Week 1: Why skin to skin time isn’t just for the hospital
The benefits of skin-to-skin time include reducing crying and improving sleep and immunity. There are many more, as you’ll learn in this post.
Playtime & activities
Thoughtful, development-focused activities can build your baby or toddler's social-emotional awareness, cognitive abilities, and gross and fine motor skills. That's why we've compiled these fun playtime suggestions for babies, toddlers, and young children. Our range of age-appropriate, play-to-learn activities include art, science, and language-based options to try indoors, outdoors, or on the go. Explore by age to find a great fit for your child.
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- 0 – 12 Weeks
- 3 – 4 Months
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- 11 – 12 Months
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- 34 – 36 Months
0 – 12 Weeks
8 tips for safe swaddling
Try these expert tips to swaddle your baby in a way that supports safe and healthy development.
Streamers on the Play Gym
Babies around 1 to 3 months will start to wave their arms around when they see something they are interested in. You can put leftover party supplies to good use by taping party streamers to the legs of your Play Gym.
5 fun newborn play ideas for tracking sounds and sights
Everyday noises are new to your baby. Use these 5 play ideas to introduce them to natural sounds and help them develop lasting neural networks.
The 10 best ways to grow your newborn baby’s brain
Lovevery’s experts share 10 techniques you can use to protect and grow your infant’s developing brain.
5 ways to take tummy time off the floor
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends supervised tummy time starting in your baby’s first week. Some babies are good with it, but alas, it is not a happy time for others.
3 – 4 Months
Endless fun with a sensory bag
Sensory play is a blast, but it can get messy. When you just can’t face another major clean-up for the sake of sensory exploration, these bags are a great way to let you little one explore without any mess.
Starry cardboard box
Create a starry night experience for your baby using things you already have at home.
Streamers on the Play Gym
Babies around 1 to 3 months will start to wave their arms around when they see something they are interested in. You can put leftover party supplies to good use by taping party streamers to the legs of your Play Gym.
Cardboard Sensory Board
This fun sensory activity introduces your baby to tactile play, and might even make tummy time more enjoyable.
Easter Egg Sensory Bottle
Sensory bottles are easy, mess-free ways to stimulate your baby’s senses.
8 tips for talking to your baby who doesn’t talk back yet
Your baby listens to the intonation, rhythm, and patterns of your voice. Learn 8 ways to talk with your baby that support their speech development.
5 – 6 Months
Endless fun with a sensory bag
Sensory play is a blast, but it can get messy. When you just can’t face another major clean-up for the sake of sensory exploration, these bags are a great way to let you little one explore without any mess.
Starry cardboard box
Create a starry night experience for your baby using things you already have at home.
Cardboard Sensory Board
This fun sensory activity introduces your baby to tactile play, and might even make tummy time more enjoyable.
Easter Egg Sensory Bottle
Sensory bottles are easy, mess-free ways to stimulate your baby’s senses.
Week 26: Mouthing and speech development (there’s a connection)
By mouthing objects, your baby builds a solid foundation for speech and sensory development. Find out what is safe for your baby to mouth.
Week 18: Kicking play helps your baby learn to roll
Kicking play develops crucial motor skills. Learn why your baby kicks and some fun ways to encourage them to practice.
7 – 8 Months
Pillow Crawling
If you have a crawler (on average around 8-10 months) that needs more of a challenge, try creating a mountain of pillows. This activity is also great for babies who have skipped crawling or are quickly trying to move past the crawling stage.
Animal Rescue Activity
Animals and tape are all you need for this DIY activity for your baby or toddler.
5 Easy Sensory Bottle Ideas
Sensory bottles offer mess-free sensory play for your baby or toddler. Try these five ideas yourself.
Nature walk and outdoor treasure box
The world right outside your home is full of opportunities for your baby to learn. Take a stroll around the neighborhood with your baby, enjoy the fresh air, and collect some natural souvenirs for an outdoor treasure box.
Easter Egg Play
If you were able to get some Easter eggs this year, or you have some from previous years, you can offer them to your baby to explore. They will like the bright colors, figuring out how they open and close, and watching the different ways the eggs move.
Transformation of Everyday Items
Around 7-9 months, babies begin to notice that some things can change shape. Here are super simple ways to show how everyday items can transform.
9 – 10 Months
Week 44: Why tubes and containers are so essential to your baby
Your baby is starting to understand that objects fall through a tube, but stay put in a container. Learn how the Lovevery Clear Tube reinforces this real-world concept.
Pillow Crawling
If you have a crawler (on average around 8-10 months) that needs more of a challenge, try creating a mountain of pillows. This activity is also great for babies who have skipped crawling or are quickly trying to move past the crawling stage.
Laundry Basket Spider Web
Problem solving and fine motor work are key to releasing the trapped toys in this fun DIY play for your baby.
Balls and Muffin Tin Activity
Balls and muffin tin activity | Lovevery
Animal Rescue Activity
Animals and tape are all you need for this DIY activity for your baby or toddler.
5 Easy Sensory Bottle Ideas
Sensory bottles offer mess-free sensory play for your baby or toddler. Try these five ideas yourself.
11 – 12 Months
Sticky Note Wall
Sticky notes are all you need for this fun activity. It encourages fine motor and gross motor skills, builds core strength, strengthens hand-eye coordination, and improves grasping skills.
Pillow Crawling
If you have a crawler (on average around 8-10 months) that needs more of a challenge, try creating a mountain of pillows. This activity is also great for babies who have skipped crawling or are quickly trying to move past the crawling stage.
Contact Paper Art
Starting around 11 months, your baby will love this indoor play activity that uses clear Contact paper, painter’s tape, and construction paper.
Laundry Basket Spider Web
Problem solving and fine motor work are key to releasing the trapped toys in this fun DIY play for your baby.
Balls and Muffin Tin Activity
Balls and muffin tin activity | Lovevery
5 Easy Sensory Bottle Ideas
Sensory bottles offer mess-free sensory play for your baby or toddler. Try these five ideas yourself.
13 – 15 Months
DIY Popsicle Stick Color Pockets
DIY popsicle stick color pockets | Lovevery
Toddler Balloon Play
Sometimes all it takes to keep your toddler busy is a balloon. If you happen to have a balloon in your house, use these ideas to make the magic happen.
Painting with Nature
Bring home stick and leaf collections from your neighborhood walks and turn them into paint brushes with this DIY.
Vegetable Painting for Babies and Toddlers
Use this taste-safe paint recipe made of veggie scraps for a great new way to connect with your toddler through art.
Pom poms and tubes
Dropping a pom pom into an opening requires a variety of skills from a child, from lining up their hand with the opening to knowing when and how to open their fingers to release. Try it with this activity.
Pom pom and pitcher sensory bin
Sensory bins of all kinds allow young children to explore different materials with their hands. In this case, you’ll use pom poms that can be squeezed, rolled, bunched, tossed, and poured with a pitcher.
16 – 18 Months
DIY Popsicle Stick Color Pockets
DIY popsicle stick color pockets | Lovevery
Toddler Balloon Play
Sometimes all it takes to keep your toddler busy is a balloon. If you happen to have a balloon in your house, use these ideas to make the magic happen.
Painting with Nature
Bring home stick and leaf collections from your neighborhood walks and turn them into paint brushes with this DIY.
Vegetable Painting for Babies and Toddlers
Use this taste-safe paint recipe made of veggie scraps for a great new way to connect with your toddler through art.
Pom poms and tubes
Dropping a pom pom into an opening requires a variety of skills from a child, from lining up their hand with the opening to knowing when and how to open their fingers to release. Try it with this activity.
Pom pom and pitcher sensory bin
Sensory bins of all kinds allow young children to explore different materials with their hands. In this case, you’ll use pom poms that can be squeezed, rolled, bunched, tossed, and poured with a pitcher.
19 – 21 Months
Dirty vs clean: a quick lesson in contrast
Your toddler’s brain loves to grapple with opposites. A great way to involve your toddler in learning about opposites is by exploring the idea of dirty vs clean
Mess-Free water painting
This water painting activity boosts gross and fine motor skills and is incredibly simple. All you need are paint brushes and a bucket of water.
Cap twist-off board
Twisting caps to loosen and tighten them takes concentration and coordination, and can be done over and over again. This activity reuses disposable baby food pouches to allow your child to practice.
Pipe cleaners and Wiffle Balls
“Posting” is a term used to describe fitting objects into an opening of corresponding size. In this activity, colorful, bendable pipe cleaners fit into Wiffle balls for all kinds of posting fun.
Velcro dot craft sticks
This DIY craft activity has can be taken on car trips and stored easily for future use—and it supports multiple developmental skills as well.
Pop-up paper tunnels
In this activity, your child will push toy cars, trains, planes, and other small vehicles through DIY tunnels, creating a world of pretend play to get lost in.
22 – 24 Months
Dirty vs clean: a quick lesson in contrast
Your toddler’s brain loves to grapple with opposites. A great way to involve your toddler in learning about opposites is by exploring the idea of dirty vs clean
Mess-Free water painting
This water painting activity boosts gross and fine motor skills and is incredibly simple. All you need are paint brushes and a bucket of water.
Cap twist-off board
Twisting caps to loosen and tighten them takes concentration and coordination, and can be done over and over again. This activity reuses disposable baby food pouches to allow your child to practice.
Pipe cleaners and Wiffle Balls
“Posting” is a term used to describe fitting objects into an opening of corresponding size. In this activity, colorful, bendable pipe cleaners fit into Wiffle balls for all kinds of posting fun.
Velcro dot craft sticks
This DIY craft activity has can be taken on car trips and stored easily for future use—and it supports multiple developmental skills as well.
Pop-up paper tunnels
In this activity, your child will push toy cars, trains, planes, and other small vehicles through DIY tunnels, creating a world of pretend play to get lost in.
25 – 27 Months
DIY spice paints, nature soup, and more ways to explore smell
Many sensory activities focus on texture, temperature and other tactile properties. Try these ways to incorporate smell into your two-year-old’s sensory play.
Try a sound walk (and these 5 other activities) to boost your child’s language skills
Your two-year-old is likely starting to demonstrate more awareness of environmental sounds. Here’s how you can help them tune into sound.
Obsessed with color-matching right now? Try these activities
Here are some ways to practice color-matching, using The Lovevery Drop and Match Dot Catcher and household craft supplies.
Flashlight scavenger hunt
A scavenger hunt with a flashlight is a great way to look for fun, friendly, familiar items with a beam of light. It works great, even for kids who are afraid of the dark.
Setting your child up to wash their hands on their own
Washing their hands is an important and practical skill for your child. Here’s how to break it down into manageable steps.
3 easy pincer grasp activities for toddlers
The pincer grasp isn’t just for babies. Toddlers need to continue strengthening this coordination and dexterity for future tasks.
28 – 30 Months
4 fun sensory activities that build neural pathways
Sensory activities engage the body and mind in a way that builds critical neural pathways. Here are some sensory activities with varying levels of messiness.
Why laundry time is learning time
Keeping toddlers engaged while doing chores can be a challenge. Here are some fun and fresh ways you can get your toddler involved with laundry.
Two-year-old-friendly math activities in everyday life
Your toddler already understands the basics of advanced mathematical concepts. Here are some ways to bring math into everyday life with your toddler.
Simple games that bring out surprising skills
Introducing a game of stop and go can help your 2-year-old learn body control. Build on the skills as they master them in these fun new ways.
This classic “toy” unlocks so much development
Why are blocks so foundational to childhood? Block play supports language development, STEM concepts, visual spatial skills, and more.
31 – 33 Months
Let’s get gluing—DIY activities with developmental benefits that stick
Using glue to stick items together may not sound like cognitive development, but it is. Try these activities with your toddler to practice.
7 games to help your child master matching
Somewhere around 30 months, your child may be able to match identical or similar pictures of objects. Practice matching with these activity ideas.
These 4 DIYs prove pom poms are magic
Pom poms are a fun way to help develop fine motor skills and dexterity, and a great addition to sensory play. Try these quick and easy activities with your child.
These gross motor activities make a rainy day pass fast
When you can’t get to the park, these activities involve minimal materials and prep, and support large body movements to help your child get their energy out.
This is how we put on our shoes and socks
The fine-motor skills involved in putting on (and taking off) shoes and socks are complex. Here’s how to help your child learn to put on their shoes and socks.
When do children learn to tell time?
Routines, sequences, and using time-related words all lay the groundwork for your child’s developing understanding of time.
34 – 36 Months
6 ideas for dramatic play
As children approach age 3, they engage more in symbolic play: using objects to stand in for others. Here are 6 ideas for dramatic play with your two-year-old.
This everyday item is a powerhouse for pretend play
Cardboard is inexpensive, plentiful, and just right for a two-year-old getting into new kinds of pretend play. Here are 4 cardboard activities for your two-year-old.
Are we there yet? 10 no-materials games for car rides
Traveling with children can be challenging. Here are some ideas for the car that require no materials or tech and can be played by both driver and passengers.
Two-year-old “Telephone”
Two-year-olds are learning how to control their voices. This game lets them practice and gets the whole family involved.
Make a gift out of anything 🎁
Unwrapping something can help give your child a feeling of accomplishment, joy, and satisfaction—and it’s really fun. Here are a few ways to make “found object” gifting as fun as possible.
Roads and tape playscape
Your child may be into pretend play these days. Setting up a roadmap with tape and little cars gives them a landscape on which to create a whole world of pretend play.