This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Gerber. The opinions and text are all mine.
Is your baby in the crawling stage, or just about there? These 5 fun filled activities are a great way to play with baby who is at or around this developmental milestone
1. Surprise Inside!
At this stage baby is curious about everything and getting pretty good at finding ways to get into those items the draw their curiosity. Here’s a way to get those little hands discovering items in a non-destructive way.
To play this game you will need some empty Gerber containers, paint or wrapping paper, large bag, and a non-choking small toy (little people work awesome). Place the item inside the container. The plastic container should either be painted so it is no longer transparent or loosely wrapped with gift wrapping paper. Throw all the containers into the large bag and allow baby to pull one out at a time to discover.
Skills Worked On: It takes fine motor skills to figure out how to unwrap and open the plastic containers. Gerber Baby Food containers are perfect for this because they are easy to open. The sound of the object inside and/or the crinkling wrapping paper is a fun sense for baby to explore. You may have to show baby how to do this a couple of times, but once baby has it down this game will be a ton of fun for baby.
2. Shake it Up, Baby!
Around the time that baby starts to crawl, they start to recognize that their hands are connected to their arms. Baby also starts to gain pretty good control of the movement of their arms. This means baby is reaching, grabbing, and wanting to explore everything! The sounds that items make is particularly fascinating at this stage. Here is a way to make a simple toy that baby will love!
To play this game you will need empty Gerber containers, items from around the house that will make noise, and super glue. You can also paint the inside of the containers if you desire to give your homemade rattles a fun look! To make these simply fill your DIY rattles with items such as rice, sand, toothpicks, bells, etc and then glue the lid on. Once dry present to baby and play!
Skills Worked On: This is a fantastic activity for teaching baby cause and effect, rhythm, and even boosting their confidence in their gross motor abilities!
3. Munch, Munch, Munch
Chewing is an essential developmental milestone. Introducing pureed foods with advanced textures at the Crawler milestone is highly recommended for children to explore and feel multiple textures within the mouth without having to manage numerous separate food components.
Gerber’s Lil’ Bits recipes offer a gradual texture progression which helps babies learn the skills they need to transition to table food. Their fun recipes are made with perfectly sized soft bit of fruits or veggies that help your baby learn to chew. Currently there are 10 fun foods that baby can try -7 fruits and 3 veggies. Fruits are: Apple Blueberry, Orchard Fruit Medley, Apple Banana, Banana Apple Strawberry, Pear Apple Berry, Island Fruit Blend and Banana Apple Mango. Veggies are: Mixed Carrots, Corn & Butternut Squash, Butternut Squash & Potato, Sweet Potato Apple Carrots & Cinnamon.
Skills Worked On: Chewing! While it seems ridiculously easy, chewing is a vital skill in speech development. Different textures require different oral motor skills which helps prepare baby for making different sounds. For example, Chewing helps develop the use of the tongue by giving it a good workout, which is important for many different speech sounds such as i.e. t, d, k and g!
4. Dump it Out!
Once baby is big enough to sit up on their own dumping out items is fascinating!
For this activity you will need Gerber plastic containers, taste safe moon sand, and a large plastic bin. You can also add toys that you think your child would enjoy scooping and dumping. You may want to consider placing your bin on top of a blanket or someplace that is easy to clean. Baby may try to eat the sand, but will be fascinated by the feel of it and dumping items out more!
Skills Worked On: It’s no secret that I like sensory bins for teaching. They are great for fine motor, gross motor, and tactile stimulation. Sensory bins are also a fantastic way to introduce concepts such as full, empty, light, heavy, etc.
5. Where’s the Toy?
Once baby reaches the crawling stage it is no longer out of sight, out of mind. Baby may not know exactly where the toy went or why it disappeared, but baby does know that the toy still exists. A game of peek-a-boo using toys is a fun way to bolster this understanding.
Items needed for this game are Gerber plastic containers, blanket, toys. This is also a fun game to use your homemade rattles in! To play this game start by partially hiding the items under the blanket and ask baby, “Where is it?” Baby may need some help finding the toy at first, but once baby realizes that the toy is connected to the part that’s showing, baby will be diving into the blanket with joy! As baby begins to get a stronger grasp on this concept slowly make the task more challenging until the entire toy is hidden underneath the blanket.
Skills Worked On: This fun game teaches baby object permanence while working on fine motor skills.
All too often I see parents buying expensive toys for baby, and quite often I myself am guilty of this. But honestly, sometimes the best play is the simplest. I hope these ideas on how to play with baby using Gerber Lil’ Bits Containers turn into games that your family enjoys!
Gerber 3rd Foods Lil Bits Recipes help babies learn to chew and ease the transition to table food.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Gerber. The opinions and text are all mine.