With our 10+ easy & fun baby activities, you can add some fun to your life as a new mom, no matter how tired you are. The activities are great for both, moms & dads. Even if we all know who does the heavy lifting in the first months of babies’ life, we integrate dads in these activities for babies as well.
Activities for Babies When You are a New Mom
When I think back to the time when I gave birth, undoubtedly, it was one of the hardest and simultaneously the happiest times in my life. I have a great picture of myself trapped at home on a breast pump, changing a diaper, obviously sleep deprived. My sister probably took it so I can remember those joyous first days of motherhood.
That’s exactly how the first months of motherhood looked and felt like to me. Despite the additional stress and struggles I had to fight in almost all aspects of my life at the time – health, career, business, legal, relationship, relocation, becoming a mother was the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Until the moment I held our son in my arms, I really did not realize, how my life and I will change forever. And, I never realized until then with how much endless trust we all living creatures are born into the world. I was looking at this tiny human who had just arrived.
There he was – tiny, naked, with limited vision, limited control of his body, and limited communication skills. Obviously, knowing nothing about the world. It was almost scary how fragile a baby is. But he was there in my arms, with his endless trust – there is someone in this world to love and care for him. And he was right.
And then, there I was. Asking myself what to do, where to start? Just like most other first-time moms. I had no idea what activities to do with a newborn in the free minutes I had between breastfeeding, cleaning, doing the laundry, cooking, hibernating, crying and changing diapers. But, luckily I figured it out!
My best advice is – try things out. Try different activities with your baby and see what works for you both. The good news is, everything gets better with time and you will get more sleep in a couple of years.
Activities for babies are a great way to use play, so you can actively help your baby meet milestones. Indeed, since they’re born babies use play as a way to explore the world around them. Thus, our little humans learn and develop important life skills during play time.
10+ Easy & Fun Baby Activities from 0 to 3 months
- Make them laugh.
- Kick the blanket.
- Funny Faces.
- Baby Catwalk.
- Exercise.
- Snuggling.
- Sleeping.
- Talk.
- Sing.
- Show them toys.
- Help them read their first book.
We prepared this list of more than 10 easy infant activities 0-3 months you can do anytime with your baby, independently of how tired you are. For both, moms & dads
1. Make Them Laugh. My Favorite Activity for Infants.
When I heard my son’s laugh for the first time, I knew I want to hear this forever. So, I was blowing raspberries beyond the point of my lips getting sore. Totally worth it. Unfortunately, it worked for 2 days in a row and then I had to find something else. Babies need changes, C’est la vie.
2. Snuggling. One of the best baby activities from 0 to 3 months.
It sounds like a great activity with your baby and fun for both the baby & parents! And it is. Get to know each other, it works best with touching, snuggling, holding & feeding. From the moment, your baby is born, keep them close to you as much as you can.
Touch becomes an early language as babies respond to skin-to-skin contact. Give them lots of snuggling in their first days, weeks and months of life. Research shows that snugging, and holding your baby skin-to-skin from the moment they are born has a lifelong positive impact on them and their brain development.
3. Sleeping. Yep, one of the favorite baby activities of my husband.
Let them sleep on your chest and hibernate a little. This easy baby activity gives you exactly what you both need – sleep & contact. It’s soothing for both – you and your baby. Sleeping not only promotes your baby’s healthy growth and development, but it also helps keep your sanity.
That was and still is one of the favorite baby activities of my husband. As a new mom, I got less of that.
4. Talk. Tell them everything you want, they will listen.
Talk with your baby often so they know your voice. Tell them everything you want, they will get you. Keep eye-to-eye, so you support meaningful communication. Subsequently, at some point, they will respond with happy coos and babbles. When that happens, imitate your baby’s sounds and engage in a back-and-forth talk using your baby’s sounds as a language.
5. Sing. One of my sister’s favorite baby activities, but she can sing.
Babies enjoy listening to conversations, as well as songs, especially when they’re created for them. I used to sing endless songs to our baby together with my sister. We used a simple melody, telling him about my day, about how much everyone loves him, how he is the best baby ever. Basically, we used the melody of ABBA songs and kids’ songs and turned them into his songs.
6. Funny Faces. One of the Favorite Baby Activities of my Son.
It doesn’t matter whether you or your baby are making funny faces. It’s fun for both of you. You can make different facial expressions and gestures so that your baby can imitate them. Or the other way round. Apart from this, you can just watch them while they are sleeping.
7. Baby Catwalk! Fun Baby Onesies
Buy your baby new clothes and show them those new outfits.
8. Show them Toys
Show your baby interesting objects, such as a brightly colored mobile or toy.
9. Exercise
Help your little one grow up big and strong, encourage physical activity early on. Place them in different positions, so they can see the world from different perspectives. Simple exercises such as bicycling, rolling over, pulling your baby up into a sitting position, tummy time, weight lifting (such toy or something safe, light and similar) are a great way to help your baby build muscles and grow strong.
Check out these simple 4 Exercises to Help Baby Get stronger. We started doing exercises with a physical therapist (Bobath) when Aiden was 2 months old for 4 weeks, 2 times in the week. I can fully recommend this for new parents, it helped us a lot to take the right care of our baby. He really enjoyed it.
10. Go for a Walk
When you are trapped at home, sleep-deprived, breastfeeding or (worse) breast-pumping, cleaning, laundry doing, endless diaper changing mom, a walk may seem like a Fata Morgana. Even so, try to go out every day for a short walk not only to recover from the birth, but also to show your little one the world around.
11. Kick the Blanket. One of my son’s favorite baby activities.
Aiden loved to kick off a blanket that I wanted to cover him with. Soon this turned into our playtime.
12. Help Them Read Their First Books
Put out their first book with pictures and colors. My son loved to look at the books and to turn the pages. A few months later, the books were ripped apart into single pages. Then he tore them apart even more, even though he seemed to love the pictures. So, enjoy the time when your baby is still only observing and looking at books, without destroying them.
And once your baby is a little bit older, and you finally got some sleep, check out our favorite toddler activities here.