Your baby is now 9 months old and has learned to sit by themselves and even grab things. That’s such a development! Because that means your baby has learned to control their little fingers and has started understanding visual perception.
Now, you must give the most attention as your baby learns to identify objects and understand different events.
Introducing appropriate, helpful, and fun sensory activities for 9-month-olds is essential at this age as their brains develop complex associations within.
You need to find effective sensory activities and ensure your baby gets to play and enjoy these activities. That’s why our little list of DIY sensory activities for 9-month-olds will help you get ideas to progress on your baby’s development.
Sensory activities are essential for 9-month-olds as they aid in the development of motor skills, social skills, cognitive skills, creativity, and emotional skills.
This article provides a list of DIY sensory activities that parents can do with their 9-month-old babies, from improving hand-eye coordination to developing creativity
How Can Sensory Play Help Your 9-Month-Old Baby?
Sensory play can stimulate your baby’s learning abilities and help them learn many skills faster. These activities help provide healthy brain growth while introducing them to fun activities. Through these activities, you can help with their motor, social, cognitive, creative, and emotional skill development.
- Motor Skill Development
When you introduce your baby to motor skill-building sensory play, they learn to crawl and even stand up with support faster.
As they play with a rolling ball or grab something to squeeze, their balance and hand coordination movement develops.
- Social Skill Development
The social skill-building sensory play introduces noises and words into your baby’s vocabulary.
Although they have no real vocabulary now, it still helps to understand some easy-sounding terms like “no, yes, mama, dada, fun,” etc. They will start cooing and babbling with you to try to communicate.
- Creativity Development
Expand your baby’s creative mind by introducing sensory play with colors, edible paint, and so on. Babies start recognizing patterns, colors, and textures through these activities.
Moreover, what better way to give a voice to your baby’s imagination than sensory play?
- Emotion Development
Babies can have separation anxiety, clingy behavior, and develop fear of strange and unknown things.
When you interact with your little one through sensory play, they learn to trust. So when you do the same thing involving other family members, they grow out of the emotional barriers mentioned above. They learn to share, know people, and become more understanding.
However, you should never be too hard on yourself if you are not able to entertain a 9-month-old because babies usually lose focus quickly.
You also don’t need to burden yourself with buying expensive toys to develop their brain and other skills.
Just remember some important things that will definitely help your child. Talk to them as often as possible, read various stories, and sing your favorite song to your baby, and don’t forget, with love, your baby will learn the best from you.
The Most Fun & Helpful Sensory Activities for Your 9-Month-Old
All parents want the best for their little ones, but not everyone understands the importance of introducing 9-month-old babies to sensory play.
Aside from that, sensory play is actually fun and exciting. It also lets you spend some much-needed quality time with your baby. So, next time you are trying to think of things to do with a 9-month-old, just go through our fun sensory activity list. It has everything your baby needs.
Jello Fun
Jello is a fun way to improve your baby’s hand-eye coordination and sense of taste. It is also enjoyable for them because of the squishy and slimy texture. But let us warn you that it will get messy, so don’t worry about their dirty clothes. Enjoy their happy cackles and the moment.
You can prepare any flavored jello you think your baby will like, then set it on a pan or in a pot. Lay a splash mat and put the jello pan on it.
Let your baby explore the jello texture and get messy with it. If you want, you can give them spoons so they can scoop it up. You can also join in on the fun by showing your baby they can play with it.
Sometimes, they might be slow to the idea, but when they start, we bet they will love it.
Tunnel Play
Tunnel play helps with motor and social skills. It also improves the bond with your baby and gives you unforgettable memories.
Moreover, you don’t need any external things for tunnel play because you are the tunnel in this sensory play.
You can lie on your back and make a tunnel with your legs apart. Call your baby or show them their favorite toy to encourage crawling.
As they crawl halfway through, gently squeeze your legs to catch them. In this way, your baby will try to crawl faster to get to you, and even if they don’t, their adorable laughs will echo in the “tunnel.”
Grab and Squeeze Toys
Letting your kids hold and squeeze something increases their motor skills and visual perception. It allows them to think about the process of the whole activity. So, here are two ideas to let your baby have some fun.
Next time you take your little one for a shower, give them some cotton balls. Let them soak it and squeeze it. They will explore the idea of the cotton ball getting wet and the water coming out after squeezing. It will enhance their thinking capability as well as motor skills.
Another idea is to buy some toys with suction that can be squeezed. Stick them on windows or any surface you want, and let your baby grasp them and try to remove them. They may even try standing up and holding onto these toys.
You can also stick them on the high-chair tray so you enjoy seeing your little one pulling on them. It is also more fun when these toys make squeaky noises.
However, supervise your baby while playing because they will try to put everything in their mouth.
Phone Talk
Babies love copying their parents, which is a great way to help them learn how to communicate. Use an everyday object like a banana, a play phone, or even your hand to imitate a cellphone.
Call someone your baby knows and then talk to them in front of your little one. Surely, your baby will get curious and ask to speak; even if they don’t, pass them the item and encourage them to talk. It is an imaginative and communicative sensory play.
Pop-Up Books
Books can be challenging for a 9-month-old to understand their purpose of it. So, introduce them to pop-up books as it has more lively characters and pictures.
Read the story aloud to your little sunshine while pointing them to the different characters. Slowly but surely, your baby will try to point themselves.
Open Cup Drinking
At 9 months of age, babies usually start eating solid food and leave bottle feeding. So, one of the most beneficial indoor activities for 9-month-olds is trying to drink from a cup.
As your baby has started eating solid food, they will need to remain hydrated. So you can encourage open-cup drinking by pouring some water and helping them drink. They will slowly learn to pick up the cup, but it will take them more than a few attempts to drink the water.
Clapping and Shaking Bottles with Marbles
Babies clapping are the cutest gesture and their adorable laughs accompanying it are the best parts of parenthood. But did you know? These activities help your baby develop motor skills and help in the auditory sense.
So next time you see your baby clapping, join and encourage them to increase this behavior.
Another way to let your baby explore sounds is by giving them a DIY shaker. Just fill up empty bottles or containers with rice, pasta, marbles, beans, candy, etc., and seal them tight.
Shake them a few times in front of your little one to encourage and then let them play with it. They will love shaking the bottles and hearing the various sounds. They will develop manipulation skills as well as creative skills.
Wet Basil Seed Play
Water beads or orbeez can be harmful to your little one. They can accidentally swallow it while playing with them. However, they are great sensory play toys that let babies explore texture, shape, and colors. That is why we found an alternative.
Basil seeds can soak in water and become squishy soft, and jelly-like, just like water beads. These basil seeds can then be soaked in colored water using food coloring to dye them.
Now, your baby can enjoy squishing, grabbing, or scooping these edible water beads. But it is always necessary to supervise your baby’s playtime.
Concluding with Lots of Love
Sensory play is one of the best ways in which you can aid your baby’s development and help them learn crucial skills.
The best about it is that it helps your baby learn in a playful and enjoyable way, thereby speeding up their developmental progress.
So, let them learn to interact and curiously explore through sensory activities and ensure that you make their formative years fun, happy, and productive.
Sensory activities are essential for 9-month-olds as they aid in the development of motor skills, social skills, cognitive skills, creativity, and emotional skills.
Sensory play can help provide healthy brain growth while introducing your baby to fun activities and help with their overall development.
FAQs for Sensory Activities For 9-Month-Old
What are sensory activities?
Sensory activities are activities that engage a baby’s five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. These activities can include playing with different textures, listening to music, looking at bright colors, and even smelling different scents.
Why are sensory activities important for 9month-olds ?
Sensory activities are important for 9-month-old babies because they help with their overall development. These activities can aid in the development of gross motor skills, social skills, fine motor skills, cognitive skills, creativity, and emotional skills.
Can sensory activities be messy?
Some sensory activities can be messy, such as playing with Jello or finger painting. However, it is important to remember that the mess is worth it for the benefits that the activity provides for the baby’s development.
However sensory learning can include many other forms of sensory play, from activities for babies that include different sounds, to a sensory bin, sensory bags or a sensory board. There are so many benefits for babies to do sensory play activities, that’s its really important to encourage sensory play with lots of different objects. If you have a sensory play idea, just go for it, it’s so much fun!
The sooner you start sensory play, babies learn and their cognitive development and communication skills will improve. Sensory play helps is a fun activity that helps a child’s development.
What are some examples of sensory activities for 9-month-old babies?
Some examples of sensory activities for 9-month-old babies include playing with a rolling ball, squeezing objects, listening to music, looking at bright colors, and playing with different textures such as Jello, finger paint, playdough and more.
How often should I do sensory activities with my 9-month-old?
There is no set rule for how often you should do sensory activities with your 9-month-old baby. It’s good to have variety, and you can incorporate sensory activities into your daily routine, like during diaper changes, meal times and before naps.
Do I need to buy expensive toys for sensory activities?
Not necessarily, you can use everyday items such as empty boxes, plastic containers, and different textured fabrics for sensory activities. You can also use homemade playdough, flour, ice cubes and food coloring to create different textures.
Can I involve other family members in sensory activities with my 9-month-old?
Absolutely, involving other family members in sensory activities can be a great way for your baby to interact with different people and build trust. It can also be fun for everyone involved.
You can include older kids and have a fun game which will help with language development.
Can sensory activities be beneficial for both babies and parents?
Definitely, sensory activities can be a great bonding experience for both babies and parents. It’s a great way to spend quality time together, and it can also help parents understand their baby’s development better.
