From starting to walk independently to gaining more balance and equilibrium, My Munchkin has been on her path of perfecting her walking skills. A visible difference in coordination can be seen as she tries running a little as well now.

We have been having more outdoor time with her as she enjoys being able to exercise her new skills. As every other Munchkin, she loves the park. We have a small sand pit in our park which we would avoid putting her in earlier as she put everything in her mouth. This month we let her explore the sand pit, sitting close by just in case she decided to taste the sand. The sensory exploration of sand was new to her and she took her time, picking some and trying to hold it in her hand over and over again. She also used some of the toys other children had trying to collect sand.

My Munchkin got another shelf as we were falling short of space for materials/toys with just one. This meant an addition of things for her to play/work with. Our new additions in Month 16 are highlighted below.

Opening and Closing of Boxes

This is a DIY with various boxes that My Munchkin could open and close by herself. This is the perfect age for such an activity and it keeps them occupied for quite some time. I will post a DIY for this soon.

Farm Animals

We had farm animals on the shelf earlier as well, but then I came across big ones that looked like the animals actually do. So I replaced them with the smaller ones we had on the shelf and what a difference it made! My Munchkin was super excited with this set.

Pop Up Toy

A great toy for hand-eye coordination as well as colour recognition. The baby presses down each of the heads and they pop out of their places. It is a fun activity for them. They develop their coordination when putting a finger on each head and pressing it down to pop out. Also, when they put the pop ups back into the holes on the stand. Initially, they will not match the colours as it takes time for them to pair colours. This skill comes closer to 20months or so.

Vehicles

We added some cars and a digger she received as gifts. My Munchkin loves see the cars pass by and also watches a construction site close by so recognizes the digger, cement truck and more.

Pull Toy

We added a pull toy as well to encourage her to walk at home too. This is not very Montessori but My Munchkin seemed to like it. We made sure it was not one of the noisy battery operated ones when purchasing it.

Tracker Toy

This was another DIY we did for her as the actual one is very expensive in India. I will admit I ended making this late and so My Munchkin did not play with it as much. More on this and the DIY in the coming blogs.

Shape Sorter

A very simple shape sorter with the basic shaped of circle, square and triangle. Children enjoy this one a lot and there are many options available. I suggest to take a simple one that focuses on just the shapes and there are no other distractions.

Do not be surprised if your munchkin just lifts the lid and puts all the shape blocks inside (instead of putting each one through the respective place on the lid). This is quite normal with most children in the beginning. To be honest, that in itself is commendable as they figure a way to complete the activity.

Did your Munchkin play with a shape sorter? Did they do the same as My Munchkin? I would love to hear about it.

Blocks are very good for development in children. The first blocks we introduce should be soft and made of cloth. Later on we introduce wooden blocks to them, large ones followed by smaller ones.

Making the soft blocks at home is quite simple. Well, it wasn’t simple for me but was for my mother. My Munckin enjoyed playing with them and has been playing with them for more than 6 months. These are good to give as first blocks to your baby. The commercial ones can be given a little later.

To make the Soft Blocks, cut out sponge in square / rectangle shapes – try keeping them around the same size. Then, cover each one and stitch cloth over each of them in your primary, secondary and tertiary colours. If you can arrange material of different textures (cotton, silk, jute, etc), that would be even better.

Give these to your Munchkin to play with, they can observe them, build with them, chew on them and do lots more.

Colours – Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple, Pink, Brown, Orange, Grey, Black and White.

Age: You can give this around 6-7 months or when your baby is able to sit. You can even give this to them earlier when they are able to grasp it.

Purpose: This helps in developing their hand muscles, hand-eye coordination, sensory development (visual) for colour.

Hope you are able to use this DIY for your Munchkin.

Introducing colours to your Munchkin.

When children are born, they do not see in colour, which is why it is recommended to show them images in black and white. Slowly they develop their senses and start seeing in colour. They observe it around them in various forms, but, we should try and give them the opportunity to look at each colour (primary, secondary and tertiary) individually.

The colour sensory bottles are a great way for your Munchkin to explore colours. It is also extremely easy to make at home. All you need it some small bottles, water and food colouring. It is recommended to use bottles of the same kind so the only difference seen is in the colour.