At three months old, babies are starting to become more alert and responsive to their surroundings.
They’re also developing new skills, such as grasping and reaching for objects. As a parent, it can be challenging to come up with activities that are both enjoyable and beneficial for your baby’s growth.
Luckily, there are plenty of activities you can do with your 3-month-old that are not only fun but also help with their physical and cognitive development.
Fun Activities for 3-Month-Old Baby
From tummy time to sensory play, here are seven activities that you and your baby will both love.
- Peek-A-Boo
Playing Peek-A-Boo with a 3-month-old baby helps to develop their cognitive skills by teaching them about object permanence — the concept that objects still exist even when they are out of sight.
When a parent disappears behind their hands during the game, the baby learns that they still exist and will reappear, which helps to build their understanding of the world around them.
Playing Peek-A-Boo helps to develop social and emotional skills too. It encourages bonding between the baby and their caregiver, as well as promoting positive feelings such as joy and excitement.
- Tummy Time
Tummy Time is an essential activity for 3-month-old babies because it helps in their physical and cognitive development.
During Tummy Time, babies lie on their stomachs and lift their heads, necks, and chests, which strengthens their neck, back, and shoulder muscles.
This increased strength is crucial for babies as it allows them to reach important 3-month milestones such as rolling over or grabbing objects.
- Dance with Your Little One
Dancing with your 3-month-old baby helps to promote physical development by encouraging movement and coordination. As babies move to the rhythm of music, they are strengthening their muscles.
In addition to physical development, dancing with your baby can also promote cognitive development.
As they listen to different types of music and experience various rhythms and beats, they are developing their auditory processing skills and learn to distinguish between different sounds.
- See How Baby Reacts to Mirrors
Another fun activity for your little ones is to place a mirror in front of them to see how they react to their reflection.
Your baby won’t realize it’s their reflection until much later on. But the way your baby reacts is what makes this activity so fascinating.
But most importantly, allowing a baby to see themselves in a mirror can help develop their visual senses. Your baby might try to reach out to touch the mirror.
To make it more fun, point to your baby’s feet, hands, and different parts of their face. This can develop visual tracking, which is the ability to follow a target without moving the head.
- Bouncing with an Exercise Ball
Bouncing on an exercise ball with a three-month-old baby is a great way to engage in fun playtime activities while also helping them to develop many important motor and sensory skills.
The bouncing motion helps to stimulate their vestibular system, which is responsible for balance and orientation in space.
It also helps develop visual tracking skills, as the bouncing motion encourages eye muscles to focus on movement around them, increasing visual attention.
To do this fun activity with your baby, simply place your little one on an exercise ball, and encourage your baby to bounce. Hold your baby around the waist at all times so your tiny tot doesn’t fall.
You can also place your baby on their tummy and roll them back and forth on the ball for another activity they can enjoy with you.
- Teach Your Baby How to Clap
Clapping is a simple yet exciting way for babies to engage in physical activity, explore their body movements, and develop their motor skills.
Through clapping, babies can also learn about cause and effect as they observe the sound and movement that their actions produce.
What’s more, clapping can help with a baby’s cognitive development by improving their hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness.
As they learn to coordinate their hand movements with the sound of clapping, they are also developing their ability to perceive and understand spatial relationships between objects.
Sing songs to your baby to apply rhythm to the clapping, such as Clap Handies or Pat-A-Cake.
- See How Baby Reacts to Different Textures
At three months old, babies are still developing their sensory skills. By exposing them to different textures, you can help them develop their sense of touch, which is important for their overall sensory development.
Allow your baby to play with fluffy toys or see how they react to silk or cashmere materials. There are sensory toys you can provide your baby that have various textures on them too.
Touching different textures also helps babies develop their fine motor skills as they learn to use their fingers and hands to explore and manipulate objects.
Final Thoughts
Spending quality time with your 3-month-old baby through fun activities not only strengthens the bond between parent and child but also promotes their development and growth in various areas.
With these seven activities, you can create precious memories with your little one while also supporting their overall well-being. So go ahead, try them out, and enjoy the precious moments with your bundle of joy!