Hand-held rattles or toys on a ring

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

At around three months, babies start grasping objects within reach. And they start to learn that they can make things happen! Shake a rattle, get a noise. Try it again … and start to understand the magic of cause-and-effect.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• To start, place the ring in baby's hand and shake it gently. Babies at this age are just beginning to have control over grasping—they can hold on and let go on purpose—so your baby will probably be very interested in grabbing, shaking and dropping a rattle.
• Help baby exercise his coordination skills by holding the ring in front, shaking it, and letting him reach for the rattle. Put the rattle in baby's hand, shake it and say, "Hear that sound? You did that!" Emphasizing the reward will make him want to try again.
• Choose a ring that's big enough to let baby hold on with both hands. Place it in baby's hand; he'll grab on with one hand, and then with the other, and then let go with one. This action will develop into the skill of being able to pass an object from hand to hand.

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Floor gyms

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Arms and legs are always on the move these days as baby kicks and reaches, bats at toys or grasps them, and perhaps even gives rolling over a try. A floor gym full of visual appeal, different textures, and busy activities can satisfy a lot of needs—from exercising motor skills to stimulating senses to challenging cognitive skills.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• Help put your child in the right frame of mind to start making cause-and-effect connections by demonstrating some of the action your baby can't yet reach—playing the music, for example, or making something rattle or move.
• You may need to coax your child in the beginning to demonstrate the connection between actions and reactions. Don't put baby's hand or foot on one of the dangling toys, but easily within reach of them. Then engage your child with you and the toy so the waving of arms and kicking just happens naturally—it might be as simple as activating a sound, or hearing some happy, funny words from you. From there, it's bound to happen: baby's hand or foot will connect and activate a fun response from the toy!
• Encourage your child to explore the toy by pointing out the colorful activities and describing the toy's features. To build memory skills, switch the position of the dangling toys from time to time; your baby is likely to notice the change from prior play sessions.

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Child-safe activity mirrors

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Long before babies realize who that is smiling back from the mirror, they love to gaze at their own reflection, fascinated by what they see there. This encourages self-recognition, enhancing emotional development. It also fosters eye-hand coordination as baby reaches to touch the mirror.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• As you adjust the mirror to baby's angle, check the view so you can see exactly what he'll be looking at. Demonstrate some of the fun features for baby.
• Initiate baby's sense of self-recognition by pointing to your baby's reflection in the mirror, and then to your own reflection. "Peek-a-boo! I see you. Do you see Mommy? Who else do you see?" Also point out your facial features and baby's in your reflections. "See my eyes? Do you see your eyes? Here they are!" That's how connections begin for babies.
• Help solidify this idea of reflections by pointing to something on your person, like a ring on your hand. Let baby touch it, then point to its reflection. Go to other mirrors in the house and show baby how your reflections show up in those mirrors, too.
• Around this time, you'll probably want to give him some tummy-time play. Position this mirror in front of baby when he's ready to put his face up, so he can look at himself in a new way.

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