Today, Miki has gathered together some wonderful suggestions to keep your children amused and stimulated. Whether your kids are little babies, or ‘grown-up’ bigger kids, there’s something here for everyone, so turn off the telly and let the games begin!
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Fun and Games from birth to 6 months
Babies from newborn to six months of age aren’t much for throwing a ball around in the back yard or playing chasey, but you can have lots of giggles with them nonetheless!
Right from the first couple of weeks, it’s really important that babies spend a bit of time each day on their tummies: ‘tummy time’. It’s essential to do this in order to relieve pressure on the backs of their little heads and to encourage their neck muscles to strengthen so that they can begin to lift their head up.
Some babies love tummy time but many don’t, so I recommend investing in a good play gym (the Mamas & Papas one pictured below is great) in order to make it more interesting and stimulating for them.
The other important activity for little babies is encouraging them to reach and grab for objects. Again, a good quality play gym will aid this but for when you’re out and about string a pram toy across the car seat and/or pram to give them something to aim for.
Heimess Bear Rattle, $19.95 $16.95* from Ekidna Kids*
Mamas & Papas Light and Sound Playmat & Gym, $199.95 from Little Possums Toys
Mamas & Papas Musical Pram Rattle, $23.80 also from Little Possums Toys
Fun and Games from 6-12 months
From six to twelve months babies are developing mentally and physically at an astonishing pace! During this period they’ll probably start shuffling, crawling or even walking.
Babies this age adore peekaboo games – try throwing a cot sheet over their head and slowly dragging it off again and see if you can keep a straight face over the giggles!
Also try hiding toys under containers for the baby to ‘find’, and stacking containers into towers for the baby to knock down. Don’t worry about potential destructive tendencies emerging here, as babies learn about building from knocking down for the first couple of years.
Other great games for this age are rolling a ball back and forth between you and the baby, and bringing puppets into play. Whole hand puppets or cute little finger puppets are a guaranteed to be a hit!
Crocodile Creek 7″ Playground Ball – Dogs, $18.95 $16.10* from Ekidna Kids
Djeco Topanimo, $49.95 from Little Possums Toys (gorgeous set of toys and boxes, great for hiding games)
Beneath The Leaf Fairy Finger Puppets – set of 3, $24.95 also from Little Possums Toy
Fun and Games from 12-15 months
Sometime around the ages of 12-15 months, your little one will probably start walking!
An activity they’re guaranteed to adore at this stage is walking along behind a trolley. They can load it up with their favourite toys and head off into the sunset. It goes without saying that it’s even more important than ever to make sure they’re in a safe environment for this though.
With babies/toddlers who are on the move (crawling or walking), setting up structures to ‘hide’ in and around is loads of fun. Make sure you get down on their level to crawl with them; it will increase the giggles tenfold.
The play teepee from Kids Gift List pictured below is perfect for this sort of game and can be used indoors or outdoors.
At this age they’re also learning to post different shapes into slots, so a posting game of some sort can be great. I love the BRIO one pictured, it’s so sleek and shiny!
KGL Pink Teepee, $259.95 $220.95 from Kids Gift List*
BRIO Wooden Sorting Box, $38.95 from Little Possums Toys
Plan Toy Baby Walker With Blocks, $120.00 also from Little Possums Toys
Fun and Games from 2 to 3 years
Two to three year olds have SO MUCH ENERGY! Keeping up with them can be a challenge and their power for destruction around the house is huge if they aren’t kept entertained.
At this age they can really start to get into dress ups, so bring out your best wardrobe gear from the 80s and let them go wild.
From the little destructive tornadoes who would knock down every tower of blocks in sight, they’re now starting to get the hang of building so a good set of blocks is a must-have. Good quality wooden blocks will last generations, and the Toys Pure set from Ekidna Kids look beautiful as well. These are a big favourite in our house.
You can also start to introduce simple puzzles and memory games for ‘quiet times’ play. Don’t get too carried away with fancy shapes and pictures here yet, stick to something simple like the Mooo Basic Shapes Puzzle to allow them to get the hang of things.
Mooo Basic Shapes Puzzle, from $34.95 from Mooo
Toys Pure Shalimar Puzzle, $39.95 $33.95 from Ekidna Kids*
Djeco 9 Cube Jungle Puzzle, $15.95 from Little Possums Toys (great blocks for building, and also are great as a puzzle from 3+
Fun and Games from 3 to 5 years
Three to five year olds are developing quite advanced gross motor skills and love being active, so give them plenty of practice by encouraging games like ten pin bowls – easy to be enthusiastic about, given the gorgeous range of sets available these days.
To encourage the development of fine motor skills, bring out the art supplies. Drawing, painting, stamping and so on are loads of fun and are a great tool for parents if you need to keep the kids amused on a rainy day. Giving your child their own pencil case makes them feel special and grown up – check out the Capt’n Sharky and Princess Lillifee filled pencil cases from Gifts4Kidz.
The more advanced puzzles can be brought out around now – the personalised name puzzles from Mooo are perfect as they will also help your child learn to recognise his or her own name in written form… and of course they look fabulous!
Capt’n Sharky Filled Pencil Case and Princess Lillifee Filled Pencil Case, both $45.00 from Gifts4Kidz
Bowl Me Over Penguin Set, $21.95 $18.65 from Kids Gift List*
Personalised Wooden Name Puzzle, from $24.95 from Moo
Fun and Games from 5 years+
By now your big little person is at school! The house must be seeming very quiet during the weekdays, but no doubt the noise and energy is more than making up for it after school and on weekends.
Keep the pencils and art supplies from the previous ages, as writing stories is probably starting to become a favourite pastime at this point. Encourage them in their literary and artistic pursuits by always have pencils and paper available; you’ll be amazed at what your little Picassos and Tennysons will produce!
For burning off energy you just can’t beat a jumping rope. Even professional athletes use jump rope as a cardio excercise, and the best part is that it’s so much fun! Adults can take part just as much as the kids can – get two jump ropes going and see if you remember how to double dutch like you used to in primary school. The kids will be incredibly impressed if you can 
This is a brilliant age to be bringing kids into the kitchen as well, and making a pizza can be healthy, educational and a whole heap of fun. If you’re not exactly a Michelin-starred chef yourself, the Kids In The Kitchen Pizza Box sets from Gifts4Kidz make it easy for you.
Little girls love to play hairdressers, but please don’t exclude the boys from this game either. Bring out some gel and some hair dressing equipment (the set below means they won’t be wrecking yours!) and let them all go to town, not just on each other but on your hair too!
Hairdressing kit and cape, $44.95 from Gifts4Kidz
Kids in the Kitchen Pizza Box – Black, $24.95 from Gifts4Kidz
KGL Skipping Rope – Zebra, $6.95 $5.90 from Kids Gift List*
Please check individual sites for postage details.
*Indicates discount or special offer through the Shop 4 Kids magazine code.
