Are you searching for activities for 10-month-old babies that are fun and educational? Kinedu has the perfect solution for you and your little one.
Having a baby that is 10 months old is a wonderful time. To them, the world looks different from when they were stationary on the floor. With a busy baby in the home, you might be looking for fun activities for a 10-month-old to include in a daily routine to help them learn and grow.
Your little one will probably be cruising around your home, whether crawling, standing against the furniture, or walking with assistance. They will have special people they enjoy, and some 10-month-old babies will be playing strange with unfamiliar faces.
Babies who are 10 months old may already enjoy music and some playtime activities. But there are plenty of ways to keep them engaged, enforce proper motor skills, and enhance cognitive abilities.
10-Month-Old Baby Milestones
Although your little one may already have some favorite games or toys, there are several activities to do with a 10-month-old to help cultivate their growing bodies and minds. One way to select activities for your 10-month-old is by watching their milestones and incorporating them into a new playtime routine.
Some vital 10-month milestones will include:
- Grasping objects with only their fingertips
- Searching for hidden toys
- Putting items in a container
- Flipping through pages of a book
- Imitating gestures, like waving or clapping
- Comfortable exploring alone with a parent or caregiver close by
- Climbing or going around obstacles
- Standing with support
- Walking with assistance
- Interacting with other children
Download Kinedu to easily track your baby’s development stages as they progress from 0 to 6 years old.
Activities For 10-Month-Old Babies
With so many new milestones to experience as your little one grows, parents and caregivers must nourish their 10-month-old as they continue to develop their cognitive and motor skills.
Here are some simple activities to try with a 10-month-old. They will get little ones moving, keep them engaged, and help support these newfound skills.
Make sure to download Kinedu for hundreds more age-appropriate activities for your baby at each developmental stage.
Baby Bike Ride
- Development: Health
- Goal: To develop your baby’s muscle strength and body awareness
- Supplies Needed: None
How To:
Lie your baby on their back in a safe space, like on a blanket on the floor. Hold both of their legs and begin to alternately move them as if your baby were pedaling a bike. During this time, narrate the following story making sure to vary your tone and speed in your voice with the movements.
“Up the hill ever so slowly.” Pedal their legs slowly. Then say, “Down the hill ever so quickly” and move your baby’s legs at a faster pace. Complete this exercise two or three more times and then repeat it with your baby’s arms. This activity is an excellent way to develop your little one’s muscle strength and body awareness.
Hiding Place
- Development: Cognitive
- Goal: To develop your baby’s comprehension of object permanence
- Supplies Needed: Assortment of toys
How To:
Start this cognitive activity by sitting down on the floor in front of your baby. Next, hide a toy that they like to play with behind your back. Then, ask your baby where the toy is and watch their reaction.
Is your baby looking for it? This activity will help your little one to realize items continue to exist even if they are not in plain sight. In addition, you will encourage early knowledge and curiosity with this fun game. This concept is object permanence, a key cognitive developmental milestone for 10-month-old babies!
Small Boxes
- Development: Physical
- Goal: To practice opening and closing a small box
- Supplies Needed: A small box
How To:
To begin, offer your baby a small empty box. It can be a matchbox, a mint tin, or something similar. Show them how to open and close it. This activity helps to stimulate your baby’s fine motor skills. For example, they will learn hand-eye coordination and work with both hands while doing something different.
You might need to lend a hand at first. Then, continue this activity for 10 minutes, or for as long as your baby has an interest in the small box!
Story Gestures
- Development: Cognitive
- Goal: To encourage your little one to imitate your facial expressions when reading a story
- Supplies Needed: A storybook
How To:
Find a comfortable place to read to your baby. Take out a book they are familiar with. While reading the story, exaggerate your facial expressions to show different emotions that go with the story. See if your little one can imitate these expressions.
Next, try gestures. You can incorporate some clapping, waving hello, or covering your face. Finally, try combining simple expressions and gestures and encourage your 10-month-old to copy you. This activity will stimulate your baby’s imitating abilities and communication through various gestures.
Bath Time Textures
- Development: Physical
- Goal: To stimulate the tactile sense during bath time
- Supplies Needed: Bathtub, different sponges, net, cotton cloth
How To:
Use this engaging activity at bath time. First, prepare all your supplies before placing your baby in the tub. Then, gently place your baby in the tub when everything is ready, and get ready for the fun! While bathing your 10-month-old, hand them different types of sponges, a net, and a cotton cloth.
Offer each texture separately so that they can compare how each of them feels and changes when touching the water. Encourage squeezing, rubbing, and pinching each item to experience the differences. Bath time offers a great opportunity to stimulate your baby’s tactile sense.
Stand Up!
- Development: Physical
- Goal: To practice standing up by holding on to furniture
- Supplies Needed: Attractive, eye-catching toys
How To:
For this activity, place one of your baby’s favorite toys or a new toy on a small stool beside you and get your little one’s attention. The toy should sit just out of your baby’s reach so that they have to stand up to grab it.
Make sure your baby first crawls towards the stool, leans on it by kneeling, and finally stands up to reach the toy successfully. Assist your 10-month-old if they need help, and then praise them when they can do it alone! This exercise will stimulate your baby’s gross motor skills.
The Music
- Development: Cognitive
- Goal: To stimulate your baby’s rhythm
- Supplies Needed: A device to play music
How To:
Play music you know your baby enjoys for this activity to pique their interest and engage them. Then, keep up with the rhythm by clapping and dancing along. Encourage your 10-month-old to do this as well!
Listening to different music genres will stimulate your baby’s temporal lobe, the vital part of the brain that processes sound. You can repeat this activity anytime you listen to music with your little one. This way, you’ll keep stimulating their rhythm.
Orders
- Development: Linguistic
- Goal: To stimulate your baby’s response to verbal requests
- Supplies Needed: None
How To:
Teaching your baby alternative movements to respond to verbal requests helps enforce linguistic skills. For example, clapping when you are happy or saying bye-bye when asking him to wave.
Repeat those actions yourself so that your baby will learn from your example. As your 10-month-old associates those orders with its appropriate response, they will begin to do it when asked. Remember to praise your baby whenever they can do this! This routine activity stimulates your little one’s response to simple verbal requests.
Finding activities while learning how to play with a 10-month-old does not have to be complex. You do not need a lot of supplies or take a lot of time out of your day. Instead, these simple games will benefit your baby even a few minutes a day from cognitive, physical, and linguistic skills to keep them more mobile.
For hundreds more activities to do with a 10-month-old, download Kinedu to access 1,800+ games and actions created by experts in early childhood development.
