Activities for Infants

When my brother was young he had a strong inclination towards the stones on the mosaic floor, I guess the colorful pieces of stones interested him a lot more than his toys and rattles. Yes this is a very normal of infants because this is the time when they come in terms with the things around and try and start orienting themselves. Therefore the activities should be chosen in such a way that he/she becomes absolutely comfortable with the environment of living and then gradually explore new things around. The curiosity at his stage is immense hence it is necessary that parents remain close to the infant when he is playing or is involved in any activity for that matter. There are many activities, which would be fun as well as a learning session for the infant. So here I would discuss about some of the activities which are simple yet interactive.

Activities for Infants

Noise Activities

This is common activity which most of the parents do without realizing how helpful it is for the infants. Most of the parents talk to their infants while they are working or playing with the child; this helps the child to understand that the noise that is coming is from the mouth of an individual, mother or father. Then you can also keep calling his/her name to which he/s he would not respond initially bit then would certainly start responding once he/she knows that you are calling him/her by the name. The activity, which you can do so that he/she understands that a particular sound is produced to call him/her is one of you can call him/her while the other turns the infant towards the source of the sound. At this initial stage the activities should be such so that it arouses his/her five senses so that he/she starts using them after a while.

Visual Activities

Get the baby many colorful toys and play with him/her with those toys and you would see that whenever the baby would look at one of these toys, if it pleases him/her he/she would smile or would some other expression. Give the baby books that have colorful pictures and images and you can also make it more interactive when changing his/her clothes. Place dresses of different colors in front of the baby and let him/her choose and dress him/her in the one she/he lays her hands on. This way they would respond to colors.

Oral Activities

In many children nowadays, growth occurs faster and you can see a tooth or two when they celebrate their first birthday. So when they are going through the teeth eruption phase and the tooth pierces its way through the gums, the gum itches and infants try and chew everything that is around. At this time get them those toys, which are meant to be chewed by the baby and help them to strengthen the muscles of the gums and jaws. You can also try out different flavors with the baby to give him/her a taste of everything. Nowadays to make things easier baby food comes in various flavors.

Touch Activities

These activities would involve the child touching soft and hard things like the kid should be provided with soft toys and rubber toys so that he/she understands that there is difference when he/she holds a normal toy and when he/she holds a soft toy or a rubber toy. This category would also involve the strengthening of other body muscles like the neck muscle and the leg muscles by the practicing some activities with him/her playfully.

Olfactory Activities

The age is too young for the infants to understand the difference between different odors but then you can still try with smells of orange peels, vanilla, his/her own baby food and soap.

These activities should be done in such a way that the baby enjoys it and stop as soon as you see that he/she is not paying much attention towards it.