At eight months old, you will find that your baby is curious about everything, but their attention span is comparable to that of a puppy! The best you can expect at this age is about 2 - 3 minutes before your baby turns to the next activity.
Teaching your baby to play for longer and focus is very important for their cognitive development and prolonging their playtime, either with you or on their own, will only benefit them in the future.
Here are our top 5 ways you can prolong your baby’s playtime:
Provide variety, but be wary of too many distractions
Giving your baby a variety of play tools is essential to stimulate him and pique his curiosity, but too many toys can be distracting too. If your baby is crawling, place toys in different corners of the room to encourage movement as he moves from one play tool to the next.
Join in
Join your baby on the floor and show him how to play with different toys. Help him where necessary because the extra support now will give him the confidence to play on his own later.
Find a balance
Balance your baby’s playtime between active play with lots of movement and quiet, gentle activities. Quiet activities are often related to fine motor activities that help develop focus. Provide some toys and activities like picking up small objects or putting balls in a container.
Start small
When you introduce a new activity, start with just a few pieces and aim to add only a minute or two to the playtime. When we introduce a new activity, our babies often feel overwhelmed by ALL the blocks, or ALL the stacking cups. Start by giving them only one or two parts of the activity to get the sense of accomplishment and achievement from completing the activity.
Have patience
Like adults, babies don’t always feel like paying attention or focusing on a single task. And with so many new and exciting things happening all around them, why should we expect them to always focus on the one thing we want them to?
When you give your baby a new toy or activity, and he is not interested, remove it for now. You can even leave it on his shelf to see if he will return to it independently. Maybe he will be ready in a day or two when he is less tired, less hungry or just a bit more developmentally ready.
Just don’t be too hard on yourself if your baby jumps from one activity to another - it’s a sign of a healthy, curious little mind!
Start the development journey with MonkiBox. Montessori-inspired toys designed to give your child the best start.
