Your baby starts learning from the moment they're born, and perhaps even before that. They take in everything that's happening around them, which helps them to do everything from building their physical strength to developing language. Spending time with your baby and helping to build some foundational skills will help them to get off to a great start in life. There are excellent benefits to spending lots of time with your baby and doing a variety of different activities together. Sometimes your baby might just be with you when you're going about your day, and other times you might seek out special activities to stimulate your baby.
Talking to Your Baby
To some, it might seem obvious but to others, talking to your baby from birth might not seem particularly natural. After all, your baby can't talk back yet and they don't really know what you're saying either. But the sooner you start to talk to your child, the bigger the opportunity to help them start developing their language skills. Your baby might not be able to respond or follow instructions just yet, but there's still value in talking to them. If you're not sure what to say, try narrating your actions. Evidence has shown that baby talk can even help with language development too.
Tummy Time
Tummy time is an important activity for babies. It helps them to strengthen their back, neck, core, and limbs, giving them better control over their neck and their arms and legs. You can start having tummy time for a few minutes not long after your baby is born. You can have your baby on your own chest or stomach or place them on a soft surface on the floor. Tummy time is also a good opportunity to develop other skills. You can place toys and other objects close to your baby to see if they begin to notice them and eventually start to reach for them.
Music and Rhythm Activities
Music is excellent for helping your baby to develop a number of skills. It's also a great way to bond with your baby and have fun together. You can sing to your baby and dance around together, with lots of specific music and song activities that you can do together. You can also play with toys that make different sounds, from rattles to musical instruments. If you want to try a group activity, you can also often find baby and toddler groups that focus on singing songs and enjoying music together.
Swimming and Water Activities
Swimming with your baby and splashing about in the water can be a lot of fun. It's a good way to get your baby started with swimming early and can help to strengthen their muscles. Of course, it's important to put safety first if you want to go swimming with your baby. Consider looking into swimming lessons near you if you want some help. You'll have a swimming instructor who can give you some direction and help you to get more from your time in the pool. The key to a successful session is to be well-prepared, so make sure you have plenty of time and pack your swim diapers.
Reading
Reading with your baby is another excellent way to help develop language skills. Your baby might not be able to read yet, but they can look at colorful pictures and feel textures in baby books too. Reading to your baby can be a good way to talk to them if you find it hard to think of what to say. You could read anything out loud as long as you're engaging with your baby. As they get older, your baby can be more focused on the book itself and you can use the time to simply look at books and interact with them.
Arts and Crafts
Babies can start doing some arts and crafts-type activities fairly early. At first, it might be more of a sensory experience, but they can soon start to take more of an active role. By the time your child is old enough to start school, they need to be able to hold a pencil and have good fine motor skills. Development of their motor skills is one of the benefits you'll get from doing arts and crafts. There are lots of messy activities that you can try with your baby too, which you can do long before they're able to use a pen or pencil.
Sensory Activities
There are lots of activities that you can do with your baby that help to stimulate their different senses. The arts and crafts activities mentioned above offer one option, but there's much more you can do. You can use different objects and activities to allow your baby to see, touch, smell, hear, and even taste different things. You can play with different fabrics, lights, toys, and items that make various noises. If your baby is eating solid food, baby-led weaning is a great way for them to have a more sensory experience where they get to touch and taste their food.
Baby Massage
Baby massage can be another fun way to engage in a sensory activity with your baby. It's relaxing for both you and your baby, and it's a good way for you to bond with each other. You can also find baby massage classes if you want to benefit from the help of an instructor and a group environment where you can talk to other parents and carers.
Learn Sign Language
When you're working on your baby's language development, you can also consider learning some baby signs. Signs will allow your baby to communicate certain things before they start to talk and they can help to develop your baby's speech too. There are lots of simple signs that you can teach your baby, from signs for physical objects to more abstract concepts like "more" or "again". You can take a baby sign class or find materials online.
Engage in a range of activities with your baby to help them get off to a good start in life and develop a variety of skills.