Tag: baby

I Spy Adjectives

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No doubt you’re teaching your baby a lot of nouns: mommy, daddy, cats and dogs! But don’t forget about adjectives. Here’s a cute way to incorporate them into your baby’s vocabulary.

As Veronika and I went for a walk today, I made sure to mention at least one adjective for each item I named. Although you don’t need to, I find it fun to say, “I spy with my little eye…” before each one.

There were tall trees.

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Big dogs (and some small ones we passed, too!).

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Cold bottles.

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Tiny things like clovers and bugs.

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And so much more! You can continue the game as you drive or walk around town; fast cars are a great one, or name the colors of cars or buildings.

And certainly keep it up at home. We had mommy’s long skirt.

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And a big bite of food for my big girl!

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Consider reading a book together that same evening that focuses on adjectives, like Mouse is Small by Mary Murphy or Big Little by Leslie Patricelli.

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What does your baby spy with his or her little eye? Please share in the comments!

Young Musician

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Toy pianos are a fantastic instrument for babies who have graduated beyond the most basic noisemakers (like maracas and bells). These first instruments (drums, maracas) give baby an immediate connection between their action and the noise that follows. Pianos are one step more sophisticated; the key makes a noise when pressed, but the mechanism (hammer and string) is unseen.

All that aside, what baby doesn’t love just banging on the keys? Certainly Veronika took right to it! I played a few notes and she came crawling over.

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Her little fingers were soon pounding along.

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For extra fun, this is a good chance to go through a children’s songbook to play simple ditties. You can introduce baby to classics you might have forgotten about, like London Bridge, The Muffin Man, Three Blind Mice and more.

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As I played, she grabbed my fingers and wrists to join in.

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Toy electric keyboards are fun for babies too. Veronika presses every button and loves the way she can vary the sounds.

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Here’s to my little musician!

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Go Get It

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There are so many games I’ve been waiting to play with Veronika with the caveat that she needed to be a crawler first. Well, now she’s a crawler and we’re playing!

Today, it was a simple game of pointing her towards her toys and saying, “Go get it!”

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First, I rolled two balls away from her. She barely needed me to say the words before she was off.

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I asked her next if she could get the purple one.

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Of course the fact that she went for it was probably pure coincidence at this age, but it’s never too early to build the vocabulary for colors.

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You can also turn it into a game for following instructions. Any toys on the “pillow fence” are irresistible to her, so she was off and crawling for them in a heartbeat.

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“Can you put them in the bucket?” I asked, aping the movement for her.

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She crawled happily over to the bucket and… ker-plunk!

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You can even make the game into a “race” with mommy or daddy, which will have your little one giggling. Who would get to the toys first?

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In sum, there are lots of variations you can play with this baby version of fetch, and your little one will love building those crawling muscles during all of them.

Baby-Friendly Ice Sensory Activity

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Here’s a way your baby can cool off while fitting in sensory play on a hot day!

I took Veronika outside before the sun was too high in the sky, along with a bowl of ice cubes and a few tools.

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First, I simply wanted to see how she would react to the ice. Some babies may want to grab it and really get in there! Veronika seemed a touch nervous about how cold it was but liked the sensation on her toes.

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For added fun, I buried two shape toys in the ice. She loved reaching in and grabbing them out.

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A wooden spoon added to the fun, too. She could “stir” the ice, or tap against the bowl. I put a few pieces on the hot patio and we watched together how quickly they turned to water.

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You can also use measuring cups as scoops. These were fun for her to reach into the bowl with. Or just nibble on!

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Don’t forget about sound! Put a few pieces of ice in one of the measuring cups and shake it for an auditory sensory experience.

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And when you’re done, clean-up simply means dumping out the ice to melt in the grass!

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Shape-Sorting Puzzles

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I’ve already introduced Veronika to the notion of “in” and “out” with games when she was younger. Now, at nine months old, it’s the perfect chance to introduce a toy that takes this concept to the next level: shape sorters!

Not only are shape sorters fantastic for (obviously) learning shapes, but they also hone fine motor skills and they are the perfect vessel to continue games of “in and out.” Rather obviously, first all the shapes go in…

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…then all the shapes come out!

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Veronika has two shape-sorting puzzles that she loves. The first is a classic bucket with a lid that detaches. Mostly she bangs the shapes against the lid, but she does aim for the holes and gets closer every time. Sometimes I’ll place a square (or circle or triangle) right near its hole so all she has to do is it tap it in.

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“In!” we say, whenever one lands.

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The second shape sorter is a little bus that has three shape slots on top to put them in…

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…and a fun compartment in back that opens up to dump them out.

There are plenty of other ways to focus on “in” and “out” if you don’t have shape sorters. Consider mailing a letter together! Today Veronika helped me put one in to the envelope…

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…and then in to the mailbox!

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Community Matters

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I’ve moved three times since having children, and each time, there are two places in a new town that I head to first: the town library and the town recreation center. Both are a goldmine of information and opportunities – usually free or low cost – for children of all ages. They are also focal points of the community, which can be a great way to connect with other parents, find a way to get involved in the community, or just have a place to go on a rainy day for play.

To wit, Veronika and I have already found a baby yoga class at our new town library, a fantastic chance to connect with babies about her age. Make sure to pick up a local flyer or calendar so you know what’s coming up next: story hour and toddler singalong are both on our list!

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Rec centers usually have many options, too, and we’ll be checking out the open gym play for her gross motor skills in the fall and winter.

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What’s your favorite baby program in your town? Please share in the comments!

Share the Chores

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If daily tasks around the house feel like drudgery with your baby around, then it’s time to invest in tot-sized versions of some daily household chores. This not only keeps your little one entertained while you work, but will be so darn cute you don’t mind all that drudgery (truly!).

Today, Veronika joined me with her own little “laundry” machine. She loved everything about this; the felt paints and shirt she could put it in and take out of the washer over and over; the door to open and close; the spinning feature on the door that went round and round; the iron to zoom back and forth.

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Plus she had a laundry detergent bottle that could safely go to her lips!

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Meanwhile, I got all the folding done next to my little helper.

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Babies and toddlers love to imitate you and that’s what makes toys like this worth the investment; big brother Travis loved playing mini-me with toy vacuums, toy mops and brooms, toy dish washing sets and more, and Veronika can help with all of these, too, as she gets older. Toy oven sets are also perfect for this in the kitchen.

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Another idea, if you’re feeling bored of your chores, is to swap with your partner for a day or a week. If one of you tends to do one thing and one tends to do the other, consider a temporary switch. Truth be told, I prefer to do the lion’s share around the house, but I challenged myself to tackle a chore I’d normally hand off to my husband: hanging pictures that were idling on the ground still after a recent move. It was unexpectedly fun be the one wielding hammer and nails.

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So mix it up, and perhaps you’ll find a new task to make your own. How do chores get divided up in your house? Please share in the comments!

Dropping Objects

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Impish Veronika has discovered the joy of dropping objects and making mama pick them back up again; this is actually an important skill, both for her motor skills and for object permanence (and for sense of humor!). Whether from the highchair…

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or from the grocery cart…

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…she is a little imp about it these days.

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You can use baby’s enjoyment of this game to your advantage with at-home dropping games!

First, I sat with Veronika in front of a bin of toys that needed cleaning up and showed her how to drop one in.

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Say a cheerful “oopsie!” or “dropsie!” with each toy that lands, to up the entertainment factor.

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Pretty soon she was cleaning up all her toys without knowing it.

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You can also do this game with socks in front of a low dresser drawer.

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Okay, Veronika isn’t really helping me put away the laundry, but she loved watching me drop in the socks, or trying it herself.

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The drawer wasn’t the right height for her to play by herself, so I set her up with an open box to continue the fun.

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Perhaps if you play this enough, your little one will tire of it and you can end round after round of highchair dropsie.

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Or maybe not!

Pick Which Bowl

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Here’s a little challenge for your baby if you want to keep him or her entertained the next time they sit in a highchair.

I let Veronika see a few pieces of banana (cut into safe pieces) and placed them on her tray.

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Note: Any other soft fruit would work just as well here, like soft ripe peaches or apricots. Cover the fruit pieces with one bowl and place a second bowl next to it. Ideally, I would have liked my bowls to match but certainly Veronika didn’t seem to mind the mismatch.

Encourage your baby to find the fruit and pick up the bowl it’s hiding under.

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If the fruit was underneath, I made a big show of it and celebrated with a hearty cheer.

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Arguably Veronika was more interested in the bowls themselves than in the fruit she discovered, but it still made for a fun little game as I prepped dinner. It certainly kept her hands busy!

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If your child seems excited about it, play with three bowls to make it more challenging.

 

Ocean Bottle

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After a recent bottle sailboat craft with Travis, I had a few small seashells left over – much to small to hand to a nine-month-old who puts everything in her mouth. I knew immediately that I could make her a baby-safe version of big brother’s boat by sealing her shells inside an ocean sensory bottle!

My original intention was to use a bottle for the craft, but the small toy fish I included were too large to fit through the opening. Small Tupperware containers worked in a pinch, and probably were easier for her to handle anyway.

Whatever container you use, fill it about 2/3 full with water. Add small seashells and plastic fish to make an “ocean.”

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As Veronika watched, I tinted the water blue with food coloring. This is a magical change for a baby to watch, so make sure he or she doesn’t miss it!

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Secure the lid on the bottle or container tightly, and hand over the “ocean”. Veronika loved shaking this and seeing the fish swim.

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As well as tasting it of course.

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Or turning it upside down.

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The taller bottle (with just shells) was a fun way to show her “waves”; I tilted it back and forth and she could watch the shells move about and then settle.

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In sum, a fun ocean sensory experience even on a summer day when we can’t get to the beach!

Update: I later added little pieces of tinfoil (twisted to look a bit like “fish”) to the bottle.

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She loved watching them swim around.

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