In the early days of having a newborn, they don’t need much entertaining but by the time they reach four months, activities are definitely needed. It can be difficult to think up things to do day in, day out, so I made this list of fun activities for a 4 month old. These are all the things me and Dex got up to when he was this age.
Activities for 4 month old baby
It’s so important to spend time with your baby when they’re four months old, doing things you both enjoy. You may be super sleep deprived thanks to the four month sleep regression, so finding activities that aren’t too rigorous that you can do in baby’s awake time are definitely important!
I hope enjoy these ideas for activities for a 4 month old baby and let me know if you try any of them in the comments!
Dance with your baby
I like putting on Radio X and dancing around our living room to Arctic Monkeys and Oasis. Obviously, your baby won’t be able to dance yet, so scoop him up in your arms while you bounce and sway to any music of your choice. And sing! Babies love hearing their Mamas sing.
I remember vividly how much Dex enjoyed being cuddled in my arms and it gave him a new viewpoint in life. Felix still loves a good bop around the kitchen to this day!
Dancing with your baby will also get your heart rate going and hopefully burn a few calories along the way too! An extra bonus!
Practise mini sit ups
It’s good for baby’s stomach muscles to practise doing little sit ups. I used to sir opposite Dexter on the floor while he laid on his back. I would then pull him towards me using his arms until he was in a sitting position, then gently lay him back down.
This is a great activity to do while singing ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’. You can both sway backwards and forwards to the rhythm of the nursery rhyme.
Sing nursery rhymes with teddies
My new favourite game! I collect all of baby’s teddies and we sing nursery rhymes together. For example, for Old MacDonald I would collect all of Dexter’s animals and use them to dance around while I sing.
You can also do the same with Baa Baa Black Sheep, 5 Little Ducks and so many more!
Tummy time with a mirror
One of my favourite tummy time activities is putting baby in front of a mirror.
According to the experts, babies don’t actually know that this is their reflection. Even if this is true, babies adore looking at themselves and in the early days of struggling with tummy time, this really helped increased the amount of time on Dexter spent on his tummy.
We also liked to stand in front of our full length mirror. It is hung over a door and Dexter would reach out with his legs to move it backwards. It’s really incredible to watch.
Related Post: How To Get Tummy Time to Work For You
Playing in a swing
A swing is a great investment for the first few months. It gives you somewhere to place them while you take a shower or try and cook some food.
As you can see from the photo Dexter had pretty much outgrown his swing by four months! When he was a newborn sitting in the swing was enough to occupy him but now he is older he needs a toy as well. I give him this Lamaze Freddie The Firefly
Going for walks
I loved going out for walks with Dexter and Felix and we are super lucky that we live next to a beautiful waterfront.
At four months baby should be big enough to slightly sit up in their pushchair so they can look around and point out things of interest. We used to see a lot of cruise ships, canal boats, historical buildings, seagulls, runners, skyscrapers and swans. Everything is new and amazing to tiny babies.
Occasionally, I would take my babies out in their Baby Bjorn outward facing which gives him an even better view of what is going on.
Getting out of the house is also great for your mental health and physical wellbeing too. I wear a Fitbit to track my steps and motivate myself to hit my 10k goal.
Playing with a sensory blanket
My friend Clare told me about this fantastic cheap idea for babies. Buy a foil blanket and let baby lie on it, reach out to it, crumple it and examine it.
It cost less than £2 including postage and gave both Dexter and Felix lots of fun. You can buy one here
Babies like the noises and the way the light reflects off it. Be careful with younger babies though, they can get overstimulated VERY quickly with this. I tried it once around ten minutes before Dexter’s nap was due- big mistake. I suddenly had a screaming inconsolable baby devil on my hands!
Even at six months old he loved to play with this blanket.
Sitting around the house
I don’t mean lazing around (although that can be fun too!) Try putting baby to sit in different areas of the house. It’s easy to forget what amazing things there are to see around you because we are so used to our own environments.
For a baby there is always something new to see as they develop the skills to understand how objects can sit above, below and behind other objects.
I liked to place Dex on the sofa and point out what’s around the room. He also enjoyed his highchair, sitting up in bed and sitting on a bean bag in his playroom.
It might be helpful to prop up your baby with pillows while they are still learning how to sit unsupported. We are lucky that we have a balcony overlooking a river and I loved taking Dex out there to show him the big ships. Not so great in the winter though. Brrrr!
Reading with baby
Reading is so important. I don’t read anywhere near as much as I used to and I find myself making stupid grammatical errors and spelling mistakes all the time.
As a children’s book editor I want both Dexter and Felix to have the same passion for it as well so I read and read and read.
Both boys loved the books with lots of bright coloured pictures that they could try and grab. They also loved the stupid accents I put on (I’m pretty good at accents) and I read the narrative in different voices too to mix it up a bit.
I always liked to do a mini bedtime routine before naptime and I would incorporate a bedtime story in every time.
Playing Peek-a-Boo
It’s around this age that baby starts to understand the concept of Peek-a-Boo and it is so much fun to play!
I had two ways of playing it. I would do the traditional hide behind a muslin and then pop out. I try not to get too enthusiastic when popping out though- it can result in tears!
The other way is putting the muslin over baby’s face and letting him pull it off himself. Both ways usually result in lots of baby giggles which is always lovely to hear.
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What are your favourite activities for a 4 month old?
For more information on gift ideas for babies, check out My Kid Needs That’s guide here.