Six-months olds can be a real handful. They are just starting to interact with the world around them, and keeping them busy can be challenging.
Are you looking for the best activities to keep your six-month-old busy?
We’ve put together this list of fun activities that will keep them busy and aid them in their development.
Related: Let's Get Physical! - 14 Infant Exercises You Can Do at Home
The Best Activities to Keep a 6-Month-Old Busy
As babies get close to six months of age, they start to explore the world. Your baby will begin to respond to their name, recognize their reflection, and eat pureed foods for the first time.
This age is a great time to introduce games and activities to your baby that can help them boost their physical and cognitive skills.
Baby Bicycling
Parents often forget to exercise their baby’s legs which are responsible for a large portion of their body’s muscle weight. So cycle those chubby little legs to give them some exercise!
How to Do It
- Place a baby on a soft surface on its back and gently lift its legs.
- Gently bend the legs and move them in a cycling motion like pedaling a bicycle.
- Talk to them, sing a song or nursery rhyme to amuse them.
Baby bicycling is an excellent exercise for their legs and abdominal muscles and will help improve their range of motion.
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Fun With Bubbles
Blowing bubbles is a fun, easy activity for you, your partner, and your baby.
How to Do It
- While sitting with your baby, have your partner blow bubbles around the baby.
- Prompt your baby to look at the floating bubbles while you try to grab one.
- Keep blowing bubbles, watch them track them, and try to catch them before they burst.
Blowing bubbles is great for a baby’s visual development, object tracking, and hand-eye coordination.
Stacking Blocks
Babies start to be able to grasp objects at around six months, and playing with colorful blocks is a great activity for them.
How to Do It
- Sit with your baby and show them the colorful blocks and stack them.
- Let them grab and knock over the colorful blocks.
- Help them create their stacks with the blocks, encouraging their efforts.
Playing with and stacking blocks is great for a baby’s coordination, strengthening hand muscles, and grasping ability.
Blanket Peek-a-Boo
Put a slight twist on the classic peek-a-boo game, using a blanket as a prop.
How to Do It
- Make sure the baby has back support so they don’t fall, and have them sit facing you on the bed.
- Pull a blanket over your head and say, “Where’s Mommy?” or “Where’d I Go?”.
- Lower the blanket and look at them and say, “Peek-a-boo!”
- Repeat, and they will begin to tug at the blanket to see your face!
Peek-a-boo is excellent for developing their curiosity, object permanence, and listening skills.
Related: Games for Babies: Play Time that Encourage Development
Story Time
While they might not understand the words, they’ll enjoy hearing your voice and colorful pictures.
How to Do It
- With the baby sitting in your lap, read them a story and point at the pictures in the book.
- Describe the pictures to the baby, like that is a cow and that is a barn.
- Your baby may babble in attempts to say the words that they hear. Respond to these actions with praise and ask them questions.
Story Time helps with your little one’s listening skills and visual perception and to start understanding basic patterns.
Standing Leg Bounces
Standing leg bounces are a great way to get them an early feel for standing on their two feet.
How to Do It
- Hold your baby vertically, between their arms, on a soft surface.
- Set their feet on the surface, put a little weight on the legs, and gently bounce them.
- The baby will instinctively start to bounce with you after a few bounces.
Doing standing leg bounces helps them with their balance, muscle strength, and range of motion.
Baby Crunches
Your baby’s neck muscles are now strong enough to support the head. Keep the development going by working on crunches with them.
How to Do It
- Sit on with your legs stretched out, with the baby laying on your legs with their feet towards you.
- Holding your baby’s hands, gently pull their torso towards you until they are upright.
- Sing to them or say silly things to amuse them and pull them into a sitting position.
- Hold the positions for a few seconds and repeat.
Baby crunches can help with their gross motor skills and muscle control.
Who’s There?
Playing this game can be a lot of fun for you, your partner, and other family members.
How to Do It
- Sit with the baby in the middle of a room.
- Have your partner or another family member hide and call the baby’s name.
- Watch the baby recognize the voice and their name and look around for who said it.
- Encourage them by asking, “who’s there?” and pointing in the direction of the person.
Playing Who’s There is a great way to help with a baby’s auditory sense, knowing their name and sound location.
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Keep Your Six-Month-Old Busy With Activities That Aid Their Development
You can keep your six-month-old toddler busy with activities that can aid their development.
Playing simple games with them can help them build on some of their basic skills, like grabbing, imitating, stacking, and moving around with a bit of help.
Giving your little bundle of joy a subscription box from 123 Baby Box with curated, fun-filled, innovative products is a great way to keep them busy while they learn!
Spending time with your child doing fun interactive activities that aid in their development not only helps you build a stronger relationship with them. In addition, it helps them progress toward their developmental goals.
Related: Parallel Play - Using Playtime to Encourage Social Development
