7+ Surprisingly Fun And Easy Play Activities for Baby

Babies don’t need expensive toys or elaborate setups to have a good time. Most of what genuinely holds their attention in the first year is simple: things they can grab, drop, squash, kick or watch move. The activities below are all things you can pull together with items already in your house, and they double up as brilliant ways to build the physical and sensory skills your baby is working on at each stage.

A quick note before you start: babies explore with their mouths, so anything small, loose or easily torn needs close supervision. If you’re ever unsure whether something is safe for your baby’s age or stage, it’s always worth checking with your health visitor, midwife or GP, especially if your baby has any additional needs or was born prematurely.

A Few Safety Basics First

Stay within arm’s reach for every activity on this list. Babies move faster than you expect the moment they can roll, and anything that fits through a toilet roll tube is a choking risk for a child under three. Balloons, small pom poms, lids and buttons all fall into that category, so these activities work best when you’re sitting right there with your baby, not glancing over from across the room.

1. Tummy Time With a Boppy Pillow or Rolled Towel

If you’ve got a Boppy pillow, it’s a great prop for making tummy time less of a chore for a baby who isn’t keen on it. Slide it under baby’s chest and arms so their head and shoulders are lifted slightly, which takes some of the strain off tired neck muscles while they build strength.

One nice variation, shared by Can Do Kiddo, is floating a bath toy in a shallow pan of water just in front of baby. It gives them something to reach and swat at while they’re propped up. Keep the water level low and never leave baby alone with it, even for a few seconds, and stop straight away if their face goes anywhere near the water.

Tummy time is worth persisting with because it strengthens the neck, shoulders and core muscles baby needs for rolling, sitting and eventually crawling. Start with just a minute or two a few times a day from around 2 to 4 weeks old, and build up gradually as they get stronger. If your baby cries every single time, try shorter, more frequent bursts rather than pushing through one long session.

2. Balloon Kicking (With Caution)

This idea from Laughing Kids Learn involves tying a helium balloon loosely around baby’s ankle so they can bat and kick it while lying on their back, which is great for leg strength and cause-and-effect learning.

Balloons deserve a proper safety warning though. Popped or deflated balloons are one of the more common choking hazards for young children, so this is strictly a supervised, in-your-hands activity, never one to leave baby with unattended, and it’s not suitable once babies are mobile enough to grab and mouth things independently without you right there. Remove and dispose of the balloon the moment it shows any sign of a leak, and keep the knot and string well away from baby’s neck and face. If you’d rather skip balloons altogether, tying a soft ribbon with a couple of jingle bells sewn on works almost as well for the kicking response.

3. Tissue Box Play

An empty tissue box is genuinely one of the best free toys out there for babies who are starting to develop a pincer grasp, usually from around 8 to 9 months. Fill it with soft scarves, ribbon, or fabric squares that baby can pull out and post back in. This came from Learn With Play At Home, and it’s a lovely one for practising the release of an object, which babies often find trickier than grasping it.

Skip anything rigid, small, or with a strong smell like scented lids or bottle caps, since these are more likely to be chewed and can be a choking risk. Fabric offcuts, ribbons with the frayed ends trimmed, or soft baby socks are all safer choices than hard plastic bits and pieces.

4. Edible Finger Paints

Messy play is worth the clean-up because it gives babies a huge amount of sensory information through touch, and it’s often their first experience of cause and effect through mark-making. For babies who still put everything in their mouths, edible paint means you don’t need to panic every time a finger goes towards their face.

i Heart Arts n Crafts has a simple recipe using cornflour, water and food colouring. Do this one stripped down to a nappy, on a wipeable surface or outside on a warm day, and lay a splash mat or old shower curtain underneath to save your floor. If your baby has known food allergies, check the ingredients carefully first, cornflour and food colouring are generally fine but always worth a quick look if you’re unsure, and it’s sensible to do a small patch test on their skin beforehand if they have sensitive skin or eczema.

5. Spider’s Web Discovery Basket

This one from The Train Driver’s Wife uses a laundry basket, some string woven across the top like a web, and a few soft toys tucked in and around it for baby to reach through and pull at. It’s a nice one for babies who can sit unsupported, usually from around 6 to 8 months, because reaching through gaps and pulling toys free works on grip strength and hand-eye coordination.

Use soft cotton string rather than anything thin or wiry, and keep the whole thing to a length baby can’t get tangled in or wrap around their neck. As with anything involving string or cord, this is a stay-right-there activity, not one to set up and walk away from.

6. Pom Pom Drop

Tape an empty paper towel or wrapping paper tube to the side of a box or basket and let baby drop large pom poms or soft balls through it. Laughing Kids Learn shares this one, and it’s a genuinely good one for fine motor development and understanding object permanence, since baby learns the pom pom still exists even after it disappears down the tube.

Pom poms are small and soft, which makes them a real choking hazard for babies who still mouth objects, so go for the largest craft pom poms you can find (at least golf ball sized), or swap them for slightly bigger soft toys or crumpled fabric balls if your baby still puts things in their mouth. This activity is really better suited to babies who are past that stage, generally closer to 12 months, when you’re comfortable they’ve moved on from mouthing everything they pick up.

7. Sensory Bags

Growing a Jeweled Rose has some good ideas for these: fill a sturdy freezer bag with hair gel, water beads, or paint, squeeze out the air, and seal it firmly with strong tape all the way around the edges before letting baby squish and press it flat on the floor or highchair tray. Because everything stays sealed inside, it’s a good mess-free option for babies who aren’t quite ready for open messy play but still love squashing and poking things.

Always use a thick, good quality bag rather than a thin sandwich bag, and check the seal regularly, since repeated squeezing can wear it down over time. If it ever splits or leaks, take it away and replace it rather than patching it up, and never leave baby alone with it even though it’s sealed.

Keeping It Simple

You don’t need to do all of these in one week, and you definitely don’t need to buy anything special to get started. Rotate through a few at a time, watch how your baby reacts, and drop anything they’re not that interested in. Babies tend to tell you pretty clearly what’s working, whether that’s leaning forward for more or turning their head away because they’ve had enough. Short sessions, repeated often, usually work better than one long stretch of play, especially in the younger months when attention spans are naturally short.