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A 9-month-old baby is a curious, lively, and active little explorer. At this age, babies are crawling or beginning to walk by leaning on furniture, feeding themselves with their fingers, saying their first words, pointing and waving, eating solid foods, and grasping objects more easily. Here are some activities to help support their development at this stage.
Developing language and communication skills
1) Talk about everything: Describe everything you do and see. For example, tell them that you’re going to change their diaper, or make their snack, or take them to the shower.
2) Use simple words to label things around you. The more words your baby hears, the greater their speech development will be.
3) Describe what your baby sees or is looking at: For example, you can say something like “That’s Garfield the cat.”
4) Repeat the sounds they make: Doing this will help them develop basic communication skills.
5) Set boundaries by using simple phrases such as “Don’t touch that, it’s hot.”
6) Teach your baby to say no by shaking his or her head.
7) Point to and name the pictures in the books you show them. Here are five good books that they’ll love: Flip, Flap, Fly!, See touch feel, Bright Baby Touch & Feel Baby Animals, Pat the bunny and Wheels on the bus
If you’re interested in receiving the best age-appropriate books for your baby delivered to your doorstep, you’ll love the award-winning Bookroo.
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Developing fine motor skills
8) Let your child feed themselves with their fingers or with an adapted spoon, such as this one.
9) Play music and encourage them to clap their hands.
10) Offer your child these soft, interlocking cubes.
11) Encourage them to turn pages in books: they’ll love pop-up books at this age.
12) Encourage them to put and take out objects in a container.
13) Hide a toy and encourage your baby to look for it.
Related reading
Everything you need to know about fine motor milestones
Developing gross motor skills
14) Hold a toy out of reach and encourage your baby to reach for it.
15) Push toys are great for developing gross motor skills.
16) Give your child a large ball to roll and follow.
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Sensory activities
17) Provide objects with different textures.
18) Touch them with objects with varying textures.
19) Expose your child to a variety of sounds and music.
20) Introduce foods with different tastes and textures.
Useful reading
Recommended toys
At 9 months, interactive toys like this push/pull toy, soft interlocking cubes, and stacking toys are great for developing fine and gross motor skills.
Ensuring your baby’s safety
Make sure your baby is in a safe environment. Block access to electrical outlets, install safety locks on cabinets and drawers, keep dangerous products out of reach, secure furniture corners, and use safety gates.
This article is filled with ideas for developmental activities you can do with a 9-month-old baby.
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