Activity ideas for Parents/Carers to do with babies under 12 months
Warning: some activities may contain items that are choking hazards. Children should be supervised at all times during the activities. For food activities Startwell recommend chopping food into finger shapes/sizes. No not chop into circular/disc shapes as this increases the risk of choking.
Active Azra wants us to move more and sit less, by getting our ‘belly buttons on the move’.
Water play is a great activity to get babies active. Put a small amount of water in a bath tub, just enough for baby to splash in. Hold them secure and encourage them to kick and move their legs/core.
Bath tub and water
180 Katie wants us to remember that non walking babies need at least 30 minutes of tummy time spread throughout the day. Tummy time is important for core strength.
Place baby on their tummy in the middle of a blanket and add a variety of toys around the edges of the blanket to encourage your baby to move towards them for exploration.
Blanket and baby’s toys
Sammy Skills wants us to develop physical skills. Remember that the core and larger limbs develop first.
Turn on some music and with baby on your lap you can sway, rock and move to the music. Try humpty dumpty, row row row or just your favourite songs. Skill – Balance and spatial awareness, core stability
Music
2 snacks Max helps us to remember that, once weaned, 2 healthy snacks and 3 healthy meals a day are needed to keep children healthy. Base snacks on fruit/vegetables and carbohydrates.
Try oat play with your baby. Sprinkle some oats on a tray and support your baby to touch and feel the oats whilst sitting or lying on their tummy. You could try wet and dry oats and see how differently they respond.
Tray and oats
Micky me size is all about portion control – remember that babies’ tummies are small and don’t need a lot to fill them. If they are over fed their tummies stretch, need more to fill them and can lead to obesity.
Undertake some hand painting with your baby. Once weaned ensure their portions are appropriate for their size, their outstretched hand shows the size of plate to use, remember babies grow quickly and it’s good to capture their growth whilst also understanding the needs of your baby.
Paint and Paper.
Fay 5 a day wants everyone to eat a minimum of 5 pieces or fruit or vegetables everyday once weaned. Fruit and vegetables are our protective foods that help to keep our bodies’ healthy and fight off illness.
Use bath time to create a vegetable soup play and exploration activity. If you have plastic play vegetables and fruit you can use these or real items. Remember to add pots and spoons/spatulas for your baby to be able to mix the soup. Name the items for your child.
Plastic or real fruit and vegetables, pots and spoons/spatulas.
Smiley Shen is all about keeping teeth healthy by cleaning teeth twice a day and limiting sugary food and drink. It is important that you supervise tooth brushing up to 7 years of age.
Tooth brush play is important for babies as it gets them used to a tooth brush in preparation for cleaning their teeth. Allow your babies to play with toothbrushes and small pots of water alongside you under supervision, encourage them to dip the brushes into the water with support from you and put them in their mouths.
Children’s toothbrush, small pots with water in.
Suzy Startwell is all about being a good role model for our children. Children learn from copying the behaviours of those they see around them. As a parent, practitioner or adult who is in close contact with children it is important that the behaviours they see and copy are positive.
