I can’t believe Veronika is nearly five months old, and getting to a point where games with her aren’t just about developing her senses, but also interactive! This craft is a perfect example; it was fun to put together while she played on her playmat, and entertained her nearly all morning while big brother was at school.

To start, cut a long piece of felt from any one color. I only had short felt squares, so ended up tying together three strips of my base color.

Using additional bright felt colors, cut out shapes. I kept these fairly simple, including circles, squares, triangles, stars, and diamonds.

From here, there were so many ways to play! First, I simply let her explore with hands… and mouth.

It was a fantastic toy while she was sitting in her high chair, keeping her hands busy as I prepped meals.

Next, I lay her on a blanket and we concentrated on some early learning. Point out what your baby is looking at (“Look, a blue circle” or, “You’re touching the red star”).

We also counted through the shapes a few times, all the way up to eight.

Then I challenged her gross motor skills, putting the felt a little out of her reach at tummy time.

Her little legs started scrunching in an imitation crawl almost immediately. I gave her a bit of a boost and she was so proud when she made it to the felt.

Finally, the toy is great for dangling. Veronika loved discovering she could pull off the shapes, one by one.

Once the shapes are all off, simply thread back on to the long felt and begin again!