For some parents play time is just a chance to get some much needed rest and relaxation. While the baby is busy stimulating herself, a parent can have an opportunity to finish reading a good book, enjoy a quiet snack, or just catch up on that sleep that all parents are short on. What many parents do not realize is that by structuring their infants play time they can help their infant's education and creativity to develop ahead of schedule, giving them a head start that they will appreciate for the rest of their lives.



One thing you can do is turn cleaning up into a fun game. When your baby is a few months old and sitting up on their own this game can provide them with hours of entertainment. Spend time showing your child how to remove toys from a toy box or a bag that you have designated solely for the purpose of this little activity. Once you have removed the toys show your infant how to pick the toys up off the ground and place them back in the bag.

This might sound silly but infants have literally spent hours at this activity even when their parents are not encouraging it. Not only does this show your baby the importance of cleaning up after themselves, it also helps with other important skills too. By taking the time to demonstrate the game to your infant you are showing them how to communicate affectively. If you tell the baby the name of the object you are removing from the bag you will also help them start to develop their vocabulary. This skill will also help their little arms get stronger and get them to practice simple motor skills that are required for picking up objects.

Another funs, and quiet, play time activity that can be shown to children is how plastic cups fit together. Many families invest in plastic cups that come in tall bags. The cups are usually placed in the bag with one cup being placed inside of the other to form a sort of plastic tower. When getting ready to play this game with your baby it is important you choose a bright colored cup to work with. A boring white or clear plastic cup is unlikely to attract, and hold, their attention as much as a bright green cup.

If you have some of these plastic cups begin showing your baby how you can fit the cups together and then take them back apart. Babies are often fascinated by how things work and will want to try to get the cups to fit together to form a tower similar to the one they have seen you create. It will often take a baby quite some time to figure out exactly how the cups can be fit back together again and this can help their development enormously.

The babies are forced to learn patience as they try to discover the right method to make their cups fit together. They also get to practice their motor skills by not only placing the cups inside one another, but also building the stack slowly over time. This simple game can help a baby to begin understanding what causes certain patterns and how certain actions help influence the world around them.