7 Activities for Babies 0-6 Months Old
Parenthood has this funny duality to it, doesn’t it?
Like, you have so much to do in a day and you also need ideas of ways to fill the day. Especially those ones that feel extra long.
We get that and we’ve been there, too. So we put together a list of our top 7 favorite simple activities for babies 0-6 months old. Ones that improve your connection and help you fill the days (or nights), but that don’t add to your plate or require prep or purchases.
Tips for Planning Activities with Baby
Keep It Simple, Mama
Until your baby is at least 6 months old, simple is best! They’re so entertained by interacting with you and exploring their environment. It’s a whole new world to them! So there’s no need for fancy toys, bells, or whistles if you don’t want to buy them.
Have Fun & Explore
We’re all about doable activities for babies—ones that support their development and desire to explore but just feel like fun. Anything you can think of that falls into that category is probably great for baby’s development from 0-6 months and beyond.
Our Top 7 Activities for Babies 0-6 Months
#1 Reading
Reading is a great activity for babies 0-6 months old. Even though it might look like all babies want to do is chew on books at this age, they actually really enjoy being read to! And, it’s one of the most beneficial things you can do for their language development.
High-contrast books are great at this age because baby’s depth perception and color vision are still developing, so they can see better and be able to look at the book longer.
Books with simple illustrations are another great choice. Even if there are no words on the page, you can “read” to baby simply by pointing out what you see. (“There’s a duck! Quack quack says the duck!” or “Yummmm! The baby is eating a banana!”)
Tip: When reading to a baby between 0-6 months old, be enthusiastic and animated! This will engage them, make them laugh, and help them learn to love reading. Especially with you!
#2 Exploring Noise
Another activity that babies between 0-6 months can’t get enough of is NOISE! Have fun with your baby by giving them baby-safe items that makes a new or interesting noise. We love:
Soft books that crinkle
Rattles
Shakers
Tapping on Tupperware lids and boxes
Some babies really enjoy wearable rattles that encourage them to bring their hands or feet toward their mouths, too.
Tip: You can add some language to your noise exploration by modeling sounds and exclamatory words like, “Shake shake shake,” and “Boom!”
#3 Water Play
Have you noticed that babies between 0-6 months old are mesmerized by any activity that involves water? It’s true—typically, babies just can’t get enough at this stage.
You can use this natural interest to your advantage by including your baby in household activities and chores that involve water, like watering the plants or turning on the sink to wash dishes and allowing them to feel the splash. You can also set up water play as a more structured activity for your baby by giving them a shallow bowl of water to dip their hands in.
Tip: Use water to facilitate tummy time! Try putting a little water on a cookie sheet and laying baby on their belly so they can feel the water with their hands.
#4 Going on a Walk
You may be catching on to the fact that most of the activities babies love between 0-6 months of age involve exploring. Whether they’re exploring you, themselves, a book, or a dripping tap, they just want to take the world in. This is why walks are such a fantastic activity to do with your little one at this stage.
You can take your baby on a walk in either a stroller or a carrier. Just get outside together and enjoy the sunshine if it’s out! Add language to your walks by talking about what you see and what they seem to notice or naturally take interest in. This way, you’re helping them make sense of what they’re seeing, which is so so impactful for their language development. Plus, on a fussy day, going outside can change everyone’s mood!
#5 Songs and Rhymes
If you’ve spent more than 5 minutes with us at Wee Talkers, you know that we are huge fans of singing with babies. Songs and simple rhymes are just so great for them. You’ll probably notice, or you might have noticed already, how they light up when you start singing—even if you’re not particularly musical.
There are major reasons why we love singing with baby on both our mom and our speech-language pathologist levels:
As moms, we love that singing together increases your bond and lets you connect. And we love that singing can improve the vibe in lots of tough parenting moments.
Related: 3 Ways Singing Together Benefits Parents
As speech therapists, we love that songs sloooow words down. We also particularly love singing songs with gestures as an activity for babies 0-6 months old. You’ll be surprised how in the coming months, they’ll start copying some of the gestures you’ve done with them over and over again in songs! (Giving you fun ways to communicate with them before they ever say their first words.)
And if you’re not sure what to sing beyond Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, we can help! Our baby course, TalkBaby, includes 15 simple songs that go beyond the classics and are great for your baby’s language development.
#6 Oral Exploration
Between 0-6 months old, babies love feeling different textures in their mouths! Around 4 months of age, the rooting reflex (when they suckle on anything that comes near their mouth) that was so prominent before begins to lessen, and as a result, you’ll see your baby start to bring their hands to their mouth more intentionally. Mouthing objects is one way babies explore!
Ways to Encourage Oral Exploration:
Teethers
Sensory balls (in a variety of textures)
Frozen washcloths (especially when teething, it feels so good on their gums!)
#7 Mirror Play
Playing in front of the mirror with your baby lets them attend to your voice, facial expressions, your body language. So by making funny faces, singing a song, or playing peek-a-boo in the mirror, you are helping to lay such a strong foundation for your baby’s language development!
Want More?
If you’d love more ideas like these, we recommend Hannah Fathi’s book ‘Play + Learn: Activities for Babies’. It gives you 65 really simple ideas for activities that promote growth and development. And, you can use and reuse them until your baby turns two!
Grab Our Free Baby Language Bundle
The Baby Bundle is a resource pack that teaches new parents what to know, do, and watch for from birth to 12 months.
When you click “Download”, you get instant access to a baby song video plus baby language milestones and tips for encouraging language development at home sent right to your inbox. It’s perfect for building your new parent toolkit!