Play Ideas

The way you play with your child will change as they grow and develop. Play is important in helping them to learn new skills, but it is important that the play is developmentally appropriate. It is also important that children experience a range of play environments, including playing alone and playing alongside other children. See below for suggestions of ways to play with your child. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but will give you an idea of what is suitable for each age group.

Babies

Babies love to look at your smiling face and hear your voice. Ideas of activities to play with you baby include:

Singing or playing soft music – this helps develop a sense of rhythm
Playing peekaboo – this helps develop social and emotional skills
Providing objects of different textures, sizes, colours and shapes – this helps develop a sense of touch and encourages reaching and grasping
Tummy time – placing your baby regularly on their tummy for increasing lengths of time whilst supervised will help build neck and upper body strength.

Toddlers

Activities that encourage the development of motor skills are great for toddlers. These include:

Singing, clapping and dancing to music along with your child
Hills and tunnels to encourage crawling and exploring
Balls to encourage running and kicking

Preschoolers

Activities to encourage development of mind and body include:

Unstructured objects such as boxes, paper, old milk containers and sticks encourage imagination
Jigsaws and matching games to improve memory and concentration
Playdough for fine motor skills
Balls to develop gross motor skills such as kicking, throwing and rolling

School-age children

Activities to boost imagination and social skills include:

Using furniture and a sheet or blanket to build a cubby house
I-spy to help develop literacy skills
Dress-ups to encourage imagination
Craft activities to encourage fine motor skills

This is by no means a complete list, and ideas are limitless. It is also important to be mindful that there may be times that your child doesn’t want to play and respect this. However, sometimes a lack of play skills may indicate a developmental disorder and you should consult your healthcare professional if you are concerned.