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gender neutral

Stimulate Your Baby’s Brain (With Things You’re Already Doing)

July 29, 2018 by Stacy Craft 5 Comments

You want to make sure your baby is given all the opportunities to learn and develop to their best, right? But if you spend 30 seconds on Pinterest looking at baby sensory play ideas you may quickly realize that you should have started on this project long before you were pregnant.

It is overwhelming and HELLO, you have an infant to care for, who has time for that!

Here you will find 8 ways to simulate your baby that won’t require days of prep. In fact, you are probably already doing all of these.

You just need to capitalize on those activities.

8 Sensory ideas to engage with your baby

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

My baby is 8 months old and I was thinking of sensory activities that would stimulate him the other day. I quickly pushed all the elaborate thoughts away when I considered that:

  • A. my sink was full of dishes and that needed to change quickly
  • B. I needed to shower
  • C. reminded myself that I am a good mom and deserve some grace (and don’t need some fancy sensory activity for an infant).

When I got to “C” it made me think about all the things that we are doing every day with our kids that our actually sensory activities. We just need to utilize the opportunity and focus on it.

BINGO! So now I don’t have to whip out the paint in a gallon ziplock bag and pray it doesn’t pop open anytime soon. I will just focus on the baby sensory play activities that we do in our daily routine and ensure that we are getting the most out of our day.

Stimulate Your Baby With Activities in Your Daily Routine

Just by being aware and focused, you can stimulate your baby throughout the day without fancy toys or over the top set ups.

You will still catch me creating an activity for my little one to occupy his time on a lazy Sunday.I just wanted to remind myself that you can be in the moment and engaging with your baby without being elaborate.

Meal Time

Baby eating in highchair Stimulate Your Baby

Meals and snacks are a great time to engage with your baby. I particularly like meal time because typically I sit down for a meal at the same time which means that I can really focus on the time together.

Here are some things to do during meal time to enhance the sensory experience and stimulate your baby:

  • How does the food taste? Does it taste sweet? Salty? Savory? (even if they can’t answer, still ask the question. You can provide an answer afterwards)
  • How does the food feel? Fruit is soft, Cheerios are crunchy and hard, pasta with sauce is kind of slimy. You get the idea!
  • What colors do you see? Use this opportunity to not only discuss the colors of the food but also name the item that they are eating. Red Strawberry, brown toast, green beans, white egg.
  • Here is a 10 second Prep Infant Finger Paint that is edible and you can incorporate during meal time.

Reading

Kids reading and playing together

Of course books are a great way to get your child ahead in education. Is is consistently proven that children that are regularly read to perform better (I’m not going to find a study but ya’ll know..).

Did you ever think of other sensory related engagement that you are providing when you read to your baby?

  • Baby in lap – If you are holding your little one while you read, you are providing a warm touch. Providing comfort and a sense of protection is a great way to stimulate your baby.
  • Touch & Feel Books – Some of our favorite books are the touch and feel board books. These are great ways to provide sensory engagement while reading to your child. Sandra Boynton is one of our favorite baby and kid book authors!

Outdoor Time

Kids on swingset

Spending time outside is so good for the soul. I really believe that babies can get “stir crazy” just like we do.

The change of scenery always seems to cheer my baby up if he is having a rough day. So break out the stroller and start your outdoor sensory expedition to stimulate your baby.

  • Take a Walk – Talk about the things that you see and tell your baby about them. Do you see the big tree with green leaves? Look at the duck swimming on the pond. Ducks make a noise like this, quack quack. The sun is really bright today. I’m glad I brought my sunglasses. Just talking to your kids using real words helps to improve their vocabulary.
  • Outdoor “feels” – Wind, Cold, Heat are all things that your little ones can feel when outdoors. Of course you will use caution to not expose them to extreme temperatures. I love to take our jumper outside and let our baby get some fresh air. He feels the breeze on his face, watches the trees sway, leaves float by, hears the birds singing.
  • Park Or Swingset –  Once they can sit up, they can use the baby swing, both of my little ones have loved that. Depending on the type of “flooring” at the playground (assuming it isn’t something that could be a choking hazard), I will let a crawler move around the area.

Getting Ready for the Day/Baby Care

  • Clothing – Your blue jeans are stiff. Your PJ’s are very soft. Let’s put some socks on your feet to keep them warm.
  • Diaper Changes – I mean this one is kind of weird but it is an opportunity to engage the senses. You may even wish your nose couldn’t sense during this time! The wipes are cold (or if you are a good mom they might be warm.. haha I skipped on the warmer the second time around). The wipes package makes a crinkle sound. I usually say “Shoo Wee” when I take the diaper off and we both giggle. Talk about getting clean and ready to do your next activity.

Bath Time

Baby in Bathtub

Taking a bath could go under self care but it is such an awesome baby sensory play opportunity, I had to give it a little spotlight.

  • All the Feels – Warm water, soft washcloth, hands massaging shampoo in hair. It is a tub full of sensory experiences to stimulate your baby!
  • Splashing – Babies love splashing in the tub. Talk about the size of the splash. Did the splash make a sound? Did you get mommy all wet?
  • Introduce Toys – squirt toys are fun to use and you can help if your little one doesn’t have the hang of it yet. I also like alphabet foam letters to spell out words, teach letter recognition (when they are older).

Playtime with Toys

Thankfully the toy manufacturers have come up with plenty of toys to help teach our kids and keep them engaged in something (so that we might have time to shower or make a meal in semi-peace).

You don’t have to make your own playdough from organic figs or use a blade of grass to paint a replica of Eiffel Tower.

Just playing with your kids is a great way to help to stimulate your baby and their little brains.

  • Toys that Make Noise – Let me introduce you to Elmo in a Box. I have had this song in my head consistently for 4 years and counting. My son now absolutely adores it too, so it looks like I may end up with a decade of “Elmo’s got 5 crayons in a box” running through my head. It really is cute. I promise! Whatever toy you choose, those that make sounds are always a favorite.
  • Age appropriate baby puzzles – You may end up completing the puzzles for a while but you are introducing the ability to think critically and solve puzzles. Shape Sorters and bead mazes are good starter toys.

Car Rides

My little one usually rides with me to take his sister to school. The car is yet another spot that we can interact together.

  • Music – My 4 year old loves for us to sing in the car. Of course the baby can’t participate yet but hearing the music and instruments is just fine for now (I’m hoping he can drown out my voice and focus on the professional).
  • Discussion – I have a lot of one way discussions with the baby during car trips. Something that I heard a lot when my daughter was young from others was that I “spoke to her like an adult.” That doesn’t mean I am not nurturing or even silly at times, but I do typically speak to her in an adult manner. The same goes for this new little one. I detail out our plans for the day or really whatever is on my mind. I really believe that just talking to your kids enhances their future performance.
  • Windows Down – If you are lucky enough to live somewhere with nice weather, cracking the window in the car can be a nice sensory experience. The heat index has been >100 for the last week so we are currently enjoying the sensory activity of not melting by using the AC!

Playdates

  • Socialization – playing with other littles is great for kids of all ages. If you don’t have other kids or friends with kids of similar age, check to see what Mommy & Me activities your town offers. I have found great mommy and me activities at local libraries that are for kids as young as 6 months.

I hope this list helps to remind you of all the good things you are doing to stimulate your baby! Just remember to focus on the activity at hand and that baby sensory play doesn’t have to be fancy or formal.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Play Tagged With: activity, Baby, education, educational, fun, gender neutral, infant, play time, Sensory play, stimulate

Educational Baby Shower Gift With A Unique Twist

April 13, 2018 by Stacy Craft 3 Comments

Giving holiday books is a great baby shower gift that is fun all year round and encourages the many benefits of reading to young kids.

Holiday Book Baby Shower Gift

I am in that season of my life where it seems like everyone is having a baby.

With babies come showers and finding the perfect gift. After your 8th baby shower in 2 months, you might be struggling with ideas on what to buy.

With this educational gender neutral baby shower gift, you will be giving a way for Mom to celebrate the baby all year long. The best part is that you can get it delivered right to your door (and not have to pack up your own kids and head to the store – win!).

If you are like me, the love that you have for Pinterest is indescribable. But with that, comes a certain acceptance. I just don’t have time to create some of the elaborate masterpieces on Pinterest – despite how much fun I have pinning them to my boards for one day.

I have come to terms with it (mostly). However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like giving thoughtful and creative gifts. And if you want to see how to create another holiday inspired baby shower gift, click here.

Educational Baby Shower Gift With Free Printable Gift Tag - A unique holiday inspired gift for New Baby and Mom
img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-693″ src=”https://protectingyourpennies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Baby-Shower-Gift-with-A-unique-Twist.png” alt=”Educational Gender Neutral Baby Shower Gift” width=”735″ height=”1102″ />

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information. 

Educational Gender Neutral Baby Shower Gift

Here I am going to show you one of my favorite ways to give an educational gender neutral baby shower gift that is also unique, creative and fun. I actually developed this idea from a gift that my friend’s mother in law likes to do with baby clothes. Since I’m a holiday lover and a book lover, this seemed like a great way to extend both of those to a friend expecting a new baby.

Holiday Board Book Set

Holiday Board Book Gift Set for Gender Neutral Shower

Gifting books is a great way to give an educational item that provides quality bonding time between baby and the parent. I love to do a holiday set so that the gift is something that can be anticipated all year long creating fun memories. It is such a simple idea that is still creative and easy to purchase. In fact, I do it from my couch!

I like to do the following holidays but you can add more or subtract any that you don’t like or can’t find easily:

Valentine’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day

Easter

4th of July

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Baby’s First Birthday

Links by Holiday

Holiday Gift tag for Gender Neutral Baby Shower Gift

The absolute best part of this is that you can create this gift from the comfort of your own home! Amazon makes it so easy to find the holiday books all year long. Here are easy to use links for your educational gender neutral baby shower gift of board books by holiday.

Valentine’s Day:

llama llama I love You

Happy Valentine’s Day Mouse

St. Patrick’s Day:

The Itsy Bitsy Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Curious George

Easter:

Easter Touch & Feel Book

Happy Easter, Mouse

4th of July: 

Corduroy’s Fourth of July

Happy Halloween:

Spooky Pookie

Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch

llama llama Trick or Treat

Happy Thanksgiving:

llama llama Gives Thanks

Bright Baby Happy Thanksgiving

Merry Christmas:

Christmas in the Manger

Merry Christmas Touch and Feel Book

Duck & Goose It’s Time for Christmas

First Birthday:

Birthday Monsters

Happy Birthday to You

Baby Touch & Feel Happy Birthday

Inexpensive & Unique Gift – Great for 2nd time Moms

You can easily keep this gift under $30 depending on how many books you include or even less if you do just a couple holidays. This is also a great choice for baby sprinkles (second, third or fourth time moms). You still want to get them a sweet present but they have every baby onesie, receiving blanket and bib known to man. I know in my house, books are always a welcome gift.

Free Printable Gift Tag

Gender Neutral Baby Shower Gift Bag and Tag

I have created a free simple gift tag that you can print for your board book gift. You can punch a hole at the top and simply attach it to a gift bag. For a fun no wrap option, just stack your books together, wrap some cute twine or ribbon around them to secure & attach the gift tag. Your educational gender neutral baby shower gift is now ready to gift to the proud parents and new baby.


What is your favorite holiday board book for baby?

 

 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Play Tagged With: Baby, baby shower gift, creative, educational, frugal, gender neutral, gift, holiday, shower, unique

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