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Activities for 5 Month Old Baby – 8 Fun Playtime Ideas

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It can be difficult to know what to do with your baby once they hit five months old. They may not yet be able to sit unsupported and yet they are desperate to do more playtime activities. This article discusses the 5 month baby activities we got up to when Dex was a five month old baby. We will be trying all these again one Felix turns five months old!

Tummy Time with Ducks

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

To encourage tummy time my friend Samantha inspired us to try this. I filled an oven dish with water and put some ducks in it. Dexter tried to grab at the ducks and splash his hands in the water. It was a great sensory experience for Dex while developing those important neck and arm muscles.

Tummy Time on the Playmat with Toys

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

Another fun way to encourage Tummy Time is to invest in a lovely plush play mat, ours is from Mamas & Papas.

You can dangle all sort of toys from it which helps baby with his neck movement, giving him the strength needed to one day sit up, crawl and walk.

Dexter loves reaching out and grabbing he toys and rolling from front to back to front again.

Here, he is playing with his Lamaze Rusty Robot. A fab toy with lots to see and do. He likes to grab hold of it and give it a good talking to!

With Felix we had a Fisher Price Jungle playmat which we adored and a Tiny Love Gymini which was absolutely stunning.

It’s well worth investing in a decent playmat which can keep baby busy and protects him from a cold hard floor.

Felix lying on the playmat looking at a toy with his brother Dexter looking at him

Want to purchase this Fish Price playmat? It’s available on Amazon for less than £50. Click here

Playing in an Activity Centre

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

During Leap 4 the Wonder Weeks app encourages you to invest in an activity centre and it was the best thing we did.

This is the Baby Einstein Around the World activity centre. It keeps Dexter busy and gives me five minutes to sit down next to him and have a hot cup of tea.

He hasn’t yet learned how to use every function yet so there is always something new to learn. Look at the concentration on that face!

 

Wrist and Foot Rattles

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

These Lamaze wrist and foot rattles are so much fun. Before I invested in these Dexter had no idea what his feet were, the next day he was putting them in his mouth!

The bugs on the rattles are brightly coloured and caught his eye immediately.  They also encouraged him to roll. He tries to reach out to grab his wrist or foot and in doing so flipped him from back to front. Another great idea from Lamaze!

This is one of my favourite activities for a 5 month old baby!

 

Tummy Time on Laminate Flooring

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

I read online that to encourage crawling you could try some tummy time on a laminate floor. Because it’s more slippery than a carpet, babies might move and suddenly understand what they need to do to crawl.

Anyway, I thought it was worth a try. I’d always avoided putting Dexter on the laminate floor before. I guess I thought if he face planted he would need the soft carpet to land in.

As you can see, his arm strength is very good and face plants are very rare. I also used his Early Learning Centre ball to encourage him. He adores this ball because of the bright colours and the noise. When it rolls out of his reach he really tries to move towards it.

He’s not quite ready for crawling but there is no harm in letting him practise and building the muscles he will eventually need.

Back Time on a Playmat

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

We are told about Tummy Time all the time but we also shouldn’t forget to give baby some back time. This will encourage him to move his neck from side to side and give him the opportunity to roll from back to front.

Here he is on his play mat again with a few toys to encourage neck movement. One of them is the wonderful Whoozit. When Dexter was a newborn it was all a little bit too much for him, now that he’s older, he loves the stripes and the rattles.

Sensory Box

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

I search on Pinterest a lot for sensory ideas for Dexter and one which was cheap and easy to do is below. I bought a washing up bowl and filled it with different coloured shower puffs. He loved the texture of the touch and the bright colours. Now he’s a bit older he also like to pull them out of the bowl one at a time. Simple but effective.

Playing with a Tummy Time Toy

Felix using the Infantino Prop-a-Pillar tummy time support in the kitchen smiling happily

We were gifted an Infantino Prop-a-Pillar tummy time toy and it was a fantastic item for Felix who loved being propped up and being able to see what his brother was up to. You can read our full review here, but again, this is another handy tool to develop baby’s neck and back muscles while looking super cute too!

Want to purchase the Prop a Pillar? It’s available on Amazon for less than £30. Click here

Baby Body Painting

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

A fun activity for the whole family. We bought some child safe paint from Wilkos and set to work capturing his feet to create pictures to give to family.

At first I tried to make some edible paint out of baby rice and food colouring but it didn’t really work. As long as you have wipes handy to clean the feet before he attempts to put them in his mouth you’ll be fine!

We took some foot prints then my husband and I turned them into witches by adding hats and broomsticks.

Lots of fun activities to try with your five month old baby from different tummy time ideas to fun games you can play with your not so newborn.

I put splodges of paint on a piece of paper and inserted it into a plastic wallet. Then I taped it to the floor and placed Dex in the tummy time position. He was able to finger paint without the risk of getting paint in his mouth. He still tried to eat the plastic wallet but at least I knew he was safe.

I put the finished piece of art on the wall and Dexter loves looking at it as we walk past. The bright colours really catch his eye.

Read more about this activity in more detail here: Baby Finger Painting

What sort of activities for a 5 month old baby do you do? If I’ve forgotten something, let me know in the comments!

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Things to do with 5 month old - Who Travel

Monday 19th of September 2022

[…] Activities for 5 Month Old Baby – 8 Fun Playtime Ideas […]

Christy

Friday 9th of April 2021

I agree with anonymous about the activity center and here's why: http://mamaot.com/exersaucers-the-good-the-bad-the-better/ Its not good for a baby to be in that position. I can't wait to try the rubber duck activity!

Nicola | Mummy to Dex

Saturday 10th of April 2021

Thanks for your comment Christy and for sharing the link to the blog post. I agree, for baby to be in the activity centre for a long time is no good thing - isn't everything about balance? Also, every baby is different so where some might be ready to go in an activity centre at five months old (Dex was!), others may not...my second certainly wasn't ready at that same age.

Hope you enjoy the duck activity :)

DeAnn

Friday 31st of May 2019

Anonymous, are you referring to the activity center? It's made for his age! It has a seat! They only "stand" if they choose to push up onto their feet. It's obvious he isn't being forced to stand.

Thursday 16th of May 2019

I wouldn’t put a baby that doesn’t stand on his own by itself in a standing position if it doesn’t do it on his own the back bones muscles are not prepared, all the other activities are cool And will try !

Saturday 23rd of February 2019

Use plastic container with ducks