728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Baby Gear › Fun Around the House

Fun Around the House

10 Items That Make Great Infant Toys

By I.J. Schecter

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Most of us have an obsolete keyboard collecting dust somewhere just because we never bothered to get rid of it. Now is your chance to make it useful again. Babies love rapping (OK, pounding) on the keys and enjoying the clacking sounds they make. Your first step is to secure the loose cable to the back of the keyboard with duct tape. Then you're ready to hand over the keyboard to your infant and watch him pound away to his heart's content!

4. Piano
If your baby enjoys banging on a computer keyboard, he's going to positively love banging on something that produces music as a result! From the age of 5 months or so, he'll probably be thrilled by being placed on the bench – with you holding him for support, of course – and given free reign to compose whatever piece he wants. Benefits of this great activity include practice with hand-eye coordination, learning about cause and effect (he learns that by hitting the keys, he's the one making those sounds), and, best of all, a developing ear for, and appreciation of, music. By making this a regular routine (say, five minutes of piano time every day before dinner), you may be surprised at how fast his playing becomes "better."
5. Balls
Plastic balls, rubber balls, ping pong balls – any ball large enough not to be swallowed is a good, engaging toy for an infant. Plastic and rubber balls are best, since they aren't dangerous to chew on. Tennis balls are OK, too, since your infant will probably discover fairly quickly that chewing on fuzz is less fun than playing with the thing instead. By the time your baby is 5 or 6 months old, you'll start to derive a whole new level of joy from teaching him to play "catch" – passing the ball back and forth with you (even though you'll probably have to take the ball from him when he passes it to you, since infants learn to grasp objects before learning to release them).


Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Want to see more?

Comments

There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to add a comment.

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.