Week 33: Why your baby loves knocking down cups

Your baby won't be stacking cups for a couple of months, but few things are as fun as knocking over towers! Destructive play is a crucial part of your baby's development, and you might find that they seek it out naturally, like when they throw their cup or spoon during dinner (or worse - a plate full of food🤦‍♀️).

And it’s made worse by your baby who likes to repeat certain activities over and over again - especially the messy or destructive ones. This repeated action helps your baby establish structures in the brain - much like practising a new skill for adults.

One of these skills babies love to practise is throwing objects. Babies are fascinated by the way things move, and your baby is at an age when they start to understand cause and effect, too. This means that they are always trying new things to see what will happen next.

As adults, this can be frustrating, but by giving your baby plenty of play opportunities to be "constructively destructive", you will find that they keep their dangerous destruction to a minimum.

Here are a few of our favorite ideas:

• Build a tower your baby can knock over. Not only will they enjoy this, but it is also a first lesson in working together (mommy needs to build before you can knock over).
• Make simple folded planes and see how they fly.
• Blow bubbles and encourage your baby to reach and pop them. Not only is this great for visual tracking, but it also promotes moving their bodies even before they can crawl.
• Play with toy cars with big wheels
• Explore objects that bounce

These activities also provide lots of opportunities for introducing new words. Here are some to focus on:

• Fly / Glide / Float
• Spin / Twirl
• Drop / Bounce
• High / Low
• Heavy / Light
• Land / Swing
• Up / Down
• Fast / Slow
  
  
  Start the development journey with MonkiBox. Montessori-inspired toys designed to give your child the best start.