Acknowledgements - gapitc

Busy Fingers
Make your own “crib play gym” with colorful and interesting objects for your
young infant. This is for babies who are not sitting up yet.
Stretch a length of elastic across the crib where your baby will be able to see
and reach it easily while lying on his back.
Tightly knot the elastic on the slats on both sides of the crib.
Use shower curtain hooks to hang soft, colorful items from the elastic, such as
plastic linking chains, teething rings, and rattles.
Lay your young infant on his back in the crib.
Say to your baby,“Oh, look! Can you see the toys? See their bright colors! See
how they jingle!”
Encourage him to reach for the colorful objects.
As he touches the toys, talk about how his hands and fingers are making the
rattle shake, teething rings twirl, linking chains jiggle!
For safety, always supervise this activity. Take the “play gym” down and put it
back up when you are ready to play together again!
Let’s Make Music!
Make a drum from an empty oatmeal box with the top tightly sealed.
Make “hand bells” by putting pennies inside an empty yogurt container with a
plastic lid. Use “super glue” to put the lid on securely.
Bring your home made “instruments” and sit across from your infant while she is
playing on the floor.
Call her name and say,“Let’s play music! Can you hear my drum?” (Make soft
taps on the drum.)
Encourage her to crawl toward you and the sound of the drum.
Invite her to hit the drum to make a sound.
Next, move to a different place on the floor and shake the “bells.” When you
have your infant’s attention again, coax her to crawl to the new sound.
Invite her to pick up the yogurt container and shake it to make a jingle.
Say,“You are making music! You can hit the drum and shake the bells!”
For safety, put the “bells” where your child can only use them when you are
playing together.