Infant Activities for Daycare

Caregivers and infants alike benefit from fun activities in daycare. Infants learn by interaction with caregivers, and in a daycare setting it is important to come up effective games for learning. Peek-a-boo, stacking and obstacle courses can all help babies have fun in daycare while encouraging development.

  1. Classic Infant Games

    • Classic games for babies can work well in a daycare setting to build a bond between caregiver and infant. Hiding behind an object and then popping out to play peek-a-boo is always a favorite activity for babies. Singing about clapping to the baby and guiding them to clap their hands can be another fun bonding activity. Recite the rhyme "This Little Piggy" to help teach infants repetition.

    Crawling Game

    • Help older infants master their crawling ability with a crawling obstacle course. Set up the obstacle course using toys, pillows, books and stuffed animals. A chair at the end can teach babies the concept of going under objects. Crawl alongside the baby to show her the way through the obstacle course. This not only encourages crawling, but helps babies learn to trust caregivers.

    Hand-Eye Coordination Games

    • Games that encourage hand-eye coordination can ensure learning and also keep babies busy for long periods of time. Supply babies with a bowl and some blocks and allow them to fill and empty the bowl with the blocks. Stacking is another good eye-hand coordination game. Encourage infants to stack blocks, small boxes, books or flat toys.

    Imitation Games

    • Imitation games can be fun for infants and encourage bonding with caregivers. Babies love to try to copy funny faces, and this game will allow them to become familiar with daycare workers' faces and build trust. Caregivers can also try pretending to clean or cook and encourage the baby to copy this behavior. This is also an effective way to encourage motor skill development.

    Story Time

    • Reading to infants helps them learn the connection between the words spoken and the pictures inside of books. Reading a familiar story to babies every day can help them to look forward to story time at daycare.

    Song Time

    • Babies respond well to music, and listening to familiar songs can help memory development. Daycare workers should seat all the babies in a circle and then sing familiar childhood songs such as "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "If You're Happy and You Know it Clap your Hands" and "Old MacDonald." Eventually babies will learn the actions that go along with the songs and older toddlers will be able to sing along by memory.

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