Bringing up active kids.
The key to bringing up a healthy active child is, among other things, starting early. At the age of 2 months some babies start to hold their heads up for short amounts of time. At 7 months some babies begin to crawl, and at 12-14 months they learn to walk. At all of these stages, children can be encouraged in physical activity, and this can help develop their confidence and competency. Here are some activities for you to try at the newborn stage.
- Newborn
Allow your baby unrestricted movement. Even small babies need room to stretch and wiggle around so place a big blanket on the floor or grass and put your baby in the middle. This will encourage baby to find its own physical abilities and look around, strengthening the neck muscles. Place toys just out of reach to encourage the baby to stretch and reach them. Be careful to check that there is nothing harmful within the baby’s reach.
Play silly games with your baby, anything that gets him or her wiggling and laughing will improve movement.
Placing your baby in different positions on a play mat will get him or her moving different muscle groups however it would be wise to wait till your baby was at least a few months old before doing this. Place the child on its tummy for small amounts of time to encourage head control and a strong back. Move the baby to its side and back as well.
Don’t forget to support and protect a newborns neck muscles until they have the strength and control to do it by themselves.
Use a baby hammock for gentle swaying movement. You could also hold your baby while you move and sing to some music.
- 4-12 months (Holding head up, crawling, and can support own weight when standing)
Before your baby can walk there is still plenty of things you can do with your baby to encourage movement and activity. Using things like bubbles or balloons to make baby move around and hit them with hands is a fun activity, as is playing hand clapping games.
Your baby is becoming interested in their environment now so take them to new interesting places like the park or a plant nursery that will encourage them to look around and touch things. Even something simple can be magical to a baby. A material shop is also good fun with all the different textures, colours and patterns.
This can also be great age to introduce your baby to swimming and splashing around with mum. Perhaps buy a small wading clam pool before you go to get them used to water being fun and paddling around. Remember to always supervise around water and empty the wading pool when you aren’t using it.
Play tug of war with something soft.
Push a ball around with them.
Either make a sand pit or go to the beach (remember to slip slop slap). Playing in sand is can be a new and interesting sensation for a bub.
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