Other activities

0 - 10 months
 
Songs and riddles
When our daugther was just an infant, we "entertained" her by singing songs, saying riddles, she loved it. I sometimes had a feeling she was humming with me:), which might have been a considence but I like think she hummed along with me.
 
Exercise
We also started turning her on the belly (after the belly button was OK) and letting her lie on it and strengthen her muscles. We stripped her naked or when we were changing a nappy, then we put her on the belly. She didn't like it for a while. Then got used to it and then became a master in turning around:).
 
Using an overball and playmats
When our daughter was two months old, we put a bar with toys over her. She loved it. She could play nonstop for  quite a while and then would fall asleep. We didn't have a playmat as the bar with toys isn't always in the right position and it bends a bit aside, which isn't good for babie's sight. Hanging toys should be in one line as well if the baby is too young. Needless to say, our daughter started to be bored with the "bar" when she was about four months old when she could turn herself around.
 
Playing with the box
A big cardboard box has shown to be one of the best toys for our daughter. We usually have an empty plastic bottle and an old magazine there for her. She plays with the box, takes the "toys" out and moves the box around the room. When she was 7m 5, she started using it as a walker:). Kids are clever, we just have to let them show us.
 
Playing with kitchen tools
Our daughter loves playing with kitchen utensils. It's amazing how long she can play with them on her own. I usually open one of the drawers which are full of kitchen utensils and let her choose what she would like to play with and then we close it together.
 
I sometimes take a drainer where I place a plastic spoon, a half empty bottle (0,5 l), a container for baby food, a small lid for from baby food container, etc.
 
Playing with magnets on the fridge
Our daugther loves magnets. She keeps exploring if they attract each other or not, stucks them in her mouth, moves them on the fridge, etc. I let her play only with the ones that are big enough:).
 
 
"Where is Eli?"
Our daugther loves the game at "peekaboo". She has loved it since she was a very very small baby (4 months old). It's a game played with a young child, which involves hiding behind something and suddenly reappearing, saying “peekaboo.” We play it a bit differently - we say "Where is Eli" and we are hiding our face or her face with a light scarf or simply a hand? If we are holding a scarf in front of our face, she pulls it down and then we say "Here she is". She loves it all the way through and laughs a lot.