Babies reach numerous development milestones in the first years of their lives. While most milestones follow a certain pattern and age range, each baby develops on her own timeline. There are many developmentally appropriate activities that parents and caregivers can do with babies to support all of the growth they go through at the beginning of their lives.
Benefits
Development activities encourage your infant to explore her world while improving basic skills. As a parent or caregiver, the activities give you a productive way to interact with the baby, which keeps both of you entertained. Engaging your infant in activities gives you a chance to bond with each other.
Development Areas
Babies develop in several areas, including physical skills, communication, vision and hearing, according to MayoClinic.com. Infants learn to control their gross motor abilities, such as neck control and grasping objects. They learn to communicate with others through the language they hear. They begin identifying objects. A balance of development activities for your baby allows you to address different areas for a well-rounded experience.
Activity Ideas
The way you interact with your child affects his development. MayoClinic.com recommends holding and cuddling your infant frequently, giving him the chance to explore your face. Point to objects and name them to help develop language and recognition skills. Babycenter recommends dancing and singing with your baby, letting him touch different materials, blowing bubbles and playing classic baby games, such as Peek-a-Boo. Crawling through a pillow obstacle course, rolling balls and placing toys in a container work well for older babies.
Considerations
A baby's attention span may be very short, but this varies from one child to the next. Stay flexible when sharing activities with your baby, taking cues from her to determine when it is time to move on. Repeating activities gives your baby a chance to continuously practice the developmental skills. She may not pay attention to a particular activity the first few times you play it, but eventually it could become a favorite.
Warning
Babycenter notes that becoming overly stimulated is a problem for some babies. Crying during an activity may signal an overstimulated infant, letting you know it is time to change what you are doing.
Your baby may not meet all developmental milestones right on time, but most milestones should fall around certain ages. MayoClinic.com recommends checking with your doctor if your child has poor head control without improvement, appears floppy, doesn't respond to loud noises or light, has difficulty focusing or isn't gaining weight. These signs could indicate a developmental problem.
