Activities to support your child’s development
The best activities are the ones that your child wants to do and that can be done every day. The most important thing is to spend quality time together.
From a very early age, your child will enjoy activities suited to their abilities. There are all kinds of activities you can do at home or in the neighbourhood to support your child’s development. Here are a few examples.
For outing ideas, see Spending time with the family.
There are no activities exclusively reserved for girls or boys. Observe what your child likes to do and follow their interests!
Rocking—From birth, you can rock your child, speaking softly and smiling at them. This soothes them. As they get older, they may still enjoy being rocked.
Massage—Being touched helps your child calm down. From birth, they may enjoy being massaged. Bath time can be a good time for a massage, either while you’re washing your baby or afterwards when you apply lotion.
Looking at books—From birth, start looking at books with your baby. Colours and images appeal to them. Make books part of your daily routine and leave them where your child can reach them (see Books).
Singing and listening to music—From birth, your songs and music have a positive effect on your child. You can play music for them, but avoid exposing them to videos. When your child starts talking, you can start a song and stop before a word they know: they may want to keep on going! Between 12 to 18 months, they might enjoy nursery rhymes with hand movements.
Playing on the floor—From birth, create a play space on the floor where your child can play and move freely as much as possible (e.g., a soft mat with a few appealing toys).
Going outside—From the moment they’re born, your baby needs fresh air and light.
As soon as they’re more alert, they especially enjoy discovering and observing the grass, rocks, birds, and flowers. As soon as your child is mobile, they need room to run around and roll on the ground! Kids often like to play in the park.
Tickling—Starting at 2 to 4 months, take advantage of your child’s wakeful periods to make them laugh by gently tickling them. Once they start walking, you can combine tickles with games of catch-me-if-you-can.
Playing peekaboo—Starting at around 6 months old, you can hide your face with your hands or a blanket, then uncover it while saying, “Peekaboo!” Your child may also enjoy finding hidden objects, such as a teddy bear under a blanket.
Filling and emptying—When your baby is between 6 and 9 months, you can fill and empty containers together. For example, you can put spoons in a bowl at mealtime, or fill dishes with water at bath time.
Talking about parts of the body—Starting at around 6 months old, take advantage of dressing and bath time to point to and name your child’s nose, mouth, and eyes. They’ll gradually learn to recognize body parts and point to them when you ask.
Discovering new objects and toys—From 12 to 15 months of age, your child will love knocking over stacked objects. You can make towers together with a few blocks. You can also stack cushions or boxes (see Toys).
When your child is between 18 and 24 months old, you can teach them to take their stuffed toys or dolls for a walk in a pull or push toy (e.g., an empty shoe box with a short string tied to one end).
You can do wooden puzzles together. Your child may also enjoy looking for illustrations of objects, animals, or people on the pages of a book. You can name what interests them and ask simple questions (e.g., “Where’s the mommy?” or “Where’s the bird?”)
Playing with a ball—When your baby is between 9 and 12 months old, you can sit on the floor facing them with your legs apart. Roll a ball between their legs. At around 12 months, they’ll start sending it back to you.
Crafts and scribbling—Starting around 12 months, your child may enjoy finger painting with you.
They may also want to scribble. Felt markers, sidewalk chalk and bath crayons are items you can present to spark their interest.
Imitating—Starting around 18 months, your child will enjoy imitating you sweeping the floor, putting clothes in the washer, and so on. Some children will also start playing pretend (e.g., pretending to eat, feed a stuffed toy, or sleep). Encourage their initiatives!
Your child enjoys doing the same activities over and over again. This is normal. Repetition helps them learn.