How To Entertain a 7-month-old with fun infant activities.
Have you been stuck trying to figure out how to keep your 7-month-old entertained and learning new skills? Well, you’re in luck! In this blog post, I will show you some easy and fun infant activities you and your little one can do.
Fun Activities for 7 month old
I will share my favorite infant development activities that are easy to set up and packed with learning potential. All these activities are in my GROW WITH ME curriculum for infants. This blog post will bring practical and creative ideas to entertain your youngest students while promoting their growth and development.
So parents and childcare professionals, let’s dive in and get started!
7 Month Old Developmental Milestones
- Transferring objects from one hand to the other
- Looking for sounds outside the field of vision
- Using hands to pick up small objects
- Distinguishing strangers from loved ones
- Learning to sit unsupported
- Getting into a crawling position
- Starting to look for dropped toys
- Combining different sounds together
Activity #1: Object Permanence
Let’s talk about object permanence. This concept typically develops around seven months and is an important milestone in an infant’s cognitive development.
Object permanence is the understanding that things continue to exist even when out of sight.
For example, when a baby drops a toy, and it rolls under the couch, they will eventually learn that it is still there even though they can’t see it. This skill helps with memory, problem-solving, and even language development.
So, what can we do to encourage this development? Object permanence toys are a fantastic way to help children learn this concept. Hide and seek toys to help with object permanence. As infants play with these toys, they learn that the objects don’t disappear- they’re just hiding. This encourages them to problem-solve and think critically to find the missing object.
My favorite infant toy to teach this concept is a ball drop. You can also hide a toy under a blanket and help the baby to lift the blanket to find the toy underneath, or even just playing peek-a-boo helps develop this skill.
Activity #2: Sitting Station
Another thing to work on in the baby’s 7th month is helping them to sit unsupported. In my classroom, I create a “sitting station” using a boppy pillow to support the baby’s midsection while they practice sitting up.
To keep this fun and engaging, place some toys just out of reach, encouraging them to use those core muscles to reach for those toys.
Activity #3: Who’s Calling Me?
If you have a multi-age classroom like mine, your older students will LOVE to help you with this last activity I will share. This activity helps with social-emotional development.
Social-emotional development in early childcare is the ability to regulate emotions, express a range of emotions, and develop relationships with peers and adults.
Social-emotional development is linked to empathy, self-confidence, and developing lasting friendships.
To do this fun activity, have one of your older students hide behind a door or somewhere where the baby can’t see them. Let the child call the baby’s name, and then you say, “Who said that?” Watch for the baby to respond positively and/or look toward the sound of the voice.
Young Infant Activities
Thanks for reading all about these fun infant activities. I hope you have learned new and fun ways to engage and encourage development with the infants in your care. Watching babies grow and learn is truly an amazing experience, and as a childcare provider, I am honored to be part of that journey.
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.
Did you love this blog post? Head to the provider’s main page for more great tips and activities to do with your littlest students.