Tummy time is important for a baby’s development and these floor time game ideas can be a lot of fun for you and baby both to get “down to earth” more.
Newborn Baby Floor Games – Belly time is an important precursor to crawling, helps develop back muscles used in sitting and walking as well as helping to prevent flat spots from too much time spent on the back. Lie down on the floor in front of your baby and encourage her to look at you. “Peek a Boo” becomes a fun exercise game as she lifts her head to look at you. (Note: Always put your baby to sleep on her back – play this game during awake times.)
Three Month Old Babies and Floor Games – Toys games are more fun now because your baby can reach and grab items with more ease now. Select a variety of rattles, blocks and other small (one-handed) baby toys to play a floor game with them. Hide the toy under a towel and say, “Where is the Ball?”. Quickly pull the towel off, revealing it and say “There’s the ball!” This helps your baby establish that an object is permanent.
Floor Games for your Growing Baby – Picking up toys and dropping them is fascinating for your baby. Encourage his game play by giving him smaller objects to drop into larger ones. Small plastic tupperware containers with colorful ribbons inside can be easily picked up and dropped into a large metal mixing bowl or pot and your baby will enjoy trying to stack and sort them as well. Help him sort them by colors, sizes and shapes and clap with delight as he drops them noisily into the bowl.
Floor Games for an Older Infant – Blanket games can be fun at this age as your baby is confident enough and physical enough to play safely (Newborns should never be left unsupervised with thick comforters or heavy blankets that can smother them in their sleep). Lay on the floor with your baby and cover yourself completely with the blanket. Let your baby find you and shout “Peek-A-Boo” or “Gotcha!” when they uncover you. Then toss the blanket lightly over her and let her uncover herself (you may need to help her the first few times) and watch how delighted she is at this hide-and-seek game.
Thank you so much for the great tips, Angela! Simple, fun things to do with Brady that I hadn’t thought of before. Awesome!