Play to Learn, But How?

Best, Easy Baby Developmental Activities

You are old enough to be a parent. It probably means you don't remember how you played as an infant. 

You hear this a lot: "Babies learn through plays. Parents need to play with them."  

So, the pressure is on you. You want your child to develop all the motor skills, thinking skills, etc. You don't want your child to fall behind. You want him to develop faster than all the other kids! 

But how? 

It's been so long. You don't remember how or what you played as a kid. You are not sure what to do and how to do it correctly. 

In this blog post, I will share some quick tips and the mindset you need to maintain when playing with your child.

How You Should Approach

First of all, don't pressure yourself. 

Your child will develop his life skills as he grows up. You can't possibly bag all the skills and hand it to him. It takes time. There are skills he or she will not need for a long time. 

Your plays will not affect your child's developmental speed. Your plays will not make a genius out of your child. It's more important that your child learns to enjoy. Because the true power of play comes from enjoying. Enjoying leads to interest. Interest leads to knowledge. Knowledge leads to skills.

So, you are opening up the gateways for your child's development. You are not developing your child. It's up to your child to develop. Loosen up. The key is to enjoy the activities with your child. You are not a teacher or supervisor. You are just a member of the party. 

Known Facts about RELATIVE Developmental Stages

Looking at the Developmental stages or milestones, parents freak out about their child falling behind. Relax. These are relative timings. All children develop at a different pace. It could be a good indication of problems or issues, but time can resolve a lot of them. 

For example, my child didn't smile much at 2 months period. I was getting a little nervous, but my worries were blown away by 3rd month. She gives me the brightest smile every morning to wake me up.  

Early Developmental Stages organized by CDC

We will dive into the earlier periods first.

Two Months

During the first two months, it's hard to expect a response. Because the baby is barely starting to see things. Their visions are still blurry and they are still figuring out the surroundings. The ears open up at least a month old. 

Play tips

• Once your baby begins to keep his eyes open more, play with high-contrast images (black and white). Hold the image close to his eyes, then move it slowly to follow. This helps with seeing and also building the neck muscles to move his head. 

      Ex) High Contrast Books

• Even if he doesn't respond, start to call his name, sing a song, and talk to him. This helps your child to recognize your voice. 

• Start the tummy time little by little. Put him on your belly. Be careful not to block the airway. Let him hold his head up.

Third to Sixth Month

A lot will change during this time. Your child will see a lot better. Smile more. Starts to move around a lot. Flip from back to tummy. Re-flip from tummy to back. Use his hands to grab things. Anything can become a toy at this point. My daughter loves to play with a towel.

Play Tips

• You can upgrade the high-contrast book from black and white to other colors. Give some changes to proximity. Bring the images close and far, side to side, and up and down. 

• Around-we-grow: Toys like these promote bodily movement. The parts will give a direct response. Pushing a button lights up the key and makes a noise. This teaches a cause-and-effect of the child's action. 

• Sensory Toys: It doesn't have to be these toys. You can find things around the house to replace these. As long as your child can safely play with his hands. Touching, stacking, throwing, etc. 

• Anything he grabs will go into his mouth. That's just how babies measure things. Whether it fits in their mouth or not. So make sure anything he touches is clean. 

• Since grabbing is going to be his biggest interest, place things around him to grab. He will try to move towards it by flipping, crawling, or rolling. This will help with his motor skills.

• Play around a mirror. Babies love to see reflections. Our daughter always tries to grab her reflection's hand. She enjoys the flat, cold feeling of the mirror for some reason.

• You can lift up your baby. Some babies love it. Just be very careful not to shake his head. His brain is still somewhat floating in the skull and moving too much will damage it. Your child's neck muscles have a long way to be strong enough. 

Conclusion

Playing opens up ways to experience new things. Getting involved in it makes it more enjoyable for your child. You are one of the very few people your baby is exposed to. You are still his whole world. To have fun with his whole world! It's the greatest thing that can happen to your infant. 

Use your creativity. Stick to the basics. You don't need to give him an expensive all-natural, organic, super-powered magical toy.  Anything you do with him is a fresh memory and a great learning experience. Expose him to a lot of things! Have fun!