What do you do with your baby??

As the title says, what do you do with your baby?

My DD is nearly 10 months old, and I'd love some ideas for new developmental games/toys/activities etc. that can be used for babies and toddlers.

I have only a limited knowledge, but I know everyone knows different games and such, so I thought i'd ask you ladies!! :)

At that age, we started going to the library rhyme time. DD loved it and it was good to meet up with other parents.

Shoebox peek a boo! I'd put a toy in the shoebox and DS would open it and I'd say ''There's monkey/tiger/random thing" and cheer wildly, then he'd shut the lid and we'd do it again. Crawling hide and seek is a big hit too, I'd call his name and crawl away and keep calling him whenever he got distracted and when he found me we got big hugs and tickles :) He also likes rhyme time too :)

dh plays with ds every day (heaps) the muck around and dh plays boo and chases him around and tickles him and blows raspberries etc. He also gives piggy backs and would have started that around 9 months maybe and horsey rides. I also involve ds in the washing, he loves it and gets really excited when I say washing or vacuum. He plays really well on his own too so he spends lots of time playing with his toys. I also try to get him out of the house every day. Go to the shopping centre, even the supermarket is a good outing for him. Now he loves the park and swimming pool, I also take him to the library lots and meet up with other mums from time to time. Next year I am going to join a few play groups too and do drawing more often and things like that.

Thanks for those suggestions ladies!! I'm surprised that out of such a large community only 4 people play developmental games with their babies ;) lol

I was attending a mixed age playgroup when DD was at that age so she could watch other kids. She has always seemed interested in books so I did and still do make time to read to her. I also sung nursery rhymes to her and we always listen to the ABC Jazz station on the TV.

I woudl make an effort to just go out into town as we live on a farm and its isolating one other day in the week and catch up with other friends so DD would see other thingsthat she is not exposed to here.

HTH a little x

DD I can't remember.....

DS used to love wooden blocks - stack and knock over (cause and effect)
socks in the washing basket - in and out, throw in, roll around the floor
the tupperware cupboard - he used to be able to climb in, but hey, it's only plastic and it stopped him trying to get in other cupboards. He'd stack containers, play with lids, dump it all out and put it back. Oh he especially loved my old old tupperware stacking measuring cups.
a mixing bowl and wooden spoon - to 'mix' or bash
me singing to him - especially songs that required clapping/arm movements or animal sounds
a container of water and a few cups outside - we have a sand and water table he could pull himself up to. I'd use either water or sand or flour or rice for some different texture.
rolling different sized balls around - either to him or letting him just chase them around
musical instruments
the sandpit

I guess because I had an older child to entertain but he got to do stuff at that age that I would never have thought of for DD, like drawing with crayons, finger painting and playdough (all supervised of course). He still loves to do all those things.

Marley loves dancing, peekaboo, luuuurves the bath and splashing in water, blocks (mainly knocking them over but she has started trying to build them too! lol).
We started reading to DD1 a lot more at this age, and started talking about things with descriptions ("Look at the green block!" etc), playing with toys with wheels - we pull them along and she has a ball walking around trying to grab them.
Swings are a big hit, as is dirt and sand. I usually set up a large mixing bowl and some measuring cupes, tea strainer and things outside on the table and she plays with them for ages.

I never really planned anything with the girls, I would just let them explore and take their lead. Putting it that way sounds a bit slack but we are always busy, even now. I know they both have always loved their books and discovery with toys and what not. I found planning to do something with them was pointless if the interest wasnt already there, so I just them pick the interest and extend it from there. Sorry for being a tad vague

at that age, peekaboo with silk scarves (from opshop), she wasn't walking yet, but was practising her crawling everywhere. Playgroup taught us heaps of things to do, with ordinary household stuff, so i know it was on my radar (at the time), gee it's hard to remember now (my child has just turned five).

I remember going from thinking "i don't have all the stuff in the toy catalogues, she'll be bored", to realising, babies are much more entertained often, with simple things, like pegs, scarves, and the thing they really love, is eye contact, you down on their level, and people talking to them, smiling at them. Bilby loved making faces, would squeal with delight if you made faces back at her. And discovering what a mirror does - they think it's another baby.

we didn't have access to a sandpit, but i know that's a good one, and water play too (with your supervision of course). and i think she used to crawl to the fridge, and play with magnets (low down). But not drawing at that age. i had the chunky and triangular crayons, but didn't bring them out until later on.

oh, and scrunching up paper.

Gigi I can soooo relate!
A GF of mine had thousands of toys and DD had a basket of homemade stuff.

and YES the peg basket...hours of entertainment there.

at 10 months, most of our time was spent outside, tending to the garden!! we'd spend hours outside with the animals, teaching her about different animals, different colors/textures etc. we were teaching her about growing stuff in the garden etc. Now, at 2.5, she maintains her own section of the vegie patch, and can tell us what vegie is what. love it!

can't remember a lot of what other stuff we were doing, as i went back to work at 10ish months. it's become a bit of a vague memory lol