Activities

Give the infant a shaker. Encourage him/her to shake, beat and rattle to the rhythm while you sing familiar songs such as “Twinkle, Twinkle,” “ABC's,” and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

Put a baby doll, child-safe baby wash/shampoo and water in the sensory center table. Add a washcloth, rubber duckie and towel for “bath time.” Discuss how you would care for the baby at bath time.

During outdoor time, have the children use dolls, dress-up clothes and baby strollers outside to pretend to go on a family outing to the park.

Sing this song with the children, using exaggerated sounds:
I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee,

Won't my mommy be so proud of me.

(Cup hands together as if holding bee.

Sing “I'm Bringing Home My Baby Bumblebee” and encourage the children to sing along and make the hand motions. Go through the song several times.

Create a baby-washing station. Use the sensory center table, filling it with child-safe soap and water so the children can give the baby doll a bath. Consider adding additional items such as a washcloth, baby shampoo containers, towels and a brush.

Provide all the children with empty shoe boxes (without lids) as well as small dolls and some toy animals that can fit in the boxes. Encourage the children to use the boxes as vehicles to drive their animals and dolls to the store.

Read My Face Book by Star Bright Books. Point out to the infants the pictures in the book of infants showing different emotions. Talk to them about times when they are happy or sad.

Read a book about emotions such as Baby Faces by Margaret Miller. Read the story and imitate the faces that the infant is making.

Read Baby Faces by DK Publishing to the children. Talk with them about the different expressions. Encourage them to point to different things they see in the book.

As you approach the infant, hold out your arms and say, "Hello, can I have a hug?" When you pick up the infant, hug him/her gently and say, "I like that hug!"

Use a CD with ambient nature sounds for infants in the sleeping area of the room. An example is “Baby Sleeps” by Baby Sleep Songs. It includes the sounds of crickets, a river and underwater bubbles.

Place towels and a large baking sheet with a rim on the floor. Add a small amount of lukewarm water to the baking sheet, along with three or four baby bath toys. Place the infant on his/her tummy in front of the baking sheet for water play.

Parentese, also known as baby talk, is delivered with a “cooing” pattern of intonation, different from normal adult speech. It is high in pitch, with many variations. Use baby talk when speaking with infants.

Provide baby dolls, and interact with the children and their dolls by asking questions and making comments.

Provide tubs filled with warm water and bubbles made from child-safe soap, washcloths and baby dolls for the children to wash and care for. You can also add other props, like plastic rubber duckies. Add towels for each child to dry his/her baby with.

During outdoor time, take a sensory tub out and fill it with water and a small amount of soap. Have the children wash baby dolls and their clothes.

Partially fill shallow tubs with soapy water made from child-safe soap. Provide the children with sponges and washcloths to wash the classroom baby dolls and a small towel to dry them with afterward.

Gather an assortment of playground items that need to be taken in and out. Make the collection somewhat large and unwieldy – lots of balls, for example or some new sand toys.

Sit on the floor with the infant. Repeat back to the infant the sounds he/she makes such as “ma-ma-ma” and “coo-coo-coo.” When an infant is babbling, repeat the sounds back to him/her. Encourage the infant to respond.