Children are adorable. Being a caregiver, you are bound to nurture them in a decent and positive environment.
To build their emotional intelligence and to keep them busy, you need to do some learning activities with them.
But what kind of activities are suitable? And honestly, during the first two years of motherhood, I always used to wonder what to do with the baby whole day.
Well, if you’re looking for activities for an 11-month-old, here’s the information we don’t want you to miss:
Messy play, stacking blocks, copy-cat play, crawling, and puppet activities are the best activities for 11 month old baby. You can also introduce grass running and flower smell as an outdoor activity.
Don’t worry; this is not at all. We have asked over 260+ mothers how they keep their 11 months old busy all day.
Then, our editors collaborated with the child development psychologist and picked the best activities.
So, sit back and keep on reading what experts has to say.
11 Month Old Milestones – What To Expect?
- At 11 months, your babies must walk by holding furniture if they don’t have any medical conditions.
- Babies can speak a few words like Boo, Mama, and Papa.
- Your baby must show emotions.
Well, parents must know how to differentiate between emotions and behavior problems.
Speaking of my experience, I would like to mention that you never raise your voice over babies of this age, no matter what happens. There’s no room for “parents with kid’s attitude.”
After going through our research data, we have divided this article into 7 different categories so you have solutions for every situation. But mostly, the baby will be crawling – and we all love that! Touchwood! Touchwood! Touchwood!
Indoor Activities For 11 Month Old
The rule of thumb for motherhood is either the baby should be sleeping or busy doing something.
Well, here are 5 fun indoor activities that you must try.
1. Playing With Shadows – Peak A Boo!
Build an emotional connection with the baby by playing the shadow game. This will surely make them giggle.
Keep the baby’s back at the window side while you sit in front of the direct light source. Make some funny faces, too, to make them laugh quickly.
2. Woo, There Is Cat – Meow Meow Meow
I love this game. This will develop the ability to learn voices in your baby. Keep in mind that positive parenting techniques include voice learning too.
You can make the sound 5 to 6 times. Then, you should encourage the baby to do the same. This will also help them to speak clearly.
3. Follow The Baby – Monkey See, Monkey Do
This activity is very important for building emotional intelligence. For the first few minutes, they will be confused about what is happening.
But once they crack the code, you will see that they will start making giggles and funny faces and do some hand movements. All you need to do is keep doing this for 20-30 minutes.
4. Catch A Ballon – Because Life Is All About Catching Up!
Another fun indoor activity for 11 months old is playing with balloons. You’ll be killing two birds with one stone, as babies will play and learn some colors too.
All you need to do is speak the color name of the balloon every time before you push it up in the air. The baby will also try to kick ballon after a few tries.
While playing with the balloon, ensure to get a mylar party balloon. They don’t pop us easily, and babies can’t swallow them.
5. Running In Walker – Who Run’s The World? Babies
As they say, “ Baby must walk.” So, why not put them in a walker? Remove all the obstacles from the path and encourage the baby to walk toward you.
You can make things interesting by attaching the mylar balloon to the walker. The baby will learn while enjoying.
Sensory Activities For 11 Month Old
Sensory activities are those that include all 5 basic senses. These are very crucial for child intelligence development and emotions.
Here’re 5 best sensory activities that ensure a complete movement.
1. Find The Mother – Where Are You?
This practice is best for a child’s hearing sense. All you need to do is hide somewhere near the baby and then start making funny noises.
The baby will start crawling toward you. Don’t keep hiding for a long time or ever make any high pitch sound that can frighten the infant.
2. Make Some Mess – Advance Apologizes To Caregivers
Messy Play is also another essential activity. Children have their own picture of the World, and at this age, they can use it to create some mess around the house.
The best solution is potatoes. Boil some potatoes and give them to your child to make some mess. Never give slime or molding clay to infants.
3. Touch The Cold Ice – Splash The Water Around
This exercise is essential for color exploring. Make some colorful ice cubes and put them into a container with normal tap water.
Then, put the container in front of the infant. When he/she puts on a hand, they will eventually feel the change of color and temperature.
Don’t put too much ice and don’t do this in winter. Keep the ice-to-water ratio even, and never leave the child alone with water.
4. Show Them A Puppet Show – Because Life Is Also A Stage
Technically, it’s not a puppet show. You can do this with stuffed animals. Just put the toy in front of your mouth and spark while acting.
You can sing a son or lullaby. You’ll notice that the kid will also start humming alone with you. Keep on doing it for 20 minutes per week.
5. The Mirror Game – Strike A Pose
Put baby in front of the mirror and start making some faces. Over time, they will identify their reflection and build a sense of attachment with the caregiver.
You can do this activity for 5 minutes daily. It is great for memory building and early-age emotional intelligence.
Learning Activities For 11 Month Old
You may be wondering what a child of this age can learn.
Well, ready to be surprised because infants can learn arranging and color identification at this age.
1. Arrange The Cushions – Hy baby! Do The Chores
This might be a hectic task for you too. You have to re-arrange cushions several times for this activity too.
It will baby a few minutes before getting any idea of what is happening. Lend them a hand if the cushions are heavy for them to pick.
2. Draw Some Lines – Hello Picasso, Is That You?
Take a piece of paper and colorful carryons and start drawing some lines. Encourage kids to do the same.
Initially, you might need to hold their hand, but once they find the grip, they will keep on drawing in loops again and again.
Don’t leave the child with carryons or any sharp pencil. They can swallow them in the worst case. Through this activity, you can practice the proximal parenting style too.
3. Time To Introduce New Flavours – Because Life Is All About Food
If you prefect to breastfeed a baby, then it is a perfect activity for you. Introduce some new foods to the daily routine.
You can feed mashed banana, curd with honey, and potato chips. To enhance the taste more, introduce chocolate chips once a week.
4. Blocks Arrangments – Build And Memorize
This activity goes hand in hand with the infant and caregiver. You need to arrange some blocks in a tower shape.
Then encourage the kis to repeat after you. You can also do this with legos. Just ensure that the blocks or legos are not tiny or easily swallowable.
5. Remember Your Family – Build A Lifelong Connection
By this age, infants must recognize caregivers, if not family. So, this activity is best to build a connection with the kid.
Place some photos of friends and families nearby and ask the infant to pick one. For example, you can ask them to pick the dada, mama, or brother picture.
Things To Do With 11 Month Old Outside
Be it a picnic or any sudden emergency, one way or another, you have to go out with the kid somehow. So, you can also spend this time bonding with your kid.
Here’re some fun activities to try:
1. Play With Swing – Just Hold On!
If you are in a park, then this will save you from baby cry dealing. All you need to do is put the baby on the swing and start to swing it slowly.
Keep the baby in your hands. This might seems a little difficult. But over the infant’s happiness, this is nothing, Right?
2. Flower Smell Testing – Welcome To Life
Before you try this activity with your 11 months old, ensure that your kid is not allergic to flowers or any kind of smell.
Let them smell some flowers while, in the meantime, you can say the plant name for them. After 2-3 tries, the kid will pick up the name.
3. Rest In Snow – No Worries, It Is Safe
Parents in Scandinavia deliberately leave a child in the freezing temperature for a quick nap. This help to strengthen the immune system.
If there is a little snow, you can leave your baby in the snow for a while. Just don’t forget to cover them with Swaddlers and warm clothes first.
4. Crawl On Grass – Be The Boss Baby!
This activity is also essential for strengthening the developing immune system. For fun, you can also crawl with the baby too.
Just ensure that there is no sudden deep slope. As the baby can’t fix the grip on such deep slopes. Enjoy the giggles your infant will make while on the go.
Before putting the baby on the ground, ensure that there are not any shaped objects or plastic wraps. It is recommended to clean the surface first for additional security.
5. Sing A Lullaby – Sing To The Sky!
You can introduce emotional warmth by doing so. Sing the favorite song of your kids and let them hum along with it.
Eventually, they will fall asleep in the cold natural habitat. Well, in the meantime you can also observe some nature too.
Montessori Activities For 11 Month Old
Children of 11 months start to pick the right objects once they repeat the name of it several times. So, by doing so, you can train them to do small chores even at this young age.
That is why most of the Montessori activities include object identification and making sounds.
1. Where’s Circle, Where’s Square – Where’s Will, There’s Way
Put the kid in your lap and place some shapes nearby. Repeat the shapes name 10 times and ask them to tell the right name.
After a few times, the kid will pick the right name. Continue this game until they memorize the names accurately.
2. Push A Box – Be The Baby Hulk
This activity is essential for a kid’s muscle development. Place some books in the box and ask your kids to move them around.
Encourage any small effort made by them. Try to push it with them but don’t apply any force. Let your child do all the heavy work.
3. Make Some DIY Toys – Difficult Yet Essential Task
This is the most difficult DIY activity. You need to be creative to do this. Make a bowl out of paper and throw it toward your kid.
Then pick it with speed and ask them to make their own. Eventually, this is not possible for infants to apply the pressure on the paper, but they will wiggle their fingers at least.
4. Try Ball Hammering Technique – Brain Storming Over New Ideas
Professional Montessori teachers actually encourage this idea. Take an inflatable hammer and start hitting the favorite ball of your infant.
As soon as they notice, they will start crawling toward you. After that, all you need to do is encourage them to hit the ball with force.
5. Solve 4 Piece Puzzles – Be The Little Genius
Let me assure you that your 11 year old will love this activity. You can buy 4 small pieces of puzzles and fix them in front of them.
Or you can also cut a picture into 4 pieces. Fixing the human face is relatively easy compared to the random illustration.
What to do with 11 month old all day?
Being a mother, let me assure you that we all have been there. This question will continuously pop into your mind.
Based on our survey and research, here’s what experts have to say:
- Play with them using blocks and making faces.
- Sing lullabies and other cradle songs to them.
- Visit a nearby park and let them crawl over fresh grass.
- Cuddle with them before nap time every day.
- Give them colors and ensure they draw something.
- You can also try different yummy breakfast ideas for kids to build their taste buds.
- Play hide and seek with the infant and make funny noises while the infant tries to find you.
You can also do some Montessori activities to build emotional intelligence in them.
We strongly suggest that you never leave your children attended while they do some tasks. This will build a sense of connection between both the caregiver and the kid.
Wrapping It Up!
It may seem that there are not many activities for 11 month old. But, the truth is parents can do as many fun activities as they like with infants.
Be gentle and have patience. Because this is the first step of your kid’s learning. Things that seem very easy to you are entirely new for them.
Nurture them in a positive environment and shower your love on them always. Keep in mind that your infant must make growth regardless of how slow they are.
We hope that this article helps you to get some amazing and unique ideas. Well, in the meantime, be happy and enjoy the charisma of motherhood.
