S A MPLE
Activity Booklet 3-12 Months
Physical Development
Wrap it up Wrap up some of your baby’s favourite toys in newspaper, tissue paper or foil and then let them open the packages to find the toy.
What you need: • • • • •
Newspaper Tissue paper Foil Selection of toys Tape
What they learn: How to balance and use the muscles in their legs to move themselves around.
Physical Development
Water Play Give your baby a bowl filled with water and some spoons, scoops, cups and jugs to play with.
What you need: • A selection of spoons • Scoops • Cups and jugs
What they learn: To fill, empty and pour using their gross motor and fine motor skills. They are also developing their hand-eye coordination.
Physical Development
Balancing Act Give you baby a walker or something large to push against, like a plastic laundry basket filled with heavy objects.
What you need: • A baby walker • Laundry basket • Heavy objects, such as books
What they learn: To coordinate their legs and their body and they are practicing how to balance.
Physical Development
What’s in the box Hide baby’s toys inside a shoe box or another small box. Shake the box so they can hear that something is inside and then show them how to take the lid off or open it to find what’s inside.
What you need: • A shoe box • Small items
What they learn: To lift the lids off a box and if the box is light they will practice how to shake it all by themselves.
Social & Emotional Development
Hide & Seek Babies can become distressed when separated from their parents at this age. Leave the room for a minute and then reappear, or if baby crawls in to another room do not immediately follow.
What they learn: That you will always come back to them. They sometimes get worried when they can’t see you, but when you play games – like hide and seek – they realise you haven’t left them forever!
Social & Emotional Development
Sing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ Sit baby on your knees facing you or on the floor facing you. Hold their hands and row your boat. Look at baby and interact using different voices and facial expressions.
What they learn: To interact with you. They can see that when you look at them you think it is important to spend time with them.
Social & Emotional Development
Mirror, Mirror Sit baby in front of the mirror, you can sit with them and make funny faces.
What you need: • A mirror • Secure place for baby to sit up
What they learn: About themselves – they recognize that the reflection is them and they can make faces and movements.
Language Development
Noisy Basket Fill a basket or a box with lots of things that make a noise. You could use a rattle, paper that scrunches or anything baby can bang.
What you need: • A basket or a box • A variety of ‘noisy’ objects
What they learn: How to listen carefully and discriminate between sounds.
Language Development
Noisy Books Read interactive books. Choose books that have sound buttons or squeakers inside.
What they learn: Learning new ways of hearing words and sounds. They enjoy pressing the buttons and hearing the words over and over again.
Language Development
Rhyme Time Take baby to a music group! Sit with all of the other babies and parents and model the actions to the songs to your baby.
What they learn: New songs and how to join in with a group at song time.
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