10 Simple Activities to Help Your Child Play, Grow and Create

We all know that from birth, babies begin their learning journey and start to develop skills and begin to master developmental milestones. One of the most effective ways you can help your child to grow and develop is through play based learning – using a variety of playful methods to encourage your child to develop their skills and use their imagination.

There are a wide range of fun age appropriate activities that can be done at home. When at home, be playful and have fun so to encourage bonding, security and healthy habits. Promote safe play practices to encourage your child’s learning and decision making. The practices learnt in a safe and familiar home environment will then be modelled when out and about.

It is important to remember when choosing an activity that every child is different and develops at their own pace. Try to choose activities that your child can master after a few attempts and praise them when something new is achieved.

Your child is learning through play – this is how you can contribute:

1. Encourage your child’s thinking – play with building blocks and let them create whatever they desire.
2. Talk to and interact with your baby during the daily routine things such as meal times, nappy changes and bath time. eg: play peek-a-boo, sing songs and make happy faces.
3. Look around and find everyday items for your baby to play with eg: items from the kitchen cupboards – pots, pans and utensils (just make sure they are safe and always supervise)
4. Play music, sing songs and dance – children love movement and enjoy hearing the same music over and over. Repetition is important to a baby’s development.
5. Read with your child and tell them stories. A child is happy for you to read the same book over and over, but best to choose a few to rotate each week to keep everyone interested.
6. Play with sounds eg: try to hear and name different sounds. Eventually, they will recognise sounds and associate actions with them.
7. Be spontaneous and ask simple questions eg: what colour is your t-shirt? Even before they can respond, they will be learning from you and your communication is so important.
8. Cooking is a great educational and fun activity. Cook with your children, let your child help add ingredients or decorate the cake!
9. It’s never too early for maths – count things such as steps as you take them, toys as you pack them away and spoonful’s of food as you feed. Numbers will become familiar.
10. Play simple games such as eye spy, hide and seek, animal games eg: jump like a kangaroo.

Having a stimulating environment, plus good nutrition and health, will help the brain develop and positively influence your child’s physical, social, emotional, cognitive and language skills.

Get playing in a safe and secure way today!