Early stimulation involves a series of exercises and activities that promote the baby’s psychomotor development as well as its cognitive development. In this article we will see different early stimulation exercises for babies up to 12 months.

In each month of life, the exercises should be adapted to the capacities and abilities of the child. Let’s get to know some of these exercises, organized by stages and months.

Early stimulation

Early stimulation (also called early care) is based on a series of exercises through which babies and children can have fun and through which their cognitive and psychomotor development is enhanced . These exercises also facilitate future learning.

Early stimulation can be started from birth and up to about 6-7 years of age, as it is during this period that the child’s thinking structure and personality develop.

This type of stimulation will allow the baby’s mental and physical abilities to be used to the full ; therefore the work as a mother, father or professional will be decisive, through appropriate activities with specific objectives that will facilitate their optimal development.

Early stimulation exercises for babies

When a baby is born, one of its basic needs is physical contact, in addition to eating, drinking, sleeping, defecating and urinating.

The babies receive the first stimuli from their reference figures (mainly from the mother and father). It is important that from birth, their senses are stimulated through play, speech and different exercises that we can do with them.

Early stimulation in the first 6 months

In the early stages (0-6 months), early stimulation exercises for babies will help them gain flexibility, strengthen their muscle tone and prepare them to explore their environment .

It is recommended that the exercises be performed at a time of day when the baby is receptive and calm, and that his or her sleeping and feeding hours be respected. You can start with five-minute sessions and progressively increase the time, although they should not last more than 10 minutes.

Exercises from 0 to 3 months

There are different types of early stimulation exercises for babies. We will now talk about those that can be done during the first trimester of life (from 0 to 3 months). These exercises should be gentle, and will be focused on helping them to gain mobility, to discover new sensations and to become familiar with their first stimuli. Some of them are:

  • Take his hands and feet and play with his fingers, one by one.
  • Massages hands and feet.
  • Lying on his back, take the soles of his feet and bring his knees to his chest. Repeat 5 times with each leg and slowly increase the frequency.
  • Lying on his back, he takes his hands and makes circular movements with his arms.
  • Lying on his back, show him a colorful toy within an inch of his eyes and move it back and forth so that he follows it with his head.
  • Lying on your back, gently bring your baby’s right hand to your opposite shoulder. Repeat with your left hand. Then cross both arms over the chest.

3 to 6 months exercises

The exercises will change as the baby grows , as he will acquire motor skills. Thus, we will progressively add more complex exercises.

You can start by doing exercises face down to gain strength in the neck muscles; we will do them little by little and respecting your willingness to perform them. Some of these exercises may be the following:

  • Lying on your back, gently move the bike with your legs.
  • Take his hands and play patty cake.
  • Lying on his back, bend one leg while extending the other and help him turn to the side of the extended leg. Repeat with the other leg.
  • Lying on your back, grab your arms and slowly bring it up to a sitting position.
  • Lying on her stomach, she places some toys in front of her to try to reach them.

7 to 10 months exercises

As the baby grows, the goals and exercises will be adapted to the baby. Thus, early stimulation exercises for babies should always be adapted to the physical and psychomotor characteristics of the child .
Some exercises that can be done between 7 and 10 months are

  • Draw different pictures of animals, make the right sound for each one, and tell him to call it what you taught him. For example, when you point to the cat, say “meow, meow.”
  • Let the child, touch the food with his hands. Have him put one of the foods I touch in his mouth, so that he can relate the texture to the taste.
  • Start crawling around the house with him, he will help you a lot, do this activity crawling forward, backward, around, and encourage him to follow you.
  • Line up several objects and say, “Give me the car.” Guide your hand to the toy, and once it has picked up, gently remove the object and praise it for giving it to you.
  • Teach him to call a relative, e.g. “call your aunt”, when this happens, applaud him, and continue to do so, until he calls and finds his aunt.

11 to 12 months exercises

Of the 11 months to the year , some of the recommended early stimulation exercises for this stage are this stage:

  • Place your hands on a radio or a lighted speaker, so that you can feel the vibrations of the music.
  • Teach the child to smooth out the sand in a bucket by flattening it and patting it.
  • Having fun in the mirror will teach you to distinguish the image from reality. Make him look at himself in the mirror, he will soon start laughing and touching his portrait.
  • Encourage activities with the same toy by saying, “Hug the baby,” “rock the baby,” “feed the baby.
  • Give him a chance to join you when you do the cleaning, for example, you can give him a rag to help you in any other activity you think he is capable of.

Bibliographic references:

  • Rovati, L. (2017). Early stimulation exercises for your baby from 0 to 6 months. Babies and more.
  • Britton, W., Guerrero, S., Huanqui, M. and Malque, E. (2009). EARLY STIMULATION GUIDE FOR THE FACILITATOR. Adara Peru