Playing with Newborn | How to Play with a Newborn

Oct 29, 2008 Posted by Amanda in Parenting | 3 comments

How to: Play with Your Newborn

Here is a short article from Playing with Your Baby Magazine (from Fisher Price). It has a few tips on how to play with your newborn baby, ages 0-3 months.

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Let’s Play!

Here are some of the best ways to entertain your baby in the first 3 months, according to Deborah Weber, Ph.D., manager of the Fisher-Price Child Research Department.

Keep it Simple. Offer baby toys with high contrast primary colors and patterns; you can later introduce play things in bright colors. Toys should be easy for baby to graps and made from different textures and materials.
Keep it Fresh. Give baby one toy at a time. Alternate toys every week or so, putting away a familiar friend and bringing out something new. When you pull out an “old” toy in a week or two, it will seem like an exciting new pal.
Give Baby a workout. At around 2 months, take baby in your arms, hold up a toy, and move it slowly from side to side. Notice how she tracks it with her eyes!
Put on a show. Since babies love music, your little on will enjoy dancing with you – rocking gently in your arms to different tunes. Stand in front of the mirror (babies delight in seeing their reflection) and move and sing together.

Attention, Please
A newborn’s attention spam is very short – no more than a minute or two. But that doesn’t mean the two of your can’t get down on the floor and play together. Just keep activities to a few minutes and be sure to stop when the baby indicates she’s had enough. Some telltale signs: She pushes a toy away, squirms, rubs her eyes or even falls asleep.