I've spent some time looking up activities for 9 to 12 month old babies, and found lots of ideas. I decided to put my favourite ideas together into a list for myself, and to print out for the nanny to use for ideas for baby stimulation.
(Obviously all of these need constant adult supervision, and always be mindful of choking hazards.)
Music, Hearing and Movement:
- Sing lots of nursery rhymes, especially with actions such as clapping hands, stomping feet, nodding head etc. Or make up your own silly songs!
- Play music, any music, and dance with baby, so she can feel the rhythm
- Show baby how you knock on a door, say "Listen! Do you hear knock-knock-knock?" Do the same with different sounds, splashing water, tapping, bells, etc.
- Bang on drums, bang on pots
- Put baby on a blanket and drag the blanket, taking her on a ride!
People, Body Awareness, Object Permanence, Toys
- Play peek-a-boo - use a cloth over baby, over yourself, over baby's toys
- Stand in front of a mirror, talk about what you're looking at. "Look at this baby! Look, it's you! Look, here's your nose, your ears, your hair, your feet!"
- Page through picture books. Point out people's face expressions
- Copy-cat games: point to your own nose, say this is mommy's nose, point to baby's nose, say this is baby's nose. Ask baby to point out mommy's nose and baby's nose.
- Hand-over-hand games. Show baby how to put her hand on top of your hand, with your next hand over her hand. Will take a while for her to grasp the concept, but repeat often.
- When baby drops a toy, lower her to the ground and let her pick it up herself
- Use double-sided tape and make toys stick to a surface, show baby how to pull the toy off and stick it again
- Show toddler a toy, and hide it behind you, getting her to look for it
- Stacking blocks and cups
- Sorting colours and shapes
- Cut a slit in a tin and show baby how to "post" Purity jar lids
Outdoors and Physical Exercise:
- Go for walks, point out trees, flowers, birds, leaves, grass, sand
- Blow bubbles
- Bury plastic animals in a bowl of sand, or floating in water, and let baby find animals
- Have a tea party!
- Crawl and chase each other!
- Create a little obstacle course for baby. Use pillows, make tunnels with blankets and chairs.
- Use an exercise ball - let baby bounce on it, lie on tummy, lie on back, move backwards and forwards. Very good for strengthening baby's core muscles!
- Play ball games, gently rolling and getting baby to roll it back
- Toss bean bags
Tactile and Sensory:
- When outside, let baby feel grass, tree bark, sand, water. Always explain what it is and how it feels. "Tree bark, feel how rough it is. A green leaf, feel how soft it is."
- Use shaving foam on a tray or a mirror
- Let baby unpack Tupperware cupboard
- Tickle with feather duster
- Let baby play with cellophane
- Create little goody baskets or boxes for baby to unpack. Put similar things together: create a box of wooden goodies, a box of plastic goodies, a box of noisy goodies!
Messy Play ideas:
- Finger painting with homemade edible fingerpaint (Will do a post on this soon, we did this last weekend, so much fun for both Ella and Mia!)
- Cooked spaghetti
- Dry cereals
- Shredded paper
- Smash (instant mashed potatoes)
- Water bowls with small containers, cups and utensils
- Do hand- and footprint art - great keepsakes!
Keeping babies busy in the car:
- Listen to sing-along nursery rhymes
- Easy finger foods such as marie-biscuits or biltong sticks
- A few different bags with a few small objects to explore - best to pass these on one by one than overwhelming baby with everything at once: wooden puzzle pieces, Purity jar lids, pieces of ribbon or material, small toys and rattles, big hairclips.
These are three of my favourite blogs for some creative ideas: Kids Activities Blog, The Imagination Tree and Happy Hooligans.