Sign up to Healthy Kids
Sign up to receive more great ideas and recipes
Playing with newborns: why it’s important
Play is essential for your baby’s overall development, learning and wellbeing.
Through play, your newborn learns about the world around him and how he can interact with it. New play experiences also help parts of your newborn’s brain connect and grow. And play that gets your newborn moving builds muscle strength as well as gross motor skills and fine motor skills.
Playing with your newborn helps her learn to talk and understand words. You might not always have time to stop everything and play, but you can still chat to your newborn about what’s going on – for example, while cooking dinner, shopping or folding clothes.
Playing together helps you and your newborn get to know each other. That’s because play can tell you a lot about your newborn’s personality. Rough and silly or quiet and calm, you’ll soon know what your newborn likes.
When you play with your newborn, your newborn learns to trust and depend on you, and the bond between you and your newborn gets stronger. This helps your newborn feel loved and secure.
Play ideas for newborn babies
And remember to enjoy yourselves. It’s only play if it’s fun.
Follow your baby’s cues. Even babies with lots of energy need downtime and might feel overwhelmed if you keep trying to play with them when they’re tired. If your newborn baby seems startled or upset, try playing a quieter game a bit later.
This article was published with permission from raisingchildren.net.au
Sign up to receive more great ideas and recipes