Find resources / Activities / Activities around the house 7-12 months Activity

• Home is the first learning place and the whānau the first teachers a child has.
• A young baby doesn’t need special learning activities. The simple everyday household activities and routines can provide learning experiences in a familiar environment.
• Having someone who loves them caring and nurturing them is exactly what they need.

Here are some ‘around the house’ activity ideas:

• Do things with baby rather than to them. Tell them what you’re doing and ask if they can help you — for example,  ‘Lift up for me, please my darling, while I clean your bottom’. One day they’ll surprise you by cooperating with you over this.
• Carry baby with you when you do chores round the house — use a sling, front pack or waha, so they’re warm and close. Sometimes people call this early period ‘the fourth trimester’. Baby is likely to be soothed by a womb-like environment and close contact with you.
• Have tummy-to-tummy time — you can talk to baby and stroke them.
• Go outside with baby — they can lie in the pram under trees and watch the leaves. You can go walking with them to have some exercise and fresh air.
• Practise full attention when caring for baby. Try to put everything else out of your mind while you feed, comfort, wash and dress baby. Put the phone away for 10 minutes. During these times, you’re filling up baby’s emotional tank.

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