What does everyone do for play time?

Rebekah - posted on 05/06/2009

Quoting Alisha:

These suggestions have been really helpful to me also. I felt like I was alone with the being bored part. We live in an apt...not too big and there are no grassy areas close by, etc. So, I am going to try some of these suggestions. Thanks!

I live in an apartment too... get creative.

My son loves to do things in each room (even though that's only like 4 rooms). LOL I have some decoration stuff that I'll pull out now and then and decorate one room up, play hide and seek too (give him a toy and then hide it by letting him watch me and he'll go get it).  He loves to play ball.  Other things you can do in an apartment is on the kitchen floor bring out your pots and pans and let your baby just play with them - they love the sounds.  I'll play music and dance with him around the apartment or race with him up and down the hallway.  I'll fly him around the house and flop him on the bed.  Paper - he loves paper! I'll get all different kinds of paper - newspaper, shredded paper, textured paper, colored paper, etc. and just let him play.

Sarah - posted on 05/06/2009

We go swimming a couple days a week. I find he loves it. It also tires him out, so he'll always have a great nap afterwards, and it gets me out of the house. I would recommend not letting your child play with any kitchen stuff. I know a lot of people do, but (as a health care provider) I would recommend not as they will start to associate pots and pans as toys. The #1 injury for children under 3 is accidental burn, usually from reaching up and pulling down pots of boiling water, kettles, etc. If you teach children that these items are toys, they will not understand why they can't grab at them any time they want. Just a little note on kitchen safety because burns are not a fun thing and scarring can last a lifetime.

Alisha - posted on 05/05/2009

These suggestions have been really helpful to me also. I felt like I was alone with the being bored part. We live in an apt...not too big and there are no grassy areas close by, etc. So, I am going to try some of these suggestions. Thanks!

Jocelyn - posted on 05/05/2009

I'm very lucky...I have two cats that love the baby. They come into the room and entice my daughter to chase after them...they seem to like it as well and understand it is a game because they seem to do everything at half-pace so she can keep up crawling after them. I'm lucky she didn't have any allergies and we could keep them.

Rebekah - posted on 05/02/2009

My son will be 8 months tomorrow.

Things I do for playtime are:

Play ball - I toss a ball to him and he'll toss it back.

Race - I'll throw a ball and race crawl to get it first (he's getting faster now).

I have a table behind my couch, so I'll clear it off and place a bunch of stuff on there that is OK for him to grab. I'll sit on the couch and pick him up over my head and let him try to reach for something before I bring him back down. He absolutely LOVES this!

Sign - I've been learning sign language and I'll sign A B C, 1 2 3, thank you, hungry, etc. to him. He's picked up on 1, hungry, thirsty, and tired.

Movies - We watch Veggie Tales, Praise Baby DVD's - I'll sing the songs and name the animals and stuff on the screen in these.

Go Outside - I've been introducing him to grass, trees, flowers, etc. that are in the neighborhood. He's been having fun discovering - although he still isn't sure about grass. LOL

Bath Time - toys, bubbles, etc. Body Paints!

Make Your Own Splash Mat - I used paper plates and poured a little bit of water on each plate and put a dab of food coloring on each plate. Let my son splash the water - sure he gets a little messy, but no big deal it comes off in a bath. (I do this outside)

Chelsea - posted on 05/01/2009

This is a fun game for this age. Sit on the floor with your lets out straight and sit on on your legs staddling them. Sing:

Sally the camel has three humps (bouncing legs up and down three times)
Sally the camel has three humps (legs again)
Sally the camel has three humps (legs again)
Ride Sally Ride

Sally The Camel has Two Humps (lets again)

continue this until 1 hump and then after that sing
Sally the camel had no humps cause Sally was a horse

This is another fun one. Lay on your back and put your knees up. Hold your baby up on your knees and sing/ act out the nursery rhyme, when you're up your up and when you're down and when you're only half way up your neither up nor down.

I also put music on and dance with my daughter she LOVES it. Your baby can also mirror you at this age and so playing the do this game is fun. Drum on the table etc. and she if your son will copy you.

Tracey - posted on 05/01/2009

My son loves to grab the dogs collar. I have a very well behaved weiner dog and he is never alone with the baby. But Reiss loves jingling his tags and "petting" him. He'll do that as long as the dog doesn't get up and run away.

Alexis - posted on 05/01/2009

my daughter loves remotes and bottle lids to. Its hard to take the batteries out so we hide it on top of the couch. She knows this and pretends she wants to sit in your lap but once you get her up there she climbs over you to try and get it

Joy - posted on 05/01/2009

Your gonna hate me BUT babies this age love to repeat the same thing over and over again, they love it!! I know it drives us mental but they think its all great. My son loves me to sing humpty dumpty and i sing it so much in a day i feel like vomiting.....just keep doing what ur doing!!! ps- my son LOVES the remotes, i take the batteries out, and he loves the lid to his bottle...weird!!

Melanie - posted on 05/01/2009

we spend all this money on toys to keep them entertained, just to find out they like the foot of the chair, or to watch the washing machine, or playing with a hairbrush. there is so much around the house to keep little ones happy. a change of scenery is good, so instead of being in one room, have some time in the kitchen ( as long as they are safe) or put them in their pushchair outside, and let them watch whats going on outside. baby massage is also great for babies and they love it.

Sandra - posted on 04/29/2009

On cold/too-rainy days, I take him into different rooms in the house and we do different things in each room. rooms. This way, there's always something new to do and it offers a change of scenery rather than just sitting in his play area all day. I rotate his toys throughout the rooms so that it feels like there's something new to do. Otherwise, I find that he gets bored of the same place and toys.

Silla - posted on 04/29/2009

Yeah I really should start to take him outside more, It just is so muggy here sometimes (I live in Louisiana!) He does love it out there though!

Ashley - posted on 04/29/2009

My son is seven months old and I have also stayed home with him all this time. I have found that going outside is a big thrill for my son. On really nice days I take him and a nice large blanket outside, he loves to play in the grass and be outside. On most days we take a walk and I tell him about all of the things that he is seeing as we walk around our small town. On cold rainy days we tend to sit on the porch (which is enclosed) and play games like peek a boo, and read stories. Or I take him to the mall where they have the large play area for children. I hope that helps.

Julie - posted on 04/28/2009

Explore the kitchen. Of course, make sure you don't let him get into anything dangerous, but there are tons of fascinating things in there. My son loves the spatulas, and he has recently learned the joy of making noise when he bangs on pots and pans. Have you tried one of the mom and baby exercise videos? They are a great way to exercise, and my son just cracks up and has a blast when we do it. I have the Mom and Baby Fitness dvd by Parents Magazine. It has one long workout, about an hour, and also shorter workouts about 20 minutes each. It includes yoga and pilates for mommy, and massage and yoga for baby. William loves to do the baby ball!