2-Month-Old: Learning Through Play Activities for Baby
If you have a 2-month-old baby, you might wonder if you engage them enough throughout the day. Babies at this age are becoming more social and aware of their surroundings. They’re starting to perfect simple body movements and are becoming more active. The best part is you can help your newborn baby learn and develop important skills through these 2-month-old learning through play activities for baby that are simple and age-appropriate.
In this post, we’ll explore easy and engaging 2-month-old learning through play activities specifically designed with your little one in mind. They’ll not only encourage sensory exploration, bonding, and motor skills development, but they are simple enough to fit into your daily routine. Try these simple baby activities to enhance your baby’s development during their wake windows.
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1.Use High Contrast Toys for Visual Tracking
At 2 months old, a high-contrast toy is considered more beneficial than a colorful toy for your baby’s developing vision. This is because 2-month-old babies do not have good control of their ciliary muscles (the ring-shaped structure behind the iris) and are not able to focus accurately. Aim for high-contrast images rather than bright colors that are stimulating for your baby’s brain development. This will help lay the foundation for future visual development.
Below are age-appropriate high-contrast toys your little one will benefit from.
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2. Play Peek-A-Boo
Play peek-a-boo with your baby by grabbing a piece of cloth and holding it up in front of your face. There are several benefits to this game, including:
Object permanence:
This is an important concept for memory and problem-solving in their later years. This game will teach babies that objects still exist even when they can’t see them.
Emotional development:
Babies will experience emotions like anticipation, surprise, happiness, and excitement while playing peek-a-boo with you.
Social Skills:
Peek-a-boo teaches baby turn-taking and reciprocity. Additionally, the laughter and giggles create positive associations with socializing.
Gross Motor Skills:
They can develop gross motor skills related to tracking, reaching, and responding to the movements of the game.
Visual Tracking:
When you hide and reappear, baby will follow your movements with their eyes, doing so will strengthen their visual tracking skills.
Hand-eye coordination:
They can learn these skills when playing peek-a-boo by reaching outwards towards your face or the object you’re using to hide behind during the game.
3. Audio Tracking with Sounds
Use sounds, snaps, and crinkles using a variety of toys and objects in different directions. This will help baby turn their head in the direction of the sound, showing they can locate where the sound is coming from. You can also use your words, at this age, babies can usually recognize and love the sound of your voice, so they may react differently to it.
4. Get Their Body Moving
Getting your baby moving through play is so good for all areas of development. Getting different body parts moving helps with their motor skills development and body awareness. Gently move your baby’s legs up and down (bicycle kicks). This will also help release any built-up gas. You can also gently move the baby’s arms and legs around as well! Talk to your baby while doing so. It’s also a good idea to name each body part as you move it.
5. Sing Songs
Singing to your 2-month-old is a great learning through-play activity for your baby. It can significantly benefit their development. This is because it promotes
- Parent-child bonding
- Emotional regulation
- Language development and listening skills
- Cognitive development
Singing can reduce stress for you and your baby by releasing endorphins and creating a calming effect. Start by singing familiar songs, anything from The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, You Are My Sunshine, and Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. These are all well-known songs that have repeated motions your little one will surely love. While singing, you can gently move their body while maintaining eye contact.
6. Side Laying
Although small, laying baby on their side while supervised is a great way to promote motor skills such as reaching, rolling, and kicking. Side laying also prevents a flat head, and it’s a great way for your little one to explore from a different angle. Side laying will help strengthen their upper body and core muscles. You, too, can lay on your side facing your baby while talking and playing with them.
7. Baby Massage
Baby massages are such a simple, underestimated activity you can do with your baby. Massaging them can help them feel calm and sleep better longer. It can also improve muscle tone and development while improving digestion. Baby massages also stimulate their senses, like touch, which promotes brain development. If you have a colicky baby, massages are also a great way to help reduce these symptoms. So don’t skip massaging your baby daily.
8. Use Sensory Toys
Sensory activities stimulate different areas of your baby’s brain. At this age, babies don’t need a lot of toys, but if you’d like to purchase any, these are a few good options.
- Crinkle black and white books.
- Baby rattles
- Teething mittens
- Oballs
You can also use soft toys such as sensory fabric balls and crinkle toys to develop their sense of touch. Using sensory toys can help babies learn different textures and sounds. If you don’t want to purchase any “toys,” you can flutter muslin blankets and silky scarves over your baby and have them feel the different textures. As I mentioned before, babies really don’t need a lot of toys at this age, so use what you have on hand.
9. Get Outdoors
This was one of my favorite 2-month-old learning through play activity to do when my girls were small. When all else fails, just get outside and enjoy the fresh air. We live in an area where it’s sunny almost year-round, so we were outside more often than not. I purchased a play mat like this one and would lay outside with our baby, watching the birds and trees. We all enjoyed listening to the world around us. There were times when our baby would just fall asleep outside; it’s such a relaxing way to enjoy some quality time with your little one.
10. Practice Grasping and Holding
At this age, your little one is starting to explore their world through touching and grasping; you can aid your baby in developing fine motor skills by engaging in playful activities such as offering a variety of toys. Some of the best toys include but are not limited to;
11. Tummy Time
We all know that tummy time is a great way to help your baby meet developmental milestones and muscle development. It helps babies develop the muscles they need to crawl, walk, and rollover. The best part is you can start tummy time and inclined tummy time with your little one from day one. Tummy time will also help develop your baby’s head control and hand-eye coordination. Pairing tummy time with a baby-safe mirror is the perfect combination to keep your baby engaged.
12. Pretend Conversations
Talking to your baby has so many benefits for their language acquisition and early development. Talk to baby daily, use facial expressions and funny faces to communicate as this will help develop their language skills. As simple as telling them what you’re doing throughout the day will stimulate their early communication skills. If you have multiples, pretend conversations with their siblings will help build relationships at an early age. This also works well in family gatherings; family members can have conversations with baby to help with your child’s development.
13. Explore Common Sounds
Even at just 2 months old get baby involved with your daily chores and routine, if you can’t baby wear, you can always place baby in a baby swing and have them watch you. Have them explore common sounds around your home such as the water running, opening and closing of doors, etc.
14. Play Gym
Although not a necessity, a play gym can be a neat 2-month-old learning through play activity addition. We love the Lovevery Play Gym that can be used from day one. It grows with baby and has five developmental zones. It comes with 5 toys, a mirror set, and a black and white card set. It’s the perfect play gym that converts into a cozy fort for their toddler years.
15. Use a Baby Carrier
Baby carriers are great to use with your new baby. They’re versatile enough for indoor and outdoor use. You can take baby for a walk outside in their carrier or simply get things done around the house. As a new parent, baby wearing has so many benefits such as
- Promoting strong bonding
- Supporting physical development
- Providing comfort and security
While baby carrying, your little one will get to see and explore the things you’re doing all from a safe place. Just be sure to use caution when reaching and bending to avoid any injuries to your little one, especially in the first month or so.
16. Read Nursery Rhymes
You might not think that reading to your baby at such a young age adds any benefit, but reading to little ones provides the building blocks for language and gives them the tools used to form lifelong social and emotional skills. Benefits include:
- Bonding-When you snuggle up with your little one and read a book together it signals safety and emotional connection. One-on-one attention strengthens the bond between you and your little one.
- Language Skills-Reading introduces your little one to more complex language than they might otherwise hear in day-to-day conversations.
- Emotional Learning-When you read to your baby, they’re paying attention to your facial expressions. Baby will soon be mimicking your facial expressions and sounds, that alone helps with their early brain development.
These 2-month-old learning through play activities for baby are more than just fun. They’re a way to support a healthy development during your little one’s early years of life. Important things to remember with two-month-old babies is that simple activities like tummy time and gentle interactions will deepen your bond as a parent and strengthen their physical and cognitive skills. By incorporating meaningful play into their daily routine, you’ll be setting a foundation of curiosity, connection, and confidence that will last a lifetime.
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