At-Home Learning Activities for Babies

Spending time at home with your little one is a great way to promote connections between the two of you. While it can seem like there’s “nothing to do” at home, there are tons of fun activities you can do with your baby in the comfort of your home. Interactive play helps your baby develop cognitive, motor, language, and social skills while also spending quality time with you, strengthening the bond between parent and child.

What Activities Can You Do with Your Baby at Home?

Easy activities like these help stimulate your child’s brain and prepare them to learn more complex skills.

• Tummy Time (0-6 months): We’ve all heard how important tummy time is for our little ones, but it isn’t always as easy to put it into practice. Tummy time is a workout; your baby strengthens muscles in their neck, arms, and core during tummy time, so your little cutie may not enjoy it much, especially at first. This is where parents can get creative. Find objects that may interest your baby - like brightly colored objects, toys that move, or any other safe object you notice your baby enjoys. Place these objects within view of your baby, and encourage them to look at the object. This way, your baby stays entertained while they’re strengthening those muscles!
• DIY Sensory Bottles (3-12 months): Sensory bottles are fun to make and can provide your baby with a lot of entertainment. Simply fill a bottle with water or a mix of soap and water, then add small objects, glitter, or beads to the bottle. Screw the lid on tight and wrap several layers of masking tape around the lid. You can shake or swirl the bottle to move the liquid, glitter, or beads around, then show the bottle to your little one and encourage them to reach for it. This activity helps strengthen their eye-tracking abilities and can be combined with other activities like tummy time. Note: It’s important to make sure that the bottle is well-sealed or glued shut so there is no choking risk for your baby should the bottle open accidentally.
• Tracking Objects (0-6 months): Pick objects that are colorful for this activity. Hold them about 8-10 inches from your little one’s face and move them around slowly while allowing your baby to follow the object with his or her eyes. You can move the object up, down, left, right, close, and far. During this activity, talk to your baby about the object, including its color, texture, and name, to promote language skills while helping build their eye muscles and hand-eye coordination.
• Learn About Texture (3-12 months): Explore household items and toys with your baby that have different textures, like sponges, blankets, sandpaper, leather, and fabrics. Touch the items with your child and describe how they feel and what they are. Exploring textures is appealing to young children, and this activity will get them used to various textures they may encounter.
• Mirror Play (2-12 months): Use an unbreakable mirror and hold it up in front of your baby so they can see themselves and you. Make different faces in the mirror and see if your baby imitates your movements. During this activity, you can also point out their different body parts, such as their nose, ears, and hands, to promote self-awareness.
• Listen to Music (all ages): Put on classical, lullaby, or sing-along music and sing and dance with your baby. Sway them slowly, dip them, and rock them to encourage muscle strength and balance. Notice your baby’s reactions to the different music you play.
• Play with Water (4-12 months): There are many different ways to play with your baby involving water. You can cut up sponges into the shape of fish, place them in a plastic bag filled with water and a little food coloring, and place the bag into a larger bin. Then, hold your baby in your lap on the floor and let them press their fingers or hands into the sealed bag to see how the sponge ‘fish’ moves. When your baby can sit independently, place them in a shallow bath and put different bath time toys into the water with them. You may also add different containers to the water and show your little one how to pour water from one container to another. Don’t forget babies must ALWAYS be supervised when around any amount of water.
• Play with Sound (3-12 months): Grab various household objects that make different sounds, like plastic storage containers, bells, wind chimes, and tubes from paper towels. Show your baby how different objects can make different noises. Give your baby rattles or crinkle books to play with and show them how to make those objects make noise. If your baby shows interest in one of your selected objects, let them hold and explore it with their hands.
• Picture Perfect (3-12 months): Put together a photo album of friends and family and show the photos to your baby. Name the people in the pictures as you look through the album and let your little one poke at the photos with their fingers. Observe their reactions to seeing the different people they will grow up knowing!
• Sing and Move (all ages): Choose some sing-along songs with motions to sing with your baby and move their hands through the song’s movements. Whether it’s the Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Patty-Cake, Wheels on The Bus, If You’re Happy and You Know It, or Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, keeping your baby’s body engaged while singing helps form connections within the brain while also strengthening muscles.

Staying Active at Home

Coming up with different activities for your little one at home can be daunting at times, but keep in mind that they’re still learning about the world around them, and something as simple as a paper towel tube or a bottle of beads can be incredibly entertaining for your baby. We know that parents are always looking for new and exciting ideas for at-home activities with their young children, which is why we created our Curious Baby Activity Cards, which are full of age-appropriate activity ideas for you and your baby, along with information about the skills your child is developing during these activities. From one parent to the next, our goal is to keep you and your baby happy and learning.