Tag: rolling

Mini Gym

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Mini Gym (8)

Whatever your baby’s latest gross motor skill milestone is, this cute gym session will have him or her giggling! It can be a Mini Rolling Gym, a Mini Sitting Gym, or a Mini Crawling Gym. The key is to get down on your baby’s level and show them the actions, which will serve both as a model and as a game!

Mini Gym (1)

Veronika is already a roller, but first for some review I lay down next to her. Well she thought this was just the greatest.

Mini Gym (2)

I rolled away from her…

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…which soon had her rolling to me. This was a nice refresher because she’s so busy sitting up these days, she sort of forgets to roll when I put her on her back.

Our next gym session was planks (okay, tummy time). She loved having me down at elbow level with her.

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Next I started to crawl in circles around her. This is probably the next gross motor skill that Veronika will master, since she’s currently kicking with legs and pushing up on her arms, but not quite able to put it all together yet.

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She looked like she wanted to chase after me!

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I then sat her up, placed a few favorite toys just out of reach, and mimed reaching for them. Soon she was copying me.

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In short, we both got in a little workout, and lots of giggles!

Mini Gym (7)

Roly-Poly Game

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Roly Poly Play (5)

We have a roller! Veronika officially started rolling a few days ago (and I credit a lot of that to our scarf circle game!) and now she doesn’t want to stop.

If you’re still coaxing your baby to roll (or have a new roller who can’t get enough of it) here’s a fun game to play. Any toy will work, but I like to play this game with round balls for maximum roly-poly fun.

Start with your baby on his or her back, and give them a toy.

Roly Poly Play (1)

Then move the toy just out of reach off to the side. If needed, you can get down in that direction too, and coo and urge your baby to reach for it and (hopefully) flip over.

Roly Poly Play (2)

My little miss roly-poly needs no encouragement, now! Going, going…

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Gone!

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She looks so pleased to reach the toys.

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We added on to the rolling fun by gently batting the ball back and forth.

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As I rolled the ball near her, I sang:

Roll that little ball round the room

Roll that little ball round the room

Roll that little ball round the room, 

Roll that little ball, roll.

In sum, great roly-poly play.

Roly Poly Play (8)

Colorful Scarf Circle

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Scarf Play (4)

This activity takes all of two minutes to set up, but your baby will reap great benefits from it. It’s perfect for times when you want to visually stimulate a baby who can’t sit up yet; great for tummy time; and also encourages gross motor development towards rolling or crawling.

Here’s the set-up: lay a soft blanket on the ground, and simply surround it with pretty scarves. Before I draped each one down, I let Veronika see it and grab it if she wanted to, then added it to the circle.

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Now baby goes in the middle! The bright colors immediately caught her eye. Since Veronika isn’t rolling on her own yet, I nudged her gently to her side.

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From here, she could complete the roll, and seemed intent on getting closer to the bold blues and reds. If your baby is already rolling, he or she might enjoy rolling back and forth between these scarves for quite some time!

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Once on her tummy, she had plenty to look at, which was a nice way to shake up tummy time.

Back on her back, she enjoyed running her hands over soft fabrics, or grabbing on to the tassels, leading to great tactile play.

Scarf Play (7)Note: There’s also no need to wait until your baby is rolling for this game. I’ve been setting Veronika up in a similar circle of scarves since she was tiny. The only difference is that now the game is more interactive.

Scarf Circle (1)

Roly Poly Play

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Roly Poly (6).JPG

It’s early for your baby to roll at two months old (although some might be able to!), but it’s not too early to introduce the sensation of rolling. Veronika is starting to get the idea – when her head is on a pillow, she can rotate her body off it to the left side, although she doesn’t get all the way around to the tummy. So it’s time to build those muscles and develop the idea!

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Today, Veronika and I played around with rolling on a few different surfaces. First, I put her on her brother’s bed – a nice soft mattress to flip about on.

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I started her on her back, then gently rolled her halfway…

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…before finishing on her tummy. She looked quite surprised!

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Then we tried the same game on a very soft mat on the floor. This time, I placed interesting toys on either side of her, as inspiration to roll. She loved rolling toward the mirror first.

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Her favorite toy is a little soft octopus, so she was absolutely delighted when I set that off to her other side.

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Got it!

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This game would be great fun for a baby if you did it outside on a soft bed of grass in warm weather… but we’re having snow today, so we kept the fun indoors!

At what age did your baby first roll solo? Please share in the comments!