Tag: baby

Simple Shower

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This is a quick and easy DIY activity that will help teach your baby about cause and effect – and make for a great bath toy!

Use a leftover container from the grocery store that has an easily-pierceable lid: think non-dairy cream cheese or cottage cheese (if your family eats dairy).

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Use a small screwdriver or metal skewer to pierce holes through the lid. It helped to twist the screwdriver a bit to make the holes wide enough.

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Fill the container about half way with water and add the lid. Invert over your baby in the tub, and watch the water shower down!

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Veronika looked up in wonder – and of course tried to reach for it.

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I had to give the container a little squeeze for the water to come out, which was nice since I could control the speed. Drizzle the little shower of water over your little one’s tummy or hands, and then encourage him or her to take the container and continue the fun!

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Once in her hands, she was more interested in the container itself than in making it “rain,” but one way or another, it made for a fun bath.

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Create Your Baby’s First Fort

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Forts are such an iconic part of childhood – and it was about time to introduce Veronika to her first!

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To make a cozy, baby-sized version, use a children’s table as the top of the fort. I draped it with blankets, and set her gently underneath. Her eyes went wide and she took to it right away!

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Everything was fascinating, from the texture of the blanket “walls”, to the way the light came through the blankets, to the legs of the table.

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Big brother needed to join, of course!

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If there are no siblings in the house, consider inviting in a stuffed animal friend or two.

If you need an activity inside your fort, what’s better than a tea party or picnic? We added pretend food and invited Veronika to the “party.”

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Cupcakes fore everyone! She was delighted with the play scenario going on around her, and the fun only ended when we needed the table for the next meal!

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Pasta Play

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Looking for the perfect sensory game for your baby? Look no further than cooked pasta from your pantry! As soon as your baby can pick up food and chew, you can safely play this texture game.

I cooked a batch of rotini pasta, figuring the swirls and ridges would make for the most exciting texture. Let cool completely, then set out a bowl or strainer of the pasta for your little one. It helps to have a blanket underneath – this game is about to get messy!

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Veronika got her hands right in there.

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First we simply talked about texture. I used words like soft, squishy, and cool to describe the noodles that she pulled up by the handful.

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Picking up individual pieces is great for developing her pincher grip.

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She also loved scattering them about on the blanket.

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And of course a few made their way up to her mouth!

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In sum, this is simple fun, as cheap as it comes and perfect for kicking off a summer of play!

Learning to Point

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Pointing is an obvious thing that we do as adults, but such an important skill for a baby to learn. Especially before words come easily, many toddlers will point for what they want, which can ease frustration for a parent trying to understand! Get a head start and encourage pointing with this simple game.

I lined up a few toys in front of Veronika, slightly out of reach so she wouldn’t automatically grab them.

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One by one, I pointed to each object and named it. I made sure to make my index finger very obvious, pointing and tapping it against the toy.

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This inadvertently became a cute game of “you choose”, since she ignored some of the objects I pointed out, but others got scooped up in her hands almost immediately!

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If that was the case, I pointed to it again as she held it.

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Your baby won’t be pointing yet but may wave hands towards a particular toy or pat at it, both of which are good practice towards eventually using just the index finger.

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Whatever the case, keep pointing, and your little one will soon follow suit!

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Animal Diaper Time

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The days of Veronika lying still during diaper changes are over and my little squirmer is constantly trying to grab at diapers or wipes or roll all around. I needed something to shake things up and keep her entertained!

The answer? Animals! I now have a few ways I include them at diaper time. First, I hung a few animal pictures from magazines on her wall. The bright visuals catch her attention!

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I also glued a few animal pictures onto index cards, favoring familiar farm animals and pets.

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I present these to her at diaper time, name the animal, and make its sound. Look Veronika, pigs! Oink oink.

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Finally, if even that doesn’t do the trick, I have a few plastic animals handy.

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I hand her a horse (or cow, or sheep) and name the animal and its sound, and she is happily distracted during the change.

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If all else fails, keep a favorite stuffed animal on hand, who can swoop in for a hug!

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Scrunchy Sock

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This easy DIY toy will delight your baby both in sound and looks!

To start, you’ll simply need to use any old sock. I actually used a pair of girl’s tights, which meant I could have a longer snake… and could also make two, one for big brother, since he eagerly needed one after seeing the project.

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Fill each sock with crumpled cellophane, and securely knot at the end. The sound of the cellophane seemed to alarm Veronika somewhat…

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But already she loved it!

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To make it a snake, I cut out details from felt: a red tongue, white and black eyes, and yellow triangles along the back.

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Hot glue on the pieces securely before baby plays.

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Now our snake was ready to slither and scrunch!

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Look Before You Leap

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As parents, we’re hard-wired to want to step in when we hear a baby mewling for help. But sometimes, it’s good to sit back and wait a minute (as long as your little one isn’t in true distress or in harm’s way) and let them figure a problem out for themselves. There aren’t really “do-overs” in parenting, but knowing I leaped a little too quickly with my eldest, this time around I’m remembering to look first.

To wit, today Veronika was busy figuring out how to get the lid off this box of toys. After a moment, she was quite frustrated.

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I encouraged her with a positive tone of voice and smiles.

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Pretty soon – she’d lifted the lid herself!

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I had one proud little lady.

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Waiting to leap can also help your baby reach his or her next milestone. Veronika is currently trying to crawl, and I deliberately set her up a little out of reach from some favorite toys.

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After initial frustration, she managed to turn herself sideways, but not forwards.

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Even this movement is excellent for her gross motor development, and then mommy could swoop in to help.

Same goes when I placed toys just out of reach during sit-up play.

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She’s become a “scooter” and pretty soon she beamed proudly, having reached a favorite squishy square.

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Remembering to look before I leap will no doubt be high on the agenda once she’s crawling, toddling, or running around on a playground. Start now, and you’ll get in the habit of raising a confident kid who can solve his or her own dilemmas… With you watching safely from close by, of course!

Go get that computer toy, Veronika!

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You can do it…

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Atta girl!

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Starring Role

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I’ve previously recorded Veronika and then played back the short clips for her to see. Even if she didn’t recognize herself in the videos, she liked seeing a baby on screen!

Today, big brother Travis wanted to have a bit more organized fun with this concept. We made a short “movie” with Veronika as the star – as baby godzilla!

This being a five-year-old boy’s movie, the plot was about a baby on the loose who was going to knock over city towers – oh no!

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While the two of them played, I snapped pictures of the “movie” unfolding.

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More importantly, I filmed!

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When it was finished, I sat them down to watch the playback. Travis was thrilled, and Veronika was delighted, even if she didn’t understand on the same level.

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This was such a cute concept, both to engage siblings in parallel play even if there is an age gap between them, and also to capture memories and moments in time.

Behold, Travis’s directorial debut:

Foot Day

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On the heels of a hands day with Veronika, today was all about feet… and those adorable piggy toes of course.

The idea, as with the day we devoted to hands, was to pick a body part and make it the focus for twenty-four hours. I recited a few nursery rhymes that feature feet (This Little Piggy is an obvious choice). I also sang ‘Clap Your Hands’, but made up verses about feet: stomp stomp stomp your feet; tip tip tippy toe; wiggle wiggle wiggle your toes etc.

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I then pulled out a few stuffed animal friends to show her their feet.

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It was fun to play with a clean pair of baby shoes!

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We read books about feet, including Dr. Seuss’s classic The Foot Book…

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…and one that focused on toes.

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Finally, I pointed out feet to her wherever we saw them throughout the day. Look, mommy’s feet are in slippers!

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Grocery Store Game

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When she was very little, I grocery shopped with Veronika against my chest in the Ergo carrier, napping more often than not. Now that she’s big enough to sit up and look around, I highly recommend a seat cover with an infant booster. Veronika sits happily ensconced and gets to take in all the sights and sounds of the grocery store – one of my very favorite locations for language-learning and texture exploration!

Instead of racing through my list today, I set aside extra time for Veronika and I to shop slowly and talk about each item we purchased. There was a crinkly bag of lettuce to scrunch in her hands.

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Next we talked about colors – like bold green zucchini!

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She loved the papery feel of a head of garlic.

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And playing with the wrappers of energy bars.

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Temperature is another fun area to discuss, like the cold items from the refrigerator case. And a dehydrated soup cup makes sounds like a maraca!

Engage your child’s senses fully in this way and you might just get lucky and be that parent at checkout whose baby is not fussing.