In the early weeks, it may be hard to imagine newborns doing anything but sleeping and eating, but they will be moving and grooving before you know it. There are lots of ways to encourage movement and get toward crawling, standing and walking. But watch out — once they find their legs, they’re tough to catch. Here are some activities to try out!
Activities for 0- to 3-month-olds
Hang ten tummy time
Placing a little one on their stomach helps build arm and core muscles, which will help move them toward crawling later down the line. “Tummy time should start as soon as you get home from the hospital, as long as there isn’t any doctor’s restriction,” encourages Jenna Zervas, a pediatric physical therapist and founder of infant exercise program Baby Builders.
One fun way to do it is to let baby surf away on your stomach. Sing songs, make eye contact and enjoy oohing, ahhing and cooing with baby. “You want to make tummy time fun for them, right from the start,” says Zervas. So let your baby hang ten, and enjoy that tummy time together.
Sweet swaddle rock ‘n’ roll
Babies this young love to be swaddled. You should always “cultivate a good awareness of their body,” says Donna Eshelman, a movement specialist and founder of Stellar Caterpillar. She says, “Gently holding their legs, kind of like swaddling them with your hands, is important. Just swaddling material against them helps them feel where they are.”
She encourages parents and caregivers to “really help babies become aware of the shape of their arms and legs” at this age. To encourage physical awareness in infants, do this sweet swaddle, rock and roll activity with them: bend and extend their little arms and legs using gentle movements. Do this to the beat of the music as you sing silly songs like “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
Activities for 4- to 7-month-olds
Stability and open hands
Eshelman encourages parents and caregivers to teach babies how to have an open hand, which will eventually help them be more stable when pushing off the floor to crawl. Bathtime is a good time to practice this.
Eshelman says,”When baby is in the bathtub, take a washcloth and massage their hands, and help them feel that their fingers can be stretched out. Count their fingers with them. Make them aware, and help them stretch out their little fingers.” Experiment with different textures in their hands — rough washcloths, slippery soap and a smooth rubber ducky. Which does baby like best?
Baby obstacle course
At this age, the floor is best for baby. “They need a firm surface to be able to learn to roll and crawl. Tummy time is even more important now than before because this is the age where they really need to use those core and upper body muscles,” explains Dr. Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.
Give babies a reason to move, groove and crawl around by building them an obstacle course. Find a few special toys that baby loves and set them out among some rolled up blankets and a few pillows to chart a course for to work through. “Get your mind ready to let your baby climb up and over again and again,” says author and pediatrician Dr. Laura Jana. Provide a safe and fun way to get baby moving around and have fun watching them navigate the maze.
Activities for 8- to 12-month-olds
Little drummer baby
Eshelman suggests parents and caregivers teach babies at this age to get their legs underneath them. She says, “Put them on their knees in front of an overturned box and teach them to drum their little hands on top of the box. Sing silly little songs along to baby’s best drumming efforts. You are also teaching them where to put their legs in the proper alignment. This helps babies learn how to stand up, cruise and then sit back down again.” So find a box, and let baby drum away.
Let’s go shopping
As babies gets closer to the 1-year mark, they will really enjoy push toys. A creative way to encourage walking is to take a pretend shopping trip. Set up some plastic toys, fruit and dolls that they will want to shop for around your living room. Give them a little shopping cart (a pint-size stroller will do in a pinch) and watch them push around and shop for the toys that they like. You might have to help babies put things in the cart and find the next item, but they’ll have so much fun pushing that cart around with you cheering them on.
