What are some activities for a 3-month-old baby? Learn how to play with your 3-month-old in fun and exciting ways that support their development.
The first 3 months of your baby’s life seem to go by so fast. In a short time, your newborn changes and grows so much, right before your eyes.
Your 3-month-old is learning and developing so many new and important skills that will set them up for the rest of their developmental journey. As your baby becomes more interactive and aware of their surroundings, you may be wondering how you can help support their development with activities for 3-month-old babies.
Understanding what developmental milestones your baby is expected to reach at this age can help guide you to focus your playtime and activities to strengthen and reinforce their learning.
Read on to learn what you can expect at 3 months and how to play with 3-month-old babies to best support their growth.
3-Month-Old Baby Milestones
Using play and activities for 3-month-old babies, you can help support and strengthen your little one’s development and help them reach their major 3-month milestones.
At 3 months, you can expect your baby to:
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- Look back and forth between two objects
- Supports their head completely
- React to different tones of voice
- Bring objects to their mouth
- Look at and explore their hands
- Explore one hand with the other
- Show an interest in new things they have not seen before
- Shake objects
- Make vowel sounds (like “eh” or “ah”).
- Follow an object’s movement by turning their head
- Hold a small object that is placed in their hands
While this already seems like a lot, there are other exciting developments happening at this age. Your baby is starting to develop and strengthen critical physical, cognitive, and social-emotional skills.
At 3 months, your baby is:
- Learning to control their body
- Developing their senses of sight and sound
- Strengthening their social-emotional skills and relationships
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Spending time bonding with your baby and learning to engage in activities for 3-month-old development can help you support their growth and strengthen their bond with you.
Activities For 3-Month-Old Babies
It is no secret that babies and children learn the most through play. From the moment they are born, your baby is learning and growing. Finding ways to play with your 3-month-old using activities that promote their development has so many wonderful benefits.
Here are 7 activities for 3-month-old babies that you can use to play and support your baby’s development.
Let’s Make Some Noise!
- Development: Physical
- Goal: To stimulate your baby’s sense of audition.
- Skills Practiced: Developing the senses
- Supplies Needed: Noisy objects
How To:
Start by gently shaking a few musical objects close to your baby’s face. Try to get your baby to turn their head toward the source of the sound. Watch to see if they accomplish this, or if they need to continue working on it. This activity will stimulate your baby’s sense of audition, or hearing.
Your Surroundings
- Development: Physical
- Goal: To broaden your baby’s visual field.
- Skills Practiced: Developing the senses
- Supplies Needed: None
How To:
To complete this activity, lift your baby in your arms, holding them up securely so that their visual field is widened. Now, show your baby their surroundings by taking them for a stroll around the house or the center of town.
While walking around, begin naming objects and things that are spotted along the way. During the stroll, pay attention to your baby’s reactions and see if they fix their gaze on attractive objects. This activity will stimulate your baby’s vision and language development.
Where Did It Go?
- Development: Cognitive
- Goal: To stimulate your baby’s comprehension of object permanence.
- Skills Practiced: Developing memory and attention.
- Supplies Needed: Toys and blankets
How To:
Begin by showing an object to your baby and describing it using simple words. Next show them a second object and move both objects around so that they catch their attention.
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Now partially cover one of the objects with a blanket, and ask your baby where it is. Uncover the object, and hand it over to your baby. Do the same with the second object. This activity will stimulate your baby’s comprehension of object permanence.
Toys On My Chest
- Development: Cognitive
- Goal: To stimulate your baby’s sense of exploration when playing.
- Skills Practiced: Early exploration
- Supplies Needed: Small toys
How To:
Lay your baby on a soft surface and take out a few small toys. Begin by letting your little one explore their body for a little bit. Help them by taking their hands and seeing if they want to grab their feet.
Show your baby one of the toys and place it on their chest. Grab their hands, caress them and encourage them to grab the toy. See if you can get your baby to explore their hands and the toy. Keep playing for as long as your baby is enjoying it. This activity for 3-month-olds will encourage your little one to explore and move!
Verses
- Development: Linguistic
- Goal: To familiarize your baby with the characteristics of sound.
- Skills Practiced: Babbling
- Supplies Needed: Verses, poems, or short stories
How To:
To complete this activity, simply recite small verses to your baby with different tones of voice so your baby learns to emit similar sounds like yours. Choose a song, poem, or short story that you think your baby will enjoy! This exercise will familiarize your baby with the human language.
Attention
- Development: Linguistic
- Goal: To stimulate your baby’s attention while answering with gestures during playtime.
- Skills Practiced: Communicating through gestures
- Supplies Needed: Bright toys
How To:
Begin by laying your baby on their back on a soft surface. Show the toys to your child one by one, covering your face and making voices. See how they respond through gestures. Is one of them catching their attention? Are they making facial expressions? Continue playing for 10 minutes. With this exercise, you are stimulating your child’s communication with you.
Listening to Mom and Dad
- Development: Social-Emotional
- Goal: To strengthen your baby’s attachment and security with you.
- Skills Practiced: Secure attachment
- Supplies Needed: Lullabies
How To:
For this activity, invite your partner to participate. Take your baby in your arms in an upright position so that they can look at their surroundings. Play a soothing lullaby and start singing to your little one.
Begin taking turns carrying them, encouraging your little one to observe their surroundings while listening to mom and dad’s voices. Signing to your baby helps them feel connected to you, supporting their emotional development. You’ll also be stimulating their head control abilities and encouraging them to explore their surroundings.
For more great ideas on how to play with your 3-month-old, make sure to download the Kinedu app and change the way you play with live and on-demand interactive play sessions.
