Playing with your Baby without Spending too much

By Aparna - Updated: December 13, 2018

In this Article

Types of Cost-Effective Games for Toddlers
Ideas for Baby Play
Advantages of Playing with your Baby

Homemade toys and activities are a great way to keep children entertained and help them learn and grow. The best part is that it doesn’t cost you anything, and helps in the development of your child’s creativity.

Activities are a wonderful way to show kids that learning can be fun. These activities for kids include hands-on projects and games that are both interesting and educational. Alongside homemade toys, you can use readily available items such as fabrics, bottles, cardboard boxes, yarn, cooking pans, etc. to play with your little ones. This helps develop the child’s ability to process information and understand how things work. Toys and activities provide new opportunities for developing cognitive skills.

Types of Cost-Effective Games for Toddlers

1. Unstructured Play

This is the best game for young children. It is a kind of activity that totally depends on the child’s mood at that particular time. The child does whatever he imagines. Examples of unstructured play include:

Creative play (drawing or musical games)
Imaginative games (dressing up or building houses with boxes)
Exploring the environment (roaming around in the park or playground)

2. Structured Play

These games are organized and can be played at a particular place and time, and are often supervised by a grownup. Examples of structured play:

Swimming lessons
Storytelling
Dance or music classes
Board games

Ideas for Baby Play

Making faces with your child or poking out your tongue is a great way to play with him.
Amusing your child by making animal noises or singing.
Encouraging your child whenever he tries to crawl, walk or stand.
Reading to your child is important, as it makes him think that it is a special way to spend time with you.
Give attention to your little one and his interests.

Advantages of Playing with your Baby

1. It Boosts Your Child’s Imagination

Almost anything can spur your child’s imagination, including everyday objects. Pretending or imaginative play, is one of the foundations of a young child’s world. Kids begin demonstrating this behaviour around the age of 2.

2. Helps Develop Social Skills

Once your child is comfortable with the people around him and his friends of the same age, he will start to develop social skills by interacting with others on play dates organized by you.

3. Helps in The Physical Development of Your Child

Different types of physical play helps develop different skills. For example, skipping requires balance, climbing monkey bars builds strength, and sports activities involve coordination. Large motor skills, such as running, throwing, and pedaling can come in the later years.

4. Help kids Discover Their Emotional Self

From a very early age your child communicates his emotions via different physical gestures or pretend play, before he can speak. When children have experiences that are hard to understand, they review those experiences again and again through play, to get a better grasp of it.

So give your child a positive environment to give wings to his imagination. Let him have fun the way he wants, and encourage him to play with different objects at home to broaden his horizons.

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