After being inside the house stuck for a few months and avoiding all types of crowds, you might be ready to get out and do fun things with your baby.
There are actually a lot of fun activities for both you and your baby to enjoy together. It’s simply a matter of knowing where to look, and chances are you don’t have to look too far or break the bank.
The more fun the two of you have together, the quicker the time will pass, and the greater the bond you will be forging.
the more stimulated and active your baby is throughout the day, the better they will sleep at night (knock on wood).
10 Fun places to take your baby that you both will enjoy
Go Swimming
Head to your neighborhood pool and spend some time at the pool. Babies are born loving water! Teach your baby how to do kicks and arm pulls as well as floating on his back.
If you want a more formal swim activity, check out your local calendar for mommy and me swim classes. If you are in a South Florida check out our calendar of events as we do host Mommy & Me Swim events at Goldfish Swim School.
Participate in Storytime
I have mentioned before how important it is to start your baby with reading at a very young age. Staying at home reading the same books over and over again can be boring, so pack your bag and check your local library or Barnes and Nobles calendar as they could be offering free storytime events.
Don’t worry if your baby is too young to understand yet the story, exposing them to the experience is a great learning adventure for them. Babies love to people watch and see other kids participate in different activities.
Go to the Movies
Most movie theaters offer a Mommy and me program where you can bring your baby and watch the movie without worrying if your baby fuzzes or cry. These are usually during the day and it’s a great place to meet other moms too.
If your local theater doesn’t have such program what I have done is to go during the morning where the theater is usually empty. I breastfed my baby all the way through Mama Mia! And now that he is older (16 months) I have aligned the movie time with his nap time. Twice I have successfully been able to watch a movie like this.
Visit a petting farm
Your baby doesn’t have to be old enough to feed the animals, just the exposure to the animals is a learning experience for them.
You may sing to your baby Old Mac Donald has a farm.. well, this is the farm and this is how a real cow says moo. (Quote differently than when mama says moo, isn’t it?!)
South Florida mamas – Join us for our Day at the Farm event
Visit a zoo
Just like the petting farm, a zoo is a great experience for your little one. Invite a friend, gran tour strollers and go see some cute animals.
Visit animals is an idea of places to take your baby.
We recently visit the Palm Beach Zoo and it’s a great small zoo to visit with lots of shade and it even has a mini splash pad.
If your local zoo is too far, you can always opt to go to a bird conservatory. We have near us Flamingo Gardens and Manny enjoys going there an watching the birds.
Visit a local splash pad
On a hot summer day, a splash pad might be a great option to do. Is not scary enough like a water park where there’s just too much water and things going on but is small enough to have a few sprinkles with water to have a great time.
We recently hosted a mommy and me Meetup at our local splash pad, and it was a great way to connect with other mommies.
Visit a Children’s Museum
If you are a Bank of America Card member you get free entrance once a month to a few participating museums. Take advantage of that and go explore your city.
Another great option of places to take your baby is to visit the children’s museum. We recently visited the Young at Arts Museum and was surprised by all the opportunities you could do with a baby and one year old there. There are lots of sensory exploration and gross motor opportunities to practice crawling, walking, playing with sand and water.
Spend an afternoon at the park
From tini-tiny babies and even toddlers, a park is a great idea. Even if you just go for one hour.
If your baby doesn’t move much to play with a ball or practice going up and down the stairs of the playground, you can lay a blanket and look at the clouds, how the wind moves the leaves and hop onto a swing.
Did you know that putting a baby on a swing can be extremely beneficial to their development (after they have good head support)? swinging helps with the development of balance, coordination, eye development among other things.
So head out to the park, bring a blanket, a snack, have a mini-picnic and head over to the swings.
Local Market or Grocery Store
Part of a baby’s development is watching you do everyday life responsibilities such as buying groceries. You can do your regular grocery run or you can find a local market to visit. My favorite local market is Yellow Greens Farmer Market. Place your baby on your baby carrier and head out to smell some flowers, buy some local produce and drink a natural juice as you walk around.
Participate in Local Meetups
The toughest thing about staying at home with the baby is that feeling of being excluded and having no adult conversations. Luckily, there are lots of facebook groups created to bring mamas together and spend some time with other mamas with our babies. Actually, that’s how the yPunto! Mom Tribe was created.
Search for mom+location and a few suggestions should pop-up. Based on my experience, participate in a few different meetups until you find your tribe, those mamas similar to you that you can easily talk to, have things in common and become friends. It took me a while to find my tribe but I had o push myself to go out and be social. Now, I’m glad I did it.
So there you have it, 10 different places to take your baby that you can add to your baby activity schedule to provide new learning experiences to your baby as well as providing an opportunity to get out of the house. Some activities even come with an extra bonus where you can meet other moms and possibly make some friends where you can do some of these things together moving forward.
What are some local places you like to take your baby ?