Embark on a journey of joy and exploration with your 8-month-old bundle of curiosity! In this post, we’ll unveil a treasure trove of stimulating activities tailored for your blossoming baby, as they continue to embark on new adventures in their developmental milestones.
8 Month Olds
As your baby reaches the 8-month mark, their development is in full swing! They are now more mobile, curious, and eager to explore their surroundings. It’s an exciting time as your little one is hitting important milestones and discovering new skills. As a parent, you may be looking for fun and creative activities to keep your 8-month-old baby entertained and engaged at home. In this post, we will explore what 8-month-old babies can and should be capable of doing, as well as provide 17 new and exciting activities to try with your little one.
Milestones for 8-Month-Old Babies
At 8 months old, your baby is becoming more independent and physically capable. They may be sitting up confidently without support and may even be starting to crawl or pull themselves up to stand. Their hand-eye coordination continues to improve, and they may be able to grasp and manipulate objects with more precision. They are also babbling and making more varied vocal sounds, and their social skills are developing as they become more aware of their surroundings and interact with familiar faces.
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17 Fun and Easy Activities for 8 Month Olds at Home
- Edible Art: Spread some yogurt or pureed fruits on a high chair tray or a plastic mat and let your baby explore with their hands and mouth. They can squish, smear, and taste the food, which promotes their sensory and fine motor development.
- Homemade Sensory Board: Create a sensory board using a piece of cardboard or wood and attach various textures, objects, and colors for your baby to explore. This provides a sensory experience and promotes their tactile and fine motor development.
- Sensory Bags: Fill Ziploc bags with different textured materials such as cooked pasta, jello, or shredded paper. Seal the bags tightly and let your baby explore by squishing and pressing on the bags. This provides a sensory experience and helps with their tactile development.
- Obstacle Course: Create a soft and safe obstacle course using cushions, pillows, and blankets. Help your baby crawl, roll, and navigate through the course, which encourages their gross motor skills and spatial awareness.
- Block Stacking: Provide soft, baby-safe blocks and encourage your baby to stack them, knock them down, and explore the different shapes and sizes. This promotes their hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and problem-solving skills.
More Activities for 8 Month Olds
- Food Exploration: Offer a variety of safe, age-appropriate finger foods for your baby to explore and self-feed. This allows them to practice their fine motor skills and introduces them to new tastes and textures.
- DIY Sensory Bottles: Create sensory bottles using clear plastic bottles filled with colorful items such as glitter, beads, or rice. Seal the bottles tightly and let your baby shake, roll, and explore the different sensory experiences.
- Scarf Play: Play with colorful scarves and let your baby feel the different textures, explore the colors, and practice grasping and pulling. You can also use scarves to play peekaboo or hide-and-seek.
- Baby Yoga: Gently guide your baby through simple baby yoga poses, such as baby cobra or baby tree pose. This promotes their flexibility, strength, and body awareness.
- Ball Roll: Sit facing your baby and gently roll a soft ball back and forth between you. This encourages their hand-eye coordination and helps them develop their gross motor skills as they reach for the ball and roll it back to you.
Even More Activities for 8 Month Olds
- Nature Walk: Take your baby for a walk in a stroller or baby carrier and point out different objects and sounds in nature, such as birds, leaves, or flowers. This promotes their sensory development and exposes them to the wonders of the outdoors.
- Music and Movement: Play some lively music and dance or sing along with your baby. Encourage them to clap their hands, stomp their feet, or move to the rhythm, promoting their gross motor skills and coordination.
- Soft Toy Hide-and-Seek: Hide soft toys or objects under blankets or pillows and encourage your baby to find them. This promotes their visual tracking skills, problem-solving skills, and understanding of object permanence.
- Edible Playdough: Make edible playdough using baby-friendly ingredients such as mashed bananas or sweet potatoes. Let your baby squish, squeeze, and explore the dough, promoting their fine motor skills and sensory exploration.
- Shadow Play: Use a flashlight to create shadows on a wall or ceiling, and encourage your baby to reach out and touch the shadows. This promotes their visual tracking skills and hand-eye coordination.
- Mirror Maze: Create a simple mirror maze using baby-safe mirrors or reflective surfaces, and encourage your baby to move through the maze or reach for their own reflection. This promotes their spatial awareness and self-awareness.
- Nature Sensory Bin: Fill a sensory bin with natural materials such as leaves, pinecones, or flowers, and let your baby explore the different textures, smells, and colors. This promotes their sensory development and connection with nature.
Final Thoughts
Remember to always consider your baby’s safety and developmental stage when planning activities. Supervise closely and use age-appropriate materials and toys. Enjoy the precious moments of playtime and exploration with your 8-month-old baby! Happy playing!
Disclaimer: Please consult with your pediatrician or healthcare provider before starting any new activities with your baby to ensure their safety and well-being. Always follow appropriate safety guidelines and age recommendations for toys and activities.
Age Suitability
These at home activities are good for babies aged 8-months-olds and up.
Mess Level
The mess level for these activities for 8-month-olds varies.
Difficulty to Create Activities for 8-Month-Olds
Varies.
Skills Developed for Activities for 8-Month-Olds
Visual tracking, Body awareness, Reaching, grasping & eye hand coordination, fine motor skills, gross motor skills.
Toddler and Preschooler Curriculums, Books & TV Show!
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles that show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 airs in the summer of 2023! We were also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
In season 2, we add new kinds of crafts like STEAM crafts and slime!
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
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