At 6 months old your little one is starting to really show their personality, growing like a weed and learning new skills every day! Keeping your baby engaged and active.
The 6-month mark is so much fun as a parent to watch your little one grow and learn new skills! Keep reading if you are in search of engaging activities for 6-month-olds!
Skills That Are Developing At 6 Months
At 6 months old your baby is a little sponge and hits milestones left and right. These are a few skills that they are developing at 6 months:
- Starting to sit without support – Your baby should be able to start sitting without support around 6 months old.
- Responds to name – Your baby will start to look around when you call their name!
- Moving towards objects they want– If your baby wants an object, they should make an effort to move towards the object at 6 months old.
- Holding weight when standing with support– Your baby should be able to support most of their weight when standing with support
Things To Teach Your 6 Month Old
Playing games and doing activities with your baby is so important for their development. At this point, they are beginning to mimic things they see and hear.
All activities can be learning in one form or another whether they are more sensory-stimulating or physically challenging.
20 Engaging Activities For 6-Month-Olds
Here are 20 engaging activities for 6-month-olds! Enjoy this time with your little one and watch how they observe every movement!
Assisted Sitting
If they aren’t sitting up independently already, you can work on sitting with assistance. To make this exercise a bit more challenging you can have your babysit on an exercise or bosu ball (assisted of course) to help strengthen the core and back muscles.
Reading
The love of reading often starts as an interest in looking at books and hearing a story. Reading allows your baby to hear different words than just normal speech and encourages creative thinking.
Crinkle Toys
Crinkle toys are great because they make a fun noise and typically have bright colors to stimulate your baby’s senses!
Peek-A-Boo
A classic game of peek-a-boo is so fun for 6-month-old babies! This simple and silly game helps babies to understand the concept of object permanence.
Listen to Music
Have you ever heard the saying that listening to Mozart makes babies smart? Well, it isn’t a lie! Listening to different types of music is great for your baby’s developing brain because it stimulates different parts!
Whose the Baby in the Mirror
It is so funny to set your baby in front of a mirror and watch them discover themselves. At first, they may be a little concerned but after a few minutes, they will love playing with the baby in the mirror.
Be prepared for lots of fingers and handprints!
Play in Water
Babies love playing in the water! The splashing and kicking they will do is great for gross motor skill development!
Stacking
Babies learn about balance at a rather young age, often from stacking different items. The best part about stacking (even for adults) is to knock your stack down when you are done!
Clap!
Sing a cute song like 1-2-3 clap your hands with me or clap your hands to the beat. Encourage your baby to join in on the fun!
Bottle Shaker
Fill a plastic water bottle with dry rice, beans or beads. Tape the lid shut so that there isn’t a risk for them opening the bottle and shake away!
This activity is great for developing gross motor skills.
Baby Massage
All of my babies looooved getting baby massages. This is a great activity for nighttime, with a little bit of lavender-scented lotion.
Baby massage is great for stimulating the touch sense and relaxing your little one.
Related Post: Best Baby toys for your 6 month old
Light Show
Grab a few flashlights that you have laying around the house. Turn all of the lights off and shine the flashlights at the ceiling.
If they are too bright you can cover them with a blanket to dim the light a bit. Your baby will be mesmerized by the lights. Bonus if you have flashlights that have different color settings!
Pop Tubes
Pop tubes have become quite the hot commodity in my house. All of the kiddos, no matter what age love them! Infants love the silly popping noise that these tubes make.
Baby Workout
This may seem a bit silly, but do a baby workout! Let your baby do some squats and sit-ups, with help of course! These types of supported exercises are great for encouraging strong muscles.
Go Outdoors!
Babies LOVE the outdoors. There are so many things to see, hear and learn about. It is great to get your baby outside into the fresh air and sunshine!
If you ever are not sure what to do for an activity, take your baby outside!
Click Clack Ball Toy
The colorful Click Clack Ball features handles that click with every twist. Filled with tiny beads inside, this baby ball also rattles when shaken. Perfect for infant stimulation!
Shape Puzzles
Shape puzzles are great for babies to play with. There are so many benefits to shape puzzles like exposure to different shapes, small and large shapes, stacking, and organizing, the list could go on forever!
Singing
Nursery rhymes, hymns or really any song is great for babies to listen to and especially if you are singing along with the music. During singing, babies are exposed to lots of different words and rhythms.
It is also great for them to watch you form the words while singing and your baby will begin to mimic you!
Cooked Pasta
Cook up some pasta and put it in different containers. You can even add food coloring to the water to color your pasta.
When your baby reaches in to touch the pasta, it will stimulate their senses and allow them to have fun squeezing the slippery noodles.
String Lights and a Box
Find a great big box and poke some holes in the top. Next, take some extra sting lights and poke them through the holes you just made.
I like to do this with multi-colored lights because they vary in brightness.
Watching your little one’s eyes fill with wonder and amazement when discovering something new is one of the best things about being a parent.
Crawl to the Object
Place an object out in front of your baby and see if they can crawl or scoot towards it. Keep inching it away a little bit at a time! Then let them get the object! This activity encourages crawling and muscle development.
Frequently Asked Questions about Activities for 6 Month Olds
If you are a new mom, or even just a mom to a new little one – you are often asking yourself questions. Are you doing things correctly?
Is your baby hitting milestones correctly? Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about activities for 6 month olds.
What Activities are developmentally appropriate for a 6 month old?
No matter what you are doing with your baby, playing games and interacting with your 6-month-old will help to enhance their development.
However, all the activities in this blog are developmentally appropriate!
How do you Entertain a 6 Month Old
The months between 6 – 12 are an exciting time! Your baby is growing, and milestones are happening left and right! The best way to entertain your 6 month old and help them to master new skills is through lots of play!
Any of the activities on this list are perfect, however your 6 month old will enjoy any activity as long as it’s with you!
Do I need to entertain my 6 month old?
At 6 month old your baby will be much more social and interactive, so play will become more important than ever!
Providing your baby with stimulating toys, activities, and games will go a long way in their development.
What are your favorite activities to do with 6-month-olds? I’d love to know in the comments below!
