5 things...the fifth month



1.    
Your baby is developing their hand skills from simple grasping to manipulating the objects that they hold. You can offer the Interlocking Discs to provide an opportunity to use two hands together – a new skill which needs practice

2.    Your baby has a natural attraction to faces and will love a simple doll figure at this age. Waldorf dolls make a lovely addition to your baby’s toys at this age, with their simple facial features and use of natural fibres in construction

3.    Sewing some interesting objects onto the toes of socks and popping them on your baby’s feet will provide an incentive to explore their feet, which they may have just begun to notice 

4. Your baby is starting to develop the ability to choose. Offering a low shelf with three toys to choose from will help them to practice this skill. When rotating toys out, only change one of the toys at any time. Your baby has a strong sense of order and a need for sameness - change needs to happen slowly 


5. Try offering three books at a time for your baby to choose from. Little choices translate into big leaps forward in independence, and feelings of self-confidence. Try for one favourite, one already read, and one new, to provide a good mix of familiar and novelty.



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