Help your baby build learning skills. The following activities use materials
that you’re likely to have around the house.
Physical skills
Over and under: Your baby is discovering that his size is changing. Some
spaces are now too small to scoot under. Now he can reach new things.
Help him explore his size. Make a tunnel from cardboard boxes taped
together. Encourage him to crawl through the tunnel. Place a toy on the
sofa just out of his reach. Encourage him to stretch to reach it.
Language skills
Animal sounds: Cut pictures of animals from old magazines. Share the
pictures with your baby. Tell him the name of the animal. Point out the
animal’s features. Say things like, “This is a blue bird. It flies. See its
feathers.” Make the sound each animal makes. Encourage your baby to
repeat the sound.
Emotional skills
Check the hat: Gather several hats, plastic bowls and lightweight pots.
Show your baby how to put each on his head. Show him his reflection in a
mirror. Laugh and talk with your baby throughout this “fashion show.”
Social skills
Cooking together: Give your baby a pot and a wooden spoon. As you empty
a container, give it to your baby. He will imitate you—pouring and stirring.
Expect some banging, too!
Intellectual skills
Balls in a muffin tin: Give your baby a muffin tin and several balls the size
of a tennis ball. Show your baby how to put the balls in the holes.
Encourage him to move the balls from space to space. Do the same activity using a clean egg carton and plastic eggs.
This content has been provided freely by CMC. Click Healthy Start, Grow Smart—Your-Eleven-Month-Old for your free download. Click GreatDad Free Ebook to download the entire Health Start, Grow Smart series.
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