10 favorite activities for my 10 month old

We are back from our vacations, and we had such a good time. It gave me time to get my mind of things and take more time with my children, enjoy ourselves and relax ( well, as much as we could).

I was surprized upon my returnal how E's interests and capacities have changed. So to celebrate his upcoming 11 months, 10 activities for my 10 month old boy (who is clearly growing too fast!)

1. Pointing at

This is a relatively new attraction for him: pointing. He likes to do it everywhere, at people, at plants, at cars, at himself through the mirror. And when he does, he blabbles loudly! We are seeing this as the start of the 2 way conversation, something he has been working on since his first day of life. More on pointing and conversation tomorrow

2. Stacked books

Upon arriving to my room to a scattered pile of books many times, I finally got that he just loves to unpile AND turn pages of a book. So I piled many of his own books in his room for him to manipulate. He undo the pile, and then turns endlessly all the pages of all the books. That can really grab his attention for a while.

I have also given him some old paperback books for him to practice turning the pages gently. (not shown in the picture)

3. Colored water bottles

He is drawn into colors. I saw this idea somewhere on the net, and loved it. So I made up 3 bottles of colored water, using the primary colors only. He usually plays this more outside then in, since when the sun light them up, the colors really sparks. His big brother mixed the water and color, that was also a fun experiment for him too.

4. Family pictures

I have printed and plastified family pictures. They are in a basket accessible to him in the living room. He LOVes taking them out, and looking at them. Perfect activity or the pointing stage he is into. When he points, we name the person. We have also started to ask him to point to a picture. He is really getting good at this!

5. Permanence object box

I wasn't able to justify to buy just a permanence object box, and the ones with the interchangeable forms were just out of my price range. So I made one up using a wooden CD box. I removed the lid, and made a hole on one size. For the interchangeable cards they are made out of thick cardboad (using an x-acto knife), and used wooden cutout shapes I already owned. VOila. He loves this, and plays over and over and over again, when my 2 oldest are not using it...

6. Bongo, Tam tam, and tapping

This little man sure loves rhythm! Anything he can tap on, he will, including the kitchen bin when he manages to open the kitchen cupboard to reach it. Clapping hands is also a favorite of his. Just put on some music, and he is off!

7. chasing Peek a boo.

THis is still going strong here. From silks to living room shades, this games gets played many times a day. But right now, he really preferes catch me peek a boo, which consist of running to hide in a corner of our home or behind a wall and call him. He just gets so excited when he finds us, and says "ah!"

8. The discovery basket

this really is endless fun!

9. Sand

Summer is at our doorstep, and we are finding ourselves more and more outside. Sand really is a texture he adores. A couple of buckets, a sand shovel, and a god sun hat is all he needs for hours (litterally) of fun

10. Blocks and basket

He has finally started to put in, and not just get out. I have put at his disposition a basket just to put things in. But his favorites right now are blocks. I have also seen him outside putting grass in a small teacup used for outdoor pretend play kitchen, and just about everything he finds on the floor, in just about anything he finds on the table, or in drawers.