9 Tips on How to Entertain Your Playful Baby

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AQUARIUM: Sea Life Grapevine //  SEQUIN MAXI DRESS: c/o Red Dress Boutique  //  SANDALS: similar Tony Bianco  //  DENIM JACKET: similar Levi’s  //  EVERLY’S EYELET SKIRTALLS: Osh Kosh  // EVERLY’S PETER PAN COLLAR ONESIE: Osh Kosh //  EVERLY’S BOW: c/o  Little Jaimes Grey

When Everly was around 4 months old, she left her eat, sleep, poop repeat days behind and suddenly became noticeably interested in her toys, books and interacting with other people and/or babies. It was such an exciting time to finally get to see her personality shine and be able to actually interact with our sweet girl! As she got older and more aware; however, I began to notice she would quickly get bored of her toys, the area she’d been playing in or the peekaboo game I’d been playing over and over. Now at 7 months, our busy, social butterfly keeps mama extra busy as I have to get a little more creative in how I plan our play time every day. Luckily, I’ve found lots of ways to entertain our little munchkin, both right here at home, and on adventures we take outside of the house! In case you have a little one who’s reached the playing stage, I decided to put together a little list easy, fun ways you can entertain him or her, whether you’re working at home like me or need ideas for the weekend! Click through to read my top 9 tips on how to entertain a baby who’s ready for play time!

Disclaimer: I’m a first-time mom and am by no means an expert on raising children. I just do lots of research myself and this is what has worked for my baby so far!

1. Switch It, Change It

Our original/usual hangout is a playmat area I have set up in our living room (it’s also the spot where we keep her activity center!), but over the last month or so I’ve noticed Everly starting to fuss and whine after about 15-20 minutes. Sometimes all she needs is a change of scenery, so lately, we have a secondary play area that I can easily set up on our master bed (after it’s made, that is!) Our current routine involves spending our morning playtime in the living room, followed by a nap, then our early afternoon time atop our bed and once dada is home, we migrate back to the living room, which brings me to my next tip…

2. Have a Designated Baby Space in Every Room

This has been such a huge stress relief and time saver for us. In both our master bedroom and the living room (our main play areas) I keep our baby-safe set up and an assortment of toys that are easy to access. I also keep a little play mat and floor pillow in our kitchen so I can put her on the floor when I’m doing the dishes or cooking, and I even have one of my breastfeeding pillows stored away in our bathroom so I can sit her down with the pillow safely behind her if I have to use the restroom while she’s awake (told ya I have to get creative, haha!)

3. Give a House Tour

One of the easiest ways to entertain her when she’s bored with her usual spaces is to give her a little house tour. This also allows me to get house work done while she’s awake! I simply place her in our Ergobaby backpack and give her a tour of the house, telling her what each room is, what it’s used for and pointing out the items in the room. Or when I’m doing dishes, I’ll tell her what each of the dishes is as I’m putting it away. Not only is it a way to entertain her, but it also helps with her language development and in learning what things are. Which reminds me of my next tip…

4. Start a Pots & Pans Band

This tried & true method really works. When Everly is bored of her toys while I’m working in the kitchen, I just get out some pots, pans and spoons and she’s in heaven! She loves listening to the different sounds they make as she hits them!

5. Mirror, Mirror

My research has taught me that Everly isn’t just an incredibly vain baby (thank heavens!!) Apparently, all babies LOVE to watch themselves in the mirror. It’s a great way for them to develop social skills and to help them master other skills too, such as crawling. Now, I place a mirror in front of Everly in nearly every room we play in and it adds an extra element of fun and entertainment, or if she’s being fussy for what seems like no reason at all, I simply find a wall mirror and carry her to it and can instantly turn her frown into giggles (most of the time!).

 

6. Empty A Toy Box

We have an ottoman that doubles as storage for Everly’s toys in our living room and a basket with toys in our bedroom. One of the things Everly loves doing is watching me take out each toy, explaining what it is, from the color(s) to the shape and the material. It’s both entertaining for her and a way to help her learn and develop. We do the same thing with the toys in her bath, which leads me to the next point…

7. Turn Bath time into Playtime

A few weeks ago, we ditched Everly’s baby bathtub and started to use the actual tub for bath time. She absolutely loves it!! I just get in with her and sit her in my lap and she splashes and giggles while I wash her. Instead of just getting our messy munchkin nice and clean, we also spend 10 minutes afterwards playing with her toys in the tub. Just as I do with the toys in her makeshift toy boxes, I make a game out of it and explain to her what each toy is. She absolutely LOVES bath time now (she’s such a water baby!), and it’s a part of our routine, daily, usually in the morning right before her first nap.

 

8. Sign Up For a Class

And speaking of water, Everly and I just signed up for weekly swimming lessons at Goldfish Swim School in Carrolton (we start next week!!). Before she was born and in the early days, I didn’t think that weekly classes was something I’d be interested in until she was a toddler, but now that she’s older, I have a feeling our weekly swim class will be one of our favorite times of the week!! I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going via my IG page! 

 

9. Go on An Adventure

As a first time mama, I rarely ever left the house with Everly for the first several months. She was just too fragile and the thought of loading her up in the car seat and getting her stroller  out plus packing all of her necessities just seemed too daunting. But around six months, things totally started to change. Not only did I willingly take her out on adventures with me, I actually wanted to, whether going to the grocery store or to dinner with a friend. Now, I’m even planning little mama daughter and family adventures, like this little trip we made to the Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine for this shoot.  I was so amazed by how mesmerized Evie was by everything she saw and how engaged she became. This was really our first official “field trip” and I have a feeling it will lead to many more.

 

Stay tuned – in my next post, I’ll be sharing my favorite toys and baby gear that Everly’s been using for the past few months!

 

Fairwell xx,

-photography by Angie Garcia Photo.

**photos taken at Sea Life Grapevine.