Babies seem to grow very fast. Around 9 months, many babies go through a growth spurt that makes them bigger and heavier within weeks. As their physical strength increases, babies will try to do more with their hands and legs. Ensure to follow some top activities to keep your 9 month old baby busy.
Activities can be a great way to not only engage them but also introduce them to new concepts. It can be an interesting way to show them what their own bodies are capable of. Their brain is constantly learning and committing things to memory. Activities that involve various senses can aid in the overall development of your baby.
In This Article
- What Activities Can You Expect From a 9 Month Old Baby?
- Top Fun and Engaging Activities For a 9 Month Old Baby
What Activities Can You Expect From a 9 Month Old Baby?
Your 9 month old can
- Use their hands with better coordination. They can reach and pull with intent.
- Use their fingers to pick things up. Their pincer grip and wrist control are improving.
- Babble and say a word or two as their communication skills improve. They may call mamma, dada, or papa.
- Use gestures, expressions, and shaking head to communicate.
- Understand simple instructions like no, come, or stop (words you use more frequently with them).
- Cry in different tones for different reasons. They know how to get your attention.
- Many babies can sit up without support and some might begin to crawl.
- Rolling over is now a comfortable movement to reach various spots.
Top Fun and Engaging Activities For a 9 Month Old Baby
You need fun and physically engaging activity for your baby who is mentally very alert and wants to move around physically. Here are a few activities you can do with a 9 month old baby at this stage:
1. Hide and Seek
Babies love it when they suddenly spot something they have been searching for. Even when you hide your face or some item in plain sight, a baby gets very curious and tries to find it.
What You Will Need?
Yourself and your baby
Top Benefits of Hide and Seek For 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of hide and seek for babies
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Increases Curiosity | When your baby can hear you but not see you, they get curious. They start searching and trying to figure out where you are calling them from or hiding. |
| Encourages Physical Movement | Babies will physically start moving to find where they are. If they can see a bit of you, they will move faster to “find” you. |
Tips For Parents
- You can restrict your hiding spots to just 2 or 3 until your baby gets a grip of the entire game and moves more.
- Hide behind your blanket or towel and encourage them to uncover you.
2. Clapping and Singing
The sound of clapping can make babies very happy. This is one action they can replicate at this age. The same goes for singing – they will try to join you.
What You Will Need?
Yourself and your baby
Top Benefits of Clapping And Singing to Your 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of clapping and singing to your baby
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Improves Muscles | Babies use a different group of muscles for clapping when compared to crawling or playing. It improves the mobility and strength of these muscles. |
| Improves Coordination | Singing and clapping together will help improve their overall coordination. It improves brain awareness and makes your baby more alert and conscious of how various parts of their body can work together. |
Tips For Parents
- Learn rhymes that involve clapping and stomping.
- Hold your baby’s hands and clap to teach them the rhythm.
- Try to sing in an animated voice to get more attention from your baby.
[Read : When Do Babies Start Clapping and How to Encourage Them?]
3. Reading to Your Babies
Though they may not understand or start reading on their own for a few more years, this habit can improve their vocabulary to a great extent.
What You Will Need?
- Variety of books
- Calm baby
- Yourself
- Quiet place
Top Benefits of Reading to Your 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of reading to your babies
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Learn About Many Things | Books can be a great way to introduce your baby to many new things and concepts at a very young age. |
| Speech and Language Development | As you read bigger books with sentences, your baby will pick on the language and the words. This can help them start using full sentences from an early age. |
Tips For Parents
- Use books with big illustrations that can grab your baby’s attention.
- Books with flaps can be very interesting for babies at this stage as they can open the flaps on their own.
- Buy them books with sounds and music and watch them explore on their own.
[Read : Speech And Language Development Milestones]
4. Water Play
Water can be a fun and inexpensive way to engage your baby for a long time. They can learn a lot by just splashing around.
What You Will Need?
- Tub big enough for baby
- Splash pad if you don’t want the baby to sit in the water
- Simple Plastic toys
Top Benefits of Water Play For 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of water play for babies
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Improves Balance | When your baby sits in a tub full of water, they need to put in more effort to maintain their balance and to reach for things floating away. It improves their overall body balance. |
| Removes Fear of Water | Many people who did not have exposure to water as babies, fear it as they grow. Playing in water from a young age will remove this fear and make your baby feel confident in the water as they grow. |
Tips For Parents
- Let them sit in water that comes above their stomachs, it helps improve balance.
- Always stay right next to them to avoid inhalation of water.
- If they splash too much and start coughing, remove them from the water immediately.
5. Phone Talk
Babies love to speak over the phone, especially since they see us adults doing it so often. They will mimic this action with any object they can hold to their ears.
What You Will Need?
You, your baby, and a toy phone.
Top Benefits of Phone Talk For 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of phone talking for babies
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Improves Conversation Skills | Babies observe us when we are on the phone. When you ask them how they are and what they did, it teaches them to respond to the questions asked, which is essential in conversations. |
| Awareness of Technology | Your baby will understand technology can help them talk to someone even if they cannot see them in person. |
Tips For Parents
- Use your hand or even your phone and pretend to talk to them.
- Buy them a toy phone that can make noise and have lights like a real phone.
- If you let them use your phone to talk to family members, always use the loud speaker facility. Putting the phone to their ear can damage their ear drums and brain due to the waves generated by the mobile phone.
6. What is Inside the Bag
Babies love to put their hands inside and pull out things they cannot see. They find it very entertaining to pull out their favourite toy or something new.
What You Will Need
- A bag filled with various objects from around the house
- Yourself, your baby, and some time.
Top Benefits of What is Inside the Bag Activity For 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of playing with what is inside the bag for babies
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Improves Fine Motor Skills | Babies need to use their fingers to grab and pull things out of the bag. It improves the finger’s strength and overall functioning. |
| Cognitive Development | Babies won’t stop until the bag is empty. They will understand the concept of “there is more in the bag” or “the bag is empty”. These are very important associations and understandings for brain development. |
Tips For Parents
- Encourage your baby to put things into the bag and you can fish them out with excitement.
- Name each item when your baby pulls them out, they will soon learn the names of the items.
[Read : Baby’s Fine Motor Skill Development]
7. Messy Play
Parents fear mess. Cleaning it up can take some time that many parents don’t have, but “mess” is something babies love. They love to explore and enjoy this way.
What You Will Need?
- Water
- Mud
- Food coloring / baby-safe paints
- Grains or flour
Top Benefits of Messy Play For 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of messy play for your babies
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Develops Various Senses | As your baby explores the items, colors, and textures they are making a mess with, they learn to feel and understand various textures. This open-ended play method will form their own opinions and understanding about various items. |
| Improves Creativity | Babies love to try different things with the items you give them. A baby’s brain unaffected by an impression about things is a great place for creativity. |
Tips For Parents
- Use a messy mat to protect your floor.
- Use an apron or a smock to protect the baby’s clothes.
- You can leave your baby in their diaper and give them a bath later.
- Do not interfere, let them explore on their own.
8. Chatterbox
It is a very simple activity many parents actually do with their babies without realizing it. Go about doing your work and just “chat” with your baby and give them a chance to respond.
What You Will Need?
Yourself and your baby
Top Benefits of Chatterbox Activity For 9 Month Old Baby
Here are a few benefits of chatterbox activity for babies
| Skill Development | Benefits |
| Can Do Anywhere | You can do this activity anywhere. Be it at home or outside. It is an ideal activity to engage your baby when they don’t have other toys or are bored when you step out of the house. |
| Improves Communication | Encouraging your baby to talk and have a conversation will improve their communication skills. They will learn to use words, actions and expressions to communicate their thoughts and feelings. |
Tips For Parents
- Just go about doing your work and talk to your baby.
- Ask them questions and wait for them to respond.
- Use expressions and gestures to make it more interesting for both you and your baby.
A baby is a bundle of curious energy. They are keen to explore and understand their environment. Sometimes, this can be dangerous to them or exhausting to the parents. Providing them with safe activities can solve both of these issues effectively.
