How to Fill The Day With A 6-12 Month Old

Babies are busy little things, and it can be hard to fill the day with fun activities that will keep your baby entertained. I have always appreciated the feeding time and nap time, because those take up such a huge chunk of the day. What can you do with your baby to help break up the awake times though? I am a stay-at-home mom, so life can get very repetitive, so I feel like I need new activities to fill the day as well! I have compiled a list full of fun and entertaining activities for you to try with your 6-12 month old!

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If you haven’t read 5 Ways to Entertain Your Baby in Their Car-Seat, definitely check that out!

Go Outdoors to Fill The Day

This is one of the best ways to keep your baby entertained! You can go on walks with your baby, or simply let them lay outside on a blanket. If your baby is mobile enough, you could even go to a park and let them play, or you could go swimming. My baby loves to sit and watch cars drive by lately, so that has been nice for me, haha. Spending time outside is a great way to fill the day! Just don’t forget to grab some SUNSCREEN!

If it’s cold outside, playing in the snow is fun! That is definitely geared towards a baby that’s a little bit older though!

Read Books

Reading books is seriously one of the BEST activities that you can do to fill the day for your little one! I only read the hard cover (and pages) books to my baby, because he LOVES to turn the pages on his own. Most of the time I don’t even finish reading the page before he is ready to move on! I keep a lot of books near so that we can switch around. I don’t know if a lot of babies are like this, but mine will sit and look at books with me for a solid 15 minutes, which is actually quite impressive!

THESE crinkle books would be fantastic! There are a bunch of them so you can rotate different books too!

Finger Paints

This is definitely a messy one, but something really fun to fill the day! I found THESE edible finger paints that are SO good for babies! Obviously your baby will be trying to suck on their hands and put the paint in their mouth, so the safer to eat, the better. I really like the ones that I found! I would highly advise doing this outside though. It makes for a much easier clean-up! Also, taping or mounting the paper down somehow, is really helpful too!

Create Sensory Bins and Bags

Sensory bins and bags are such a fun thing to do with your baby! I’ve made a lot of sensory bags for my baby and I always have fun doing them! I’ve tried doing a few bins with my baby, but they are a lot more work than the bags, so just keep that in mind! You can put everything from oil and water, pom poms in water, sequins in water, to straws and pasta in the bags, and you can put everything from water, sand, Jello, and even rice and oats in the bins along with toys for them to play with!

Help Them Learn New Skills

Learning skills is important for babies, and if you’re eager to help them learn, then that is a great way to fill the day! You can help them learn new skills by encouraging them to work on them. For example, help them learn to couch surf by sitting close behind them. Help them learn their pincer grasp by giving them small pieces of food to pick up on their own. Help them learn to crawl by moving their hands and legs for them. The list could go on!

Play Dates to Fill The Day!

Play dates are amazing, haha. My baby loves to sit with other babies and watch them. He is so interested in this other small human! He also LOVES toddlers and young children too. I’ve never seen him so energetic as he is around 4-7 year old kids! Play dates are a wonderful way entertain your baby while you just supervise. It’s a good time for mom to make some friends too!

Play on the Floor

This is simple, but it’s another idea! Give your baby lots of toys and lay them on the floor. If they’re in the mood for it, they could sit there for quite a while, discovering these toys! My son has a toy similar to THIS and he loves it! It keeps him busy as he manages to hit it and follow it around on the floor!

Let them Watch TV

I try not to let my baby watch too much TV, but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures! If he is being grouchy, I have things to do, and I can’t think of any other idea to fill the day, TV it is! My baby absolutely loves Baby Einstein’s. He could watch that for hours if I let him! I don’t feel terribly guilty letting him watch that either because it is really educational for babies!

Go to the Store to Fill the Day

If you baby is anything like mine, then they LOVE being out and about! My baby loves sitting in the cart and watching everything we pass! I could walk around Target for an hour and he would be super happy the whole time! So, if you need to run some errands, that is a wonderful way to fill the day!

I hope that this post helped spark some fresh ideas for you! It can be hard to find enough activities to fill the day, especially once your baby stops napping so much. Do you have any other creative, fun things that you do with your baby to fill the day? Tell me in the comments!