Games for 4 months old

During active hours, I put baby under his play gym and play with him, encourage him to kick and catch the rattles etc, but he's not too patient on it. I know he likes to be held up and practise standing/ walking, but he's too heavy that I can't play this with him for the whole afternoon. Any other games/ toys that baby can play on his own at this age which can amuse himself for a longer period of time esp.?

My baby does not like to play by herself as well. She hates to be left alone. Just like yours, she loves to be held up and practise walking/standing. She needs a new "game" every 5 - 10 minutes. I'm also cracking my head trying to find toys suitable for her age.

Lasez - this is exactly what I feel! How old is your baby? Every 5-10 min he grows tired of the game! He's so active and wants all sorts of stimulation but I'm so exhausted. Running out of ideas as to what to play with him. When does baby start to be able to amuse himself with a toy at all??

My baby is 4 months old...

babies and toys take a while.


they'll prefer you.


But I find books really wonderful - and your soothing voice as you lie down together and read a book and point to pictures is always great. (my daughter LOVED this and to this day loves books...always wants me to read to her.)


I do recommend a book called Baby Minds by Acredolo and Goodwyn which has some great games to help stimulate your baby. Some of them are some very simple "cause and effect" games you can try out on your baby and see how s/he does. They have lots of suggestions, more for things to do when your baby is at least 6 months, but still, some interesting things for you to try out from 3-6 months.


if you don't have yet, the exersaucer, is a good thing to start at this age. IT does require some supervision as sometimes your baby may suddenly flop forward (rare but it does happen) and it allows them to be upright, without your necessarily holding them all the time.


I also found that both girls enjoyed listening to water falls (if you happen to have any in your building) and seeing the outdoors and enjoying the fresh air. KEeping them indoors wasn't always what they wanted, and even a brief 10 minute stroll outside was enough stimulation.


good luck...it's easier now - wait until they want to TOUCH everything and grunt for it until you get whatever it is that they want...hahahah.

My baby is 4 months as well and she loves fabric books which you can get at the bookstore at Windsor House Causeway Bay. She also loves Lamaze toys because they are colourful and makes noises. They're available at Bumps to Babes.

Thanks! The links are fantastic!!!

Thank you very much indeed! Will definitely do some toy shopping this weekend!

I would say do NOT go off and spend lots of money on toys.


A babies attention span is only a few minutes, so there is no miracle toy that will work for a long time.


At this age you can:

Look in a mirror

Read a book (often they will watch your mouth move)

Play with a muslin cloth

Tummy Time and rolling

Singing songs

Physical movement - touching left hand to right knee, etc...

Hand movements - open, close


You can download some great PDFs about appropriate play at different ages from:

http://www.zerotothree.org/

Go to the Parents Section, and look around -there are loads of resources. There are categories with PDFs - each one has different PDFs for different age ranges.


http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=key_childdevt

Look at:

Magic Moments

Healthy Minds

Power of Play

On the Move


Here is a whole section dedicated to play:

http://zttcfn.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=key_play


Even now, at 14 months, our favourite toys are very simple... We go to a playroom at our club and what does he like? The handle from one of the toys... We go to our friends house, and his favourite toy, is a pebble in a plastic bottle that makes a noise...

Thanks crj and everyone. Yes you are right. We'll be very selective :)

STB-- great links, thanks for posting those!


Nicher, our little boy started getting really active around 4 months too. He used to love his jungle gym but lost interest really quickly as soon as he started turning over. I was really at my wits end because I couldn't hold him all the time -- he was getting really heavy!


We got him a few basic toys that have been absolute life-savers:


The Exersaucer

Like HKCC says, this one is a gem. It indulged his love of being on his feet without me having to hold him; had lots of different attachments for him to play with; and was a safe place I could put him in when I needed to pop to the loo or get our things together to go out. Even now at 7 months he can play in it and it's great seeing how he finds different ways to play with the toys as he develops.


The Bumbo Seat.

Most of the time bubs likes me to read to him sitting on my lap, but occasionally, he likes to look at me whilst he is sitting down so he can laugh at my silly faces as I read him the stories. This is also a great, comfy place for him to sit whilst we play games like peek-a-boo or when I make him laugh with hand puppets.


The Activity Centre

This is something that has lots of different 'parts' to play with. Ours is a 3D triangle that has abacus-like beads and shapes on one side, plastic flaps on another and a revolving mirror on the third. Bubs can lie on his tummy and explore this for ages! We also have another toy that plays music when he presses the different buttons which my baby loves, but my husband not so much...


Alphabet floor squares

We lay a bunch of these down so he has a big area to roll around on and he LOVES this. I think he feels more free to have such a large area to play on rather than just the small square of the jungle gym. We scatter different toys on the mats on different days and he gets all excited because it's like having new toys every day.


I found fun things to do just flipping through books at the bookshop. There is no need to buy lots of books for ideas, but 'Baby Minds' is a really helpful read. I also recommend 'Great Minds Start Little' by Baby Einstein. They have lots of good suggestions for games and how to make everyday life fun for your baby.


Have fun!

Thank you Mayafox. Very helpful indeed. Bumba seat - that's what I'm siting on my laps when I read to him. He loses interest very quickly. But he DOES enjoy looking at my face so I have to get somewhere he can sit safely on his own facing me. Seems like this is a good investment.


Exersaucer - what brand did you buy? How is it different from an activity centre (sorry I'm confused about these terms). Is it something like a baby walker? Talking about baby walker, one friend says babies are prone to having flat feet if they learn walking in a walker. Anyone heard of this?

im also has a 4 month old baby,anyone intresting put a baby together for play??im live at happy valley...

Hi Nicher,


My girl is 5.5 months old and I have to think of many games to keep her entertained too!

See you've got many good advice from other moms already - one thing my girl enjoys a lot is the JUMPEROO from Fisher Price - it allows her to stand on her own and jump up and down a bit and it has toys and music to get her attention too. It was not available in HK when I got mine but I think ToysRus has recently stocked it so you can check it out if you're interested.

By the way, any of you have been showing Baby Einstein DVDs to your babies? Are they any good?

Hi Chrispy,


Thanks for your sharing! I know the jumperoo that you mentioned. It really looks so fun! I finally bought an exersaucer from Leapfrog last weekend. It's like a DJ station fo him. He seems to enjoy it too :)


I've been showing baby "Baby Einstein Language Nursery DVD". Not many of Baby Einstein series are suitable for babies at his age now except this one. I don't think he understands it yet but it does capture his attention for a lengthy period of time. Haha...

Hi Nicher,


Sorry, I only just saw your post! Good that you got a saucer -- hope your little one enjoys it as much as mine does.


In case it is useful for anyone else, I got the Evenflo Excersaucer Ultra from Toys Club in Horizon Plaza. The Exersaucer is kind of like a baby walker except that it is stationary so the baby does not walk (and so eliminates the problem of building up the wrong muscles). There is a 'floor' on the bottom of the saucer and the baby can either rock around in it or it can be fixed to stand completely still.


I recently bought a Lindum jumper from Bumps to Babes. You can fix it to a door frame and bubs loves bouncing up and down on it. It sounds a little like the Jumperoo except it doesn't have any toys attached to it -- it is just a jumper, but my little boy loves it -- he goes crazy giggling and jumping around in it.