a little
silly, but all that rhyming is another way to boost your baby's language
development. "Like touch, talking with your baby is like food for their bodies and
their minds,"• Dr. Leiderman explains. "A child's receptive understanding of
language starts long before their expressive language, so we want to use as
many opportunities as possible to drench them in language."•

Skills learned: Develops auditory discrimination

7. SHAKE THE BOTTLE

Materials needed: Empty 16-ounce bottle, colored rice or pasta

What to do: Fill the bottle with the rice or pasta, and glue the top back on so
your baby can safely watch and hear what happens as he shakes, rattles, and
rolls the container. "A bottle doesn't usually make this noise,"• says Dr.
Leiderman, "so now they are hearing new and novel things, which brings an
element of surprise. Babies this age are also learning so much about cause and
effect, which is an exciting new skill."

Skills learned: Fine motor skills, auditory discrimination, cause and effect

8. DISAPPEARING CHEERIO

Materials needed: Cheerios, opaque plastic cups

What to do: Create your own version of the old-fashioned shell game by hiding
a Cheerio under a cup and seeing if your baby can find it. This simple activity
reinforces object permanence, a major concept.

Variations: Using two different-colored cups, put the Cheerio under one cup
and move it around to see if she can remember which one was the hiding place.
After she has found the Cheerio under the first cup, show her you are now
putting it under the second cup and see if she remembers that the Cheerio has
moved.

Skills learned: Attention skills, memory development, object permanence

9. LIGHT SHOW

Materials needed: Colored plastic containers, mini flashlights

What to do: Turn on some mini flashlights, and drop them into empty water
bottles, Tupperware, or any colored, lidded containers. Place your baby in
tummy time in a dark room and let him explore the colorful lighted containers on
the floor in front of him. "The harsh light of the LEDs will be diffused for little
peepers, while any loose or removable parts will be safely away from baby's
mouth," says Rachel Coley, an occupational therapist, author of Begin With a
Blanket: Creative Play for Infants, and founder of CanDoKiddo.com. "Closely
supervise as your little one grasps and turns, bangs and rolls the containers."•

Variations: Take a flashlight out of a container, place your baby on her back
and simply move the light slowly on a dark wall. "Pause on objects and talk to or
with your child about what she's seeing," Coley adds.

Skills learned: Visual sensory stimulation, eye movement skills, sustained

attention, socialization, bonding, body movement

10. BAGGY FINGERPAINTING

Materials needed: Washable finger paint, a gallon-size zippered freezer bag,
tape

What to do: Squeeze a couple of dark colors of washable finger paint into a
zippered baggy and seal tightly. Add duct tape for extra security. Spread the
paint around to coat the inside of the bag, then place it on the floor in front of
your baby during tummy time. Show him how to make marks on the outside of
the bag with his hand or finger. "To preserve your little one's artwork, simply cut
the edges off the bag and then peel off the top of the artwork, and lay flat to
dry,"• Coley says.

Variations: Have an independent sitter? Try this activity in a high chair.

Skills learned: Sensory development, fine motor skills, understanding cause

and effect, early writing skills

11. CONTAINER PLAY

Materials needed: Small toys, container

What to do: Place a few toys in a container with an opening a bit bigger than
balls or pegs, plastic links, or other smaller items. Hand the container to your
baby, who will probably turn it over and over, causing some toys to tumble out.
"Eventually, your baby will realize that something is rattling around inside and
that toys seem to be falling out of it, so she will start shaking, banging, and
reaching inside the container,"• Coley says. Reload the container periodically
until your kiddo figures out how to do it on her own.

Variations: Once she's gotten good at putting items in the container, you can
extend the activity by choosing a narrow-mouthed container and longer toys,
like rectangular blocks, pegs, and plastic spoons. "Your baby will learn through
trial and error that she has to turn the objects to fit them into containers,"• she
adds.

Skills learned: Object manipulation and orientation skills