Play Ideas for Each Milestone, Age Group & Sense
Birth - 3 Months Old

Fun with Sight

As babies open their eyes on a whole new world, it takes time for them to see things the way us adults do (as you probably know of course). During those early months, day-by-day, their vision becomes clearer but until it is fully developed we have some guidance on what they will most likely want to keep their eyes on.

Activities

Action Anticipating Game:

• Hold a colorful toy 8-10 inches from your baby’s chest for a few seconds so they can see it
• Hand it to them to hold

Tip: Change your baby’s position from cradling, to sitting upright supported in your lap, to tummy-time as you play this game so they learn to anticipate action from various positions.

Infantino Toys:

• Wrist Rattles
• Foot Rattles
• Squeeze & Teethe Monkey

DIY Objects: Look for light, easy to hold objects that are safe for baby, like balling up bright socks, a clean paper plate or piece of cardboard with a thick happy face drawn on.

 

Eye Tracking Development Game:

• Hold colored toys 10-12 inches from your baby’s chest and slowly and smoothly move the object in pace with their eye and head movements.
• Pause so baby can catch up with it, if they’ve lost track.

Infantino Toys:

• Hug & Tug Musical Bug
• Pull & Shake Jittery Pal
• Chime Lion

DIY: Balled-up Colored Socks, Clean Dish Towel with Contrasting Colors

Learning Through Sound

The world (for the most part) is music to a baby's ears, filled with wonderful ear-perking sounds. While you and your little one stay close to home here are a few simple sound-awareness games you can play to help your little one figure out where these new noises are coming from.

Did you know...when you respond to your baby's cries with your soothing voice, your baby is learning to trust and feel secure in their environment through sound.

Activities

Sound Awareness Games:

• Hold a toy that makes unique noises 1 to 2 feet away from your baby
• Make the object sound once or twice and pause to watch their response
• As they respond to the noises, interact and narrate to your baby what they are hearing so they can eventually begin to associate what objects make certain sounds
• Once baby has seen what the sound is coming from, let them hold the object or toy that is making the noise so they can touch and explore the sound

Play this game in different positions and with a variety of sounds so they can learn to respond to different sounds coming from different directions.

Infantino Toys:

• Activity Teether Elephant
• Lights & Music Busy Key Set
• Activity Pals
• Jittery Pals
• Chimes

DIY: Paper Crunching, Water Splashing, Clapping, Finger Snaps, Phone Tones & Phone Vibrating, Doorbells & Floor drumming

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3 - 6 Months Old

Fun with Sight

Help your curious baby solve the bewildering game of the disappearing ball or peek-a-booing parent. We’ve compiled a few developmental games to help your little one figure out the mystery of object permanence from the comfort of your home.

Activities

Where Is It Game:

• Slowly move your face behind your hands or a cloth or place a toy under a cup so that it is out of your baby’s sight.
• As you do this notice if your baby continues to look at the place where the object is hidden for a few seconds.

Tiny Note: Remember if you wait too long to reveal that the toy is still there your baby will forget about it.

Other ways to play:

• Cover your face with a paper plate that has small holes so you can peek to see your baby’s reaction
• Add musical toys or your voice for additional cues that you or the toy is still there
• As baby gets older you can point out and narrate when people or things naturally disappear in day-to-day life such as: when someone leaves the room or a ball rolling out of sight. Ask your baby where the object or person went and then give or show them the answer: “Look where your ball went, it fell on the floor.”

Did you know... It may take several tries for your baby to get the hang of this game. Make the toy, object, or your face reappear in the same place every time to help them grasp the idea of the game.

Partially Hidden Object Game:

• Cover up only part of an object or toy and see if your baby can or will uncover it
• Start with an object that has a symmetrical shape such as a ball or a block and gradually use objects that are asymmetrical to make the game more challenging for baby
• Make sure the cover you are hiding the object with doesn’t excite your baby or else they will become too intrigued with the cover and forget about finding the toy

• Any item from the Balls, Blocks, & Buddies Activity Set
• Musical Monkey or Toucan can be used as the hidden toy
• Tub of Toys
• Squeeze & Stack Blocks

DIY Hidden Toys: Blankets, and small cups can be used as covers. Anything symmetrical or asymmetrical like lids, large blocks, tennis-size balls, dolls, books, stuffed animals

Did you know... All little ones are different (that’s what makes them so wonderful!) If your baby needs extra cues, start the activity with a toy that lights up or plays music. If baby has trouble grasping, use covers to hide the object that can easily be knocked over like a tall plastic cup.

Learning Through Listening, Eye Foot Coordination, & Body Awareness

Baby loves your voice (as you can of course tell!), as you move through your day you’ll help them develop their eye-foot coordination and body awareness by narrating and singing silly songs about what they’re doing with their body parts from kicking their itty bitty feet to wiggling their fingers.

Activity

Kicking: Your baby loves to kick, kick, kick. Give their love of kicking a purpose.

• Hold a target (bonus if it makes noise) that they try to hit with their little feet
• You can do this while they’re on their back on the changing table, floor, or bed by placing a blanket roll under their hips so they can reach the hanging toys
• When they’re on their back, hold up an item that is within an easy reach of their feet so that they can kick it
• Praise your baby verbally once they make contact with the object and continue to do this over and over so that they hear the resulting noise as they feel their sole of the foot on the object and begin to put it together
• To add another layer of listening development to the game, sing the following simple song so baby can hear what they’re doing as well: Kick, kick, kick your feet. Kick your feet together. Kick, kick, kick your feet. Kick your feet together

Infantino Toy:

• Twist & Fold Activity Gym Mirror or Bolster
• Foot Rattles
• Topsy Mirror Pal Turtle

DIY:

• Pillow
• Tambourine
• Hands
• Pie Tin

Little Note: This is also a great position for your baby to learn how to grab their toes!

Learning Through Touch

Every new texture, color, and sound offers a must-touch! must-hear! must-figure-this-out! moment and every new discovery (like finding their cute chubby cheeks or itty bitty toes) or learning how to shift their weight provides endless excitement. Enjoy extra together-time with your little one as you help them through these activities.

Activities

Exploring Textures:

• Place your baby on different surfaces like towels, woven blankets, fuzzy blankets, straw mats, bumpy surfaces, and cool surfaces
• Encourage baby to relax and enjoy these textures by offering them opportunities to play on them

Learning About Body Parts:

• Rub your nose against your baby's nose, touch their elbows, and pat their knees
• Show your baby how to explore your face and pat your cheeks - when they do this fill your cheeks with air and make a funny popping noise when they pat them

Shifting Weight:

• During tummy-time, place baby’s chest on top of a bolster with their shoulders and arms forward and help them hold their weight on their hands while they look in a mirror at a picture book
• You can place interesting objects on either side of them to help them learn how to shift their weight from side-to-side

Infantino Toys:

• Twist & Fold Activity Gym and Playmat + Bolster Pillow & Mirror
• Balls, Blocks, & Buddies Activity Set
• Hug & Tug Musical Frog

DIY: Dolls, blocks, stuffed animals

Drumming:

• Let your baby drum on a variety of surfaces with their hands to make [3] different, fun noises.

Reaching:

• Encourage your baby to begin reaching for toys with a single hand by setting them on your lap and tapping your baby’s hand with the toy you want them to grab
• After your baby accepts the toy, offer them a second toy to their free hand.
• If the first toy drops, pick it up and retrieve it to play a game like Pat-a-Cake or bang the two toys together in a playful way to keep their attention

Infantino Toys:

• Balls, Blocks, & Buddies Activity Set
• Crystal Clear Teethers
• Spiral Activity Toy

DIY:

• Blocks
• Lids
• Rattles

Did you know... Give your baby plenty of time to play with and explore their toys through touch. The time they spend mouthing, banging, holding, and shaking objects prepares them for more functional play later on. It also gives your baby the opportunity to “accidentally” practice transferring toys from one hand to the other.

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6 - 9 Months Old

Visual Motor Skills

Your mini problem solver has been watching you perform magic tricks since they met you & they’re trying their best to do them to. Your baby is all hands on deck when it comes to gross (more like awesome!) motor skills, here are a few playtime activities to help them become magicians too.

Activities

Reaching From Their Side:

• Place your baby on their side and put their favorite toy about a foot away from their chest so they can practice stretching their upper arms and rolling onto their tummy to grab it
• Practice on both sides
• You can do this starting on the tummy’s as well

Did you know... If your baby needs more help grabbing the object move the object or toy closer and guide them through the positions to get the toy.

Reaching While Sitting:

• When your baby is sitting in a high chair, place a toy on the tray so they are forced to stretch and lean forward to reach the toy
• You can also play this game by setting them in an activity gym and dangling the toys on one side so they’re able to reach for them
• If you have access to bubbles you can make them during bath-time so your baby can reach for them as they float in the air

Infantino Reaching Toys:

• Chimes
• Balls, Blocks, & Buddies Activity Set
• Pull & Shake Jittery Pals
• Tub of Toys
• Stacking Rings

DIY Reaching Toys:

• Balled Up Socks
• Satin Scarves
• Bubbles

Learning Through Hearing

Your sweet little one is probably babbling like a brook, saying “dada” or “baba” and they’re likely responding to their own name or even looking around for you or your pets when they hear those names as well! It’s everything you waited for and more! Maybe they’re imitating gestures like “bye-bye” and responding to “give me five!” Here are a few activities like peek-a-boo and Patty Cake to keep this exciting developmental stage going as you get in extra special together-time.

Teach Baby Their Name:

• Say your baby’s name to them throughout the day in meaningful ways such as when they enter a room you can say “Hi [name].” as you look at them, or when they wake up from a nap.
• You can also do this as you give them a bath by saying, “I’m washing [Baby Name] arm.”

Did you know... If your baby is having trouble learning their name, remind everyone to use a consistent name because too many nicknames or terms of endearment can be confusing.

Rhythm of Language:

• Pair interesting words with movements to help baby understand how language works.
• Bang blocks together as you say, “Bang, bang, bang.”
• When you’re playing with animal shaped toys make the noise they make like “Roarrrr” for a lion, or say “Weeeee” when rolling a toy across the room
• Say the word “Splash” with excitement when you drop one of their toys into the water.
• These words will catch your baby's attention because they are associated with fun and playful activities.

Infantino Toys:

• Infantino Aquarium Bath Squirters
• Blocks, and Buddies for floor time

DIY: Wooden blocks, water bottles or tennis balls to roll across the floor, stuffed animals, picture books

 

 

Did you know... Try to keep daily routines consistent from bath-time to getting dressed by using repetitive language and simple words to name objects and your actions during these activities. It’s also important to end these routines the same way each time by using the same words and actions. This will help your baby anticipate the next steps and potentially increase vocal participation in these activities.

Imitation:

• Engage with baby by mimicking their sounds and actions (some baby’s enjoy doing this in a mirror)
• Start by imitating a sound you hear them make then wait silently for your baby to take a turn and babble another sound - continue repeating the sounds they make
• You can also make silly babbling sounds into empty containers or toilet paper rolls to make an echo
• Make sure you’re in a face-to-face position when you play

Activities to Aid Taste Development

Help your little one take the first step of their solid food journey with these activities that will help them explore different sizes, shapes, textures, weights, and tastes with their tongue and lips.

• Exploring Texture:
  • Eventually your baby will gravitate towards certain sizes, textures, sounds and colors, but for now let baby explore a variety of toys safe for mouthing.
  • These toys should have different faces, textures, intense colors, and soft and loud sounds so they can begin to differentiate between them.
  • As they play with each toy, narrate to them what they are doing “that’s your carrot teether” or “you are tasting your bumpy sloth.”

Infantino Toys:

• Crystal Clear Teether Set
• Lil’ Nibblers
• Squeeze & Teethe Latex
• (please make sure your baby doesn't have a latex allergy)

DIY: Cold wash cloths or their fingers.

Exploring Temperature:

• Help your baby experience and learn about varying temperatures by refrigerating toys and objects and narrating to them what they feel like as they touch them
• Refrigerate: Use water or silicone teether. Remember to narrate this new temperature to your baby as they explore each item

Edible Faux-Finger Paint:

• Place your babies favorite blended or textured baby food on the tray of their high chair and let your baby explore the textures and tastes with their hands like edible finger-paint
• Take a picture of their masterpiece afterwards!

Tiny Tip! If your baby is hesitant to try new foods, try dipping their favorite teether into the new dish and let them put the toy in their mouth.

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9 - 18 Months Old

Learning Through Sight (Expressive Language)

Your little bundle of joy is growing and learning before your eyes (with their eyes!). Your noticing them draw connections between words and objects, here are a few ways to further that exploration.

Activities

Which Do You Want?:

• Show your baby two objects (these can be toys or snacks)
• As you show them the object encourage them to name the object that they want by asking them to make a choice: Do you want your block or ball? (Use familiar objects that they’ve already heard you say the name of numerous times.)
• If your baby gestures or points and needs help with the word, hand them the object they pointed at and tell them so they are still seeing a connection between the object and the word

Infantino Toys:

• Balls, Blocks, & Buddies Activity Set
• Activity Pal
• Tub of Toys
• Textures & Sounds Activity Stacker

 

D

IY: Tennis balls, wooden blocks, snacks, familiar picture books

Did you know... Asking “What’s this?” is more difficult for your little one than saying a single word because it’s a question they have to process first.

Naming Pictures:

• As you and your little one look through their picture books encourage them to name what they are seeing
• Use books with realistic pictures that only have one or two familiar objects on each page

Learning Through Hearing (Receptive Language Activities)

Your little one is likely recognizing their body parts, here are a few fun ways to help them know that their toes are well, their toes!

Activities

Pointing to Body Parts:

• Help your little one begin to grasp the names of their various body parts
• Help them get there by pointing at their body parts and naming them
• You can point at your own nose and say "nose" then point at their nose and repeat “nose”
• Play the game using the same body part for a few days consecutively before moving on to eyes, mouth, ears, hair, hands, toes, fingers, and more!

Find the Body Part:

• Now make a game out of finding the right body part
• Call out: "Where is baby’s mouth?"
• Then ask your baby to point to the mouth
• When your child does it correctly praise them
• Repeat with other familiar body parts and soon your baby will be able to identify many parts of the body

Find the Body Part With Song:

• To expand on this game use various toys by putting the item on various body parts as you sing the following song to the tune of “Put Your Finger in the Air”
• Put your [object] on your head on your head, Put your [object] on your head on your head, Put your [object] on your head, put your [object] on you head, put your [object] on your head on your head!

Infantino Toys:

• Stacking Rings
• Infantino ducks

DIY: Washcloths, socks or light books

Learning Through Touch

Take your little one on a guided tour of their world with their little fingers and toes. As you know your little one is developing and learning every time they explore their senses, here are a few fun ways to further their growth.

Activities

Faux - Finger Painting with Baby Food:

• Let your baby's imagination run wild by helping them “paint” with food items to help them explore their creative side while developing nerve connections
• As they play, describe the colors, textures, feelings, and movements your little one is experiencing. Ex. “Yellow squash...wet and sticky”
• Or sing the song “Wheels on the Bus” and have your fingers going round and round in the food items while you sing those lyrics

Infantino Toys:

• Crystal Clear Teethers
• Animal Parade Links

DIY Paint: Pudding, applesauce, yogurt, baby rice, mashed potatoes, mashed yellow squash

Did you know... It may be hard but try restraining from constant cleaning while they “paint”. Being messy is part of the creative freedom and fun.

Supervised Sensory Bins

• Use a cardboard box, tub or container
• Fill it with it with lots of baby's favorite toys, soft satin scarfs or light balls (like those in our 4-in-1 Jumbo Ball Pit Gym)
• Make a water version using links and other water safe toys
• Important: Make sure baby has adult supervision at all times when engaging in any water-based play

Tiny Tip ... Keep it interesting with different textures, sizes and colors.