I have recently become a mom. It is such a wonderful, fulfilling, exhausting but yet rewarding experience that I truly enjoy. When my daughter was born I knew very little about babies, and even less about what to do with them. The more time I spend with her, the more I learn. There are plenty of baby games out there on the internet that you can easily find, but I would like to share with you my favorite infant games and baby activities for a baby development. You do not need to buy anything, you can easily find everything that you need at your place.
I am not a pediatrician so before you try any of these baby learning games, please consult with your doctor.
I know every mom wants her little precious angel to develop well that’s why I came up with this list of easy and fun games and activities for babies.
I hope you will find something that you and your little one will enjoy doing together!
1. Massage
My top favorite thing is a massage that I give to my little one every day after her bath. It’s such a great bonding experience, we look at each others eyes smiling. I just love it.
Someone (can’t remember who it was as I practically didn’t sleep those days. Midwife? Nurse? Pediatrician? one of those) told me in the hospital that I shouldn’t use baby creams and lotions in the first days of my baby’s life and let her skin produce it’s natural oils.
When she was about a month old, I started giving her a nice gentle massage, starting from her little toes, soles of her tiny feet, all the way up to her cheeks. She was suffering from winds that’s why I massaged her stomach in the clockwise motion, and after that giving her a “Waterfall belly massage” (starting from her lower ribs down alternating my hands in a so-called “waterfall motion”).
2. Aroma Balls
I love this exercise because every time we do it my little one gives me the funniest array of facial expressions.
Basically what you do is get about 5 cotton balls and put different every day scented products like toothpaste, perfume, lotions, creams, gels on them. Then you bring the balls close to your baby’s face without touching them one by one. Check your baby’s reactions to different products, see what they enjoy smelling and what they don’t like.
3. Touch That
I give my baby different items to touch, like a silky scarf, a furry toy, a plastic rattle, a soft ball, etc. When she touches and looks at the item, I tell her what it is, just talk to her. Babies learn about this world through their touch.
4. Follow Me
When she was about a month or so old, we started showing her a rattle and moving it left to right, up and down, closer to her face and further away from it. She wasn’t following it at first but with the time developed that skill.
5. Tummy Time
This exercise helps babies develop their neck, stomach and back muscles. We do this activity a lot in different variations. She could either just lie on me and look around, or I’ll put her on a bed and place a bright object just out of her reach for her to try and move herself closer to it.
6. Roll Over
After her tummy time exercise I will help her roll over on her back and back to her tummy. She really enjoys this activity and once was able to roll over to her back herself!
7. Dance With Me
I turn some classical music for her brain development, or some nice upbeat music and dance with her in my arms. I feel like this is another great bonding experience and we both love dancing together.
There are plenty more exercises but these are so far our favorite ones. I think the most important thing is to communicate with your baby. See what they like and what they don’t like. Enjoy spending this time together because babies grow up so quick! Just breathe in and savor every moment you can with each other.