Top 4 Infant Activities to do with Mom

Obie Editorial Team

Entertaining your infants can be tough, especially during the winter when you can’t always go outside. Growing up, my sisters and I found ways of entertaining ourselves, but this is not always easy for little ones. To help entertain your infant and also help foster a love of creativity and the ability to self-entertain, use these four ideas.  They will amuse your infant and allow you to spend some bonding time together.

1. Water Play
Even though water can get messy, structured water play time is a fun activity that your infant can do on your kitchen floor. Simply put down a towel with a bowl of water and add some bath toys or kitchen utensils. To help keep him dry, spread a towel over his lap as well. To encourage him to play, splash or slap the water a little. While he’s playing, try to include a small vocabulary lesson and tell him the names for what he’s doing.

2. Homemade Shape Book
This activity requires a little prep work for mom. Basically, you take a large piece of construction paper and fold it half twice so that there are four boxes. Then draw a shape on each box and write the name of the shape underneath. Then cut out the boxes and put each one in a zip lock bag. Then stack the bags on top of each with the seals where the spine of a book would normally go. Then simply tape the seals together and you have a book! Your infant can even chew on the book a little and it won’t be harmed. You can use this book to help teach your child how to identify shapes, colors, letters, and even animals and the sounds they make.

3. Have a Conversation
When was the last time you just sat down and talked with your infant? Even though they make not be talking yet, they love the sound of your voice and will happily “talk” with you for as long as they can pay attention.

4. Egg Carton Pointer
This activity also requires a little prep time. To get started, find an old egg carton and glue various items in the cups. Some good items are those small fluffy pompom balls, polished rocks, bits of fabric, bits of sponge, anything small really with good texture and color. Once you’re done assembling the egg carton, let your child feel the different textures.

Teach him the words for the colors and textures, even if he’s not talking yet. The repetition will help him learn then words later. Also, make sure you use hot glue or another strong binder to help reduce the chances of your infant prying out the objects and putting them in his mouth.

Erickson, J. (2012, June 1). Infant activities . The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide.