17 Ways to Play with your Baby (baby activities for 0-3 months)

Caring for a new-born is hard. Who knew that a tiny human being that sleeps for 16-20 hours a day can make your life so exhausting? A new-born comes with never-ending diaper changes, feeding sessions after every 2 hours, washing their never-ending laundry pile and their spit up from your hair and clothes and then somehow getting them and you to sleep.

The first 3 months are all about surviving the new challenge, for babies as well as for parents. On top of this all, you are also supposed to figure out ways to play with your baby. Finding ways to play with your baby doesn’t have to be complicated. For some parents, it comes naturally compared to others. Most parents find interactive ways to do so instinctively with time.

If you are still not sure about which activities to do with your baby, then fear not. This list contains 17 ways to play with your baby.

• Having a face to face contact with the baby makes them very happy. They love watching smiling, wide-eyed faces of their parents making direct eye contact with them. This doesn’t only make your baby happy but helps in building a healthy bond between baby and their caregivers.

• Talk to them not only during face time but also during everyday tasks like diaper changing, feeding, and bathing. Talking with babies is a good way to lay down the basic foundation of exceptional language and vocabulary development.

• Sing songs to your baby and move their arms and legs while singing as if they were dancing to the rhythm. Alternatively, you can also play songs on your phone that require you to perform actions. For example, play poems like patty cake, itsy bitsy spider poem or if you’re happy and you know it and perform the actions by helping your baby move their tiny arms.

• Read baby storybooks to your baby using exaggerated expressions and voice variations for different characters to make it interesting. As the little ones love hearing their mommy’s voice they will be transfixed on your face and listen to what you’re reading. So, grab a book with contrasting colors and start reading!

• Lie down next to your baby during tummy time and say some encouraging words like, “wow! Good job! You’re doing great!” While your baby may not understand what these words mean but your happy tone can make all the difference as this will enhance their social skills, boost confidence and increase bonding between baby and you.

• If your baby doesn’t like tummy time then try to grab their attention by placing a toy or colorful baby book in front of their visual field. Just put it in front of them and let them study it.

• Place a baby-safe mirror in front of them. Babies love looking into the mirror. It’s so much fun for them and it also interestingly captures their attention.

• Use play gyms. Play gyms not only help in developing motor and sensory skills but are also very helpful in intellectual development. The reason being, they boost the knowledge of colors, patterns, shapes, and sounds. They are very useful in making babies to play by themselves so that you can get some work done without worrying about them.

• Moving objects and dark and light patterns are very interesting to infants. Try playing flashlight in a darkened room and casting shadows on different objects by shining light to capture the baby’s attention. They will be fascinated.

• Take your baby for a walk in the park and describe whatever you see to them. Point to different things on your way and talk about them.

• Take a colorful rattle that your little one can easily see and move it up and down and left and right to see if your baby is following its movements. If your baby doesn’t do it yet then give it some time and try again. Remember that every baby develops at a different pace so don’t worry and keep trying.

• Tie a helium balloon loosely to your baby’s foot or wrist. Let them move and watch the balloon float and move.

• Give your munchkin kisses and say ‘I love you’ after every kiss. It’s a funny and interesting game for the baby while it also gives you a chance to show your love to your new bundle of joy. Kiss them on cheeks, hands, arms, feet and say I love you after every kiss. Baby will anticipate the next kiss and the famous “I love you” phrase.

• Try bicycling the baby’s legs. It’s a fun way to move the baby’s body and it also helps baby with trapped gas.

• When the baby is three months old, try blowing bubbles near them or on their feet. They will be fascinated by looking at the bubbles.

• Copy their words, expressions, and movements. This teaches baby the basics of two-way communication. Through this, they will learn that whatever they say or do matters to you and that you’re responding to their attempts at communicating.

• Let them touch different materials to feel its texture and then describe what they might be feeling. Some of the things you can try include; blankets, pillows, clothes of different material and scarves.

There you have it – 17 ways to play with your baby. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t do all of these activities every day. Just talk to your baby while making eye contact and lay down beside them during the time to help them strengthen their head and neck muscles. These are the most important activities for a 0-3 months old baby. Look into your baby’s beautiful eyes and share a moment. Just the two of you because the first three months are all about bonding together.