How to Entertain your baby and Encourage Independent Play

21 Apr

Have you heard of a Treasure Basket? One of the reasons I wanted to share this with you is because it really helped to entertain both of my babies when they were little.

It’s basically a collection of everyday objects made from natural materials that you give your baby or toddler to play with. Items that may seem mundane to you will spark their curiosity and fascinate your little one. You can even have themed collections such as wood, metal etc.

The idea is that you keep this collection of everyday objects in a basket out of sight until you decide to give it them to play with. This makes the items more intriguing and will entertain your baby for longer as they are not used to having them around.

Heuristic Play

Treasure baskets often go hand in hand with heuristic play which is all about giving your baby the opportunity to discover or learn something for themselves. When you give your baby or toddler their treasure basket avoid interacting with them or showing them how to play whilst they are discovering the new objects. Just make sure you are in the same room as this will make them feel safe and stop them from coming to find you (the perfect excuse to sit down and drink that hot cup of tea)

Allow them to use their curiosity to discover the new objects and figure out how they want to play with them for themselves. This ignites the feeling of excitement, helps to develop their creativity and encourages them to play independently.

Here are some of the objects my babies liked to play with the most…