From the moment you bring your sweet newborn home, to the time your adventurous toddler begins exploring their environment, a safe and engaging play space is a key addition to your home. The following tips will guide you in designing a functional and inviting play space that grows with your little one.
Step One: Make it Safe
A cozy play environment will allow for your infant to interact with their world. A very important component of setting up a play space is to make sure the area is safe for baby to explore freely. To ensure your space is as safe as possible, be sure to secure all nearby furniture, cover electrical outlets, avoid sharp edges and corners, and keep unsafe items out of reach such as power cords, small objects, or home décor. Some parents choose to completely enclose the play space by utilizing safety gates or a play yard. Others will make adjustments as their baby begins to show signs of mobility (rolling, scooting, crawling, pulling to stand, etc.) It is important to always supervise your child’s play time.
Pro Tip: To keep the space comfortable for your little one, add a play mat for safety. This will also help to provide a soft but firm surface that encourages gross motor skills such as pushing up to hands and crawling.
Step Two: Make it Engaging
During the first months of life, babies learn through play and movement to develop necessary skills such as rolling, sitting up, crawling, pulling to stand, and eventually, walking! Floor time is essential for developing these sensory experiences, and provides the necessary opportunities for children to explore and practice new skills. To increase your baby’s interest in floor and tummy time, it’s important to choose age-appropriate toys that encourage both independent and social play skills. This may include:
Pro Tip: Stick with open-ended toys and limit battery-operated toys within your baby’s play space! Examples of open-ended toys include building blocks, cars, trains, and/ or toys that encourage pretend play, and an active role during play time.
Step Three: Make it Fun, Switch it Up!
Did you know that children play more creatively, and interact for longer periods of time when playing in a less cluttered environment? Rotating toys in your play space can be an excellent way to maintain your baby’s interest. By rotating between 5-8 toys at a time within their play area every few weeks, this will help to improve your child’s engagement in sustained, independent play time. This also helps to prevent your child from feeling overwhelmed with too many toy options.
Pro Tip: Avoid baby “containers” (carriers, jumpers, walkers, bouncers, swings, exo-saucer, baby seats) in your play space. Remember, this space is for your baby to learn and play through moving freely on the floor in a safe environment.
Now that you have created a safe, engaging, and fun environment for your baby, be sure to soak in all of the precious playtime memories you make with your little one!
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