As a mother, a teacher and a previous professional in the childcare and baby development industry, I can honestly say that there are hundreds of developmental toys for infants out there, all of which cost an arm and a leg. Not only are these toys expensive, your child is likely to grow out of them very quickly or get bored with them. I say “INVEST YOUR MONEY WISELY” and instead of forking out a fortune on toys, simply purchase one of those blow up beachballs from the cheapie store – it’s all you need for fun infant development. WHY you ask? Here's why...

From about 8 weeks you can use a beach ball to aid in exercising your baby's developmental capabilities using a few fun and stimulating exercises.

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Infant And Ball Exercises

ACTIVITY 1

The first exercise I always love to show parents involves placing baby on their tummy over the ball (Tummy Time is very IMPORTANT!) while rocking them back and forth. A safety tip for this is to place your legs around the ball to prevent it from rolling away! And of course, don't let go of your baby! I like to sing "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" gently to the babies for this one. (See song words below) A few interesting developmental milestones that you may notice with this exercise as baby gets older may include; at around five months baby will begin to hold onto the side of the ball with open hands, they may also attempt to lift themselves upwards, stretching their neck and back muscles. At around 9 months your baby may begin to reach their hands out in front of them when you rock the ball forward, this is called the reach extension response that baby develops to stop themselves from falling, a very necessary milestone.

ACTIVITY 2

The second activity that babies really enjoy includes sitting baby on top of the ball, once again follow the safety precautions mentioned before. I like to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" for this one. You can always start by rocking your baby backwards and forwards on the ball. Take a look at their back movement while doing this, it is an excellent core exercise! But what I like most is to watch baby’s movement when rocking from side-to-side. An older baby that is practicing their sitting skills will reach arms out wide to maintain balance, kind of like an aeroplane. You will also notice that when you rock baby to the left, their right leg will begin to lift up, this is the body’s natural ability to maintain balance and good posture. Change movement directions continuously each time you sing the song, or try moving baby in a circular motion, this is great form of Baby Pilates.

ACTIVITY 3

A third exercise with the ball is a simple bouncing exercise while baby is still sitting on their bum. I like to sing "Horsey, Horsey" for this one. A small baby will require you to hold them securely under the arms and around their abdomen whilst you bounce, however, an older baby that is already sitting can be held further down around the waist and legs. By holding your older baby this way, you are ensuring that they are putting in more effort to use core power and maintain balance.

ACTIVITY 4

Finally, these beach balls are perfect for vision and auditory tracking. When you hit the sides of the ball they create loud echo noises that can catch baby’s attention. They are also usually brightly coloured and eye catching. For this exercise you will want to lie baby flat on their tummy (Tummy Time is very IMPORTANT!) and hold the ball low down in front of them. Bang the sides a little to get baby’s attention and slowly lift it up as their eyes follow. From a higher position drop the ball down to the ground suddenly and watch to see if your baby’s eyes follow. At first they probably won’t, as small babies have poor visual tracking skills and their eyes will only look at the ball after a delayed response. Do this exercise a few times daily to improve and promote your baby’s tracking skills.

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I hope all moms will enjoy these beach ball activities just as much as I do!

Song Words:

My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean-

My Bonnie lies over the ocean

My Bonnie lies over the sea

My Bonnie lies over the ocean

Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me

Bring back, bring back

Bring back my Bonnie to me, to me

Bring back, bring back

Bring back my Bonnie to me

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Row, Row Your Boat-

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream

Row, row, row your boat

Gently to the sand

If you see a monkey

Shake his hairy hand

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Horsey, Horsey-

Horsey, horsey don’t you stop

Just let your feet go clippety clop

Your tail goes swish

And your wheels go round

Giddy up we’re homeward bound

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With thanks from @mamameimei