5 Activites for a 6 to 12 Month Old

As a stay at home mom, I find myself having to get rather creative a times. We have moved beyond the eat, sleep, poop phase of babyhood. Am I sad? Yes, but at the same time it is wonderful to see Nora learning new things everyday. I try not to turn the baby tv shows on unless I'm in a dire need of a shower or am attempting to cook and entertain.

I wan't to do activities with Nora that help her learn and stimulate her. I know at times I am too hard on myself to always be teaching and entertaining. While I know it is good for her to play alone, I struggle with feeling guilty.

So here are 5 of our favorite ways to learn and play.

1// Read! I have been reading to Nora ever since she was a tiny thing, and I wont be stopping... ever... ok maybe when she gets in high school, but still... Sometimes babies just want to eat what ever is in front of them, so I have found the best way to help them listen with out the eating distraction is to both lay on your backs looking up at the book and give her something soft to play with in her hands. Another good way to read to them is while they are in their exersaucer or jumperoo. They can be active but still listen. Our favorite are the Biscuit books, Little Critter books, and Berenstein Bears books. They are only $4 at the bookstore! So you can buy lots!!

2// Make an explore box. Take a cracker box or shoe box and cover it and cut a hole in it. You can decorate it if you'd like. Then put small toys in it and help her learn to pull them out and "find" new ones. Don't judge me based upon the design of our box. I made it with a very curious 7 month old right beside me.

3// Build a tent. This one provided lots of smiles and laughs for us. There is something about the wonder of fort and tent building as a child.

4// Music. Dance to it. Give your baby a concert. They love it and it is great to introduce them to different musics. We like to listen to classical music, Disney movie songs, contemporary christian, and the RockABye Baby CD's.

5// Talk about and describe the toys your baby is playing with. We love those colorful rings, and when she plays with them we talk about the sizes, color and shape. You can put on a puppet show with little stuffed animals, or organize the toys in a line from biggest to smallest. The key is to just talk and every word you say will grow their vocabulary more.

Somedays are hard and sometimes they seem so long, but I try to do these five things at least once throughout the day and that helps me feel like have done something good for my baby that day.