Activities for Infants

The first few months of your baby’s life are fascinating. You will watch them change day by day. We have rounded ten simple infant activities that will help the development of your baby’s motor skills, language skills, and that will strengthen your bond.   

1. Tummy Time

Tummy time ⁽¹⁾ refers to placing the baby on their stomach while they are awake and somebody is watching them.  

Tummy time is important because: 

• It strengthens the baby’s neck, shoulders, and arms, in time allowing the baby to hold their head, sit up, crawl and walk.  

• It improves the baby’s general coordination.  

• It helps prevent flat spots on the back of the baby’s head.  

You can start tummy time almost from birth. At the beginning you can place your baby on your chest. While your baby is on your chest, you can try singing, talking and touching him. As he grows you can place him on the floor. Get down to their level while you sing and talk to him. Place toys in view and encourage your baby to get them.  

Babies benefit from having two or three short (3 to 5 minutes) tummy time session each day. By the age of three months, babies can have 15 to 30 minutes of tummy time each day. 

Many babies hate being on their tummies. If this the case of yours, start by placing them on their tummies for very short periods, and gradually increase the time. And try to make it as fun as possible! 

Remember not do tummy time just after a feed!  

2. Mirror Play

Mirror play helps build self-awareness. Place yourself and your baby in front of the mirror. Pull silly faces, make facial expressions and name them (e.g., “Look, mummy is happy”), point and name body parts (e.g., “Where is your nose?”), and play peekaboo (e.g., “Where is the baby?”).  

3. Peekaboo

Developmental psychologist, Dr Caspar Addyman conducted a study with around 1,500 parents and they found that peekaboo (alongside tickling) is the number one activity that makes babies laugh. Peekaboo is all about human connection. In peekaboo you are having a conversation with your baby. Your baby is learning to have a conversation with you. They are practicing their social skills, and they just love it. They love to have your undivided attention.  

4. Finger Plays

Sing to your baby favourite old time songs such as “Wheels on the Bus”, “Bah, Bah, Blacksheep”, “Patty Cake” or “Where Is Thumbkin”. They all have hand and finger motions that go along with the song. Your baby will start copying those motions as soon as he is able to. Doing so, will help his motor skills, hand eye coordination, and language skills.  

5. Reading

You can start reading to your baby almost from birth. Early reading dictates later vocabulary ^(2). The more words a baby hears, the more words he learns. When you read to your baby, not only they are learning new vocabulary, but you are also strengthening your bond and giving him your undivided attention. Infants like touch and feel books, chunky board books, and vinyl bath books.  

6. Dance and Listen to Lullaby Songs

Research shows that listening to lullabies ⁽³⁾ helps babies to regulate their emotions, create a bedtime routine, and it promotes language development. Listening to lullabies also helps develop a bond between the parent and the baby and it passes on cultural traditions.  

7. Water Fun

Most babies love being in the water. Whether they are having a bath or they are in a pool, use the time to play with water toys. Name body parts, demonstrate pouring, or the concept of ‘dry’ and ‘wet’. Add a mirror, read a bath book, or bring on the bubbles.  

Never ever leave a baby unsupervised in the water. Babies drown very fast in a very small amount of water.  

8. Explore Household Items

Everything is new for a baby, and this is why they love to explore the world. Anything from a muffin tin, a wooden spoon, a plastic cup, a laundry basket, or a piece of coloured paper, may be totally fascinating for them. Name the objects that your baby is playing with.  

Tracking objects: Babies develop the ability to track objects ⁽⁴⁾ between two and six months of age. Their ability to track objects depend on the speed and the size of the object. Babies always prefer to look at human faces than to objects, so the more you and the rest of the family are around your baby, the better!  

9. Baby Massage

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) claims that physical touch is essential for a baby’s emotional and health development. Baby massage ⁽⁵⁾ can reduce babies’ levels of stress hormones, encourage flexibility in their arms and legs, improve their sleep, and increase their body awareness. Massaging your baby after they have their bath, will help you to bond and will leave them feeling relaxed and loved. And if you do it while singing or talking to him, even better! 

How Many Toys Does my Baby Need?  

Not many! Consider that everything is new for a baby, so they will be equally fascinated by a muffin tin or a wooden spoon than by a shiny new toy. Do not feel the pressure to buy expensive new toys, because your baby does not really need them.  

Will Screen Time Help my Baby’s Development? 

Not really. Babies need human contact to thrive. There is no substitute for it. Research shows that neither the TV, an iPad, or an app, substitute human interactions. Human interactions are always better.  

Is it OK for my Baby to Play While the TV Is On? 

Background television ⁽⁶⁾ is not brilliant for children. It is best to avoid ‘technoference’ which is technology getting in the way of human interactions.  

These are some things for infants to do. Do you have others that your baby love? Let us know which ones!  

Love, 

Ana 

Dr Ana Aznar 

References 

⁽¹⁾ Hewitt, L., Kerr, E., Stanley, R. M., & Okely, A. D. (2020). Tummy time and infant health outcomes: a systematic review. Pediatrics, 145(6). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-2168 

⁽²⁾ J., & Braungart-Rieker, J.M. (2005). Effects of shared parent-infant reading on early language acquisition. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 2, 133-148 doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2004.12.003 

⁽³⁾ Sá, E., & Torres, A, (2019). The Effect of Lullabies on the Mother and on Copyright © 2019 Eduardo Sá and Ana Torres. Her Relationship with the Baby: an Exploratory Study. OA J Behavioural Sci Psych2019, 2(1): 180010. 

⁽⁴⁾ Chiang, W. C., & Wynn, K. (2000). Infants’ tracking of objects and collections. Cognition, 77(3), 169-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00091-3 

⁽⁵⁾ Savage, S. (2005). The benefits of infant massage: a critical review. Community Practitioner, 78(3), 98-102. 

⁽⁶⁾ Nichols, D.L. The context of background TV exposure and children’s executive functioning. Pediatr Res 92, 1168–1174 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-021-01916-6