Fun and Educational Activities for 9 Month Old Babies – A Guide for Childcare Providers and Infant Teachers
As an infant teacher or childcare provider, you want to ensure that every child in your care learns, grows, and has fun. But when you’re dealing with 9-month-old babies, the challenge is real! They’re at a stage where they’re curious and exploring, but they also have very short attention spans. That’s why it’s vital to have a few activities up your sleeve that will keep them engaged and learning. In this blog, we’ve put together a guide on fun and educational activities for 9-month-old babies that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.
Nine-Month Infant Milestones
- Learning to crawl
- Standing with support
- Recognizing and responding to familiar words
- Pointing, clapping, and waving goodbye
- Banging toys together
- Feeding self
- Working on pulling to stand
- Looking for toys dropped out of sight
- Babbling, stringing syllables together
Activity 1: Favorite Toy
At this age, babies have started to develop preferences and get attached to specific objects. Start watching and observing if the baby has a favorite toy. This is fun because you get to see their own little personalities start to develop. Once the toy has been identified, start moving it around the room, placing it in different places, and watching them seek it out. Another thing to do with their favorite toy is sit by them and devise new ways to play with it.
Activity 2: What’s That Sound?
Babies are fascinated by their surroundings and always look for new things to observe. You can make the most of this by introducing sensory activities that engage their senses. A great example is playing with sounds around the house or classroom. Take the baby around the classroom or home and make different noises that they can associate with specific objects. For instance, you can rattle some keys when near a door, start the coffee machine, or run water. You could also use items with exciting textures around the house that the baby can feel. This sensory exploration will help sharpen their perception and aid in their cognitive development.
Activity 3: Infant Signing Time
At 9 months old, babies are starting to develop language skills, and you can support this by introducing them to baby sign language. As a caregiver, you can start with a few simple signs, such as asking for milk, food, or a nap. Over time, the baby will start to understand and communicate using the signs. Signing also has the added benefit of aiding in a baby’s social-emotional development, as it is easier to get their needs met when they can communicate with you.
Studies have shown that babies who learn sign language as infants have been known to have larger vocabularies and better language skills when they reach the toddler years.
Infant Development 9 Month
In conclusion, a 9-month-old baby is a bundle of energy, curiosity, and learning potential. As an infant teacher or caregiver, it is essential to provide fun and educational activities that engage their senses and offer them opportunities to learn and build upon their developmental milestones.
Before you go, make sure to download ClubbhouseKids Infant Curriculum with activities from each learning domain to bolster the child’s cognitive, fine and gross motor, sensory, social/emotional, and speech/language development. Go ahead and try these activities; you will be amazed at the level of engagement and learning by these young learners.
Check out my “GROW WITH ME” YouTube playlist. It’s chock full of videos, with one dedicated to each month of the baby’s first year. You’ll find plenty of simple and fun activities that will help you inspire curiosity and learning in the babies you care for.
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