10 Activities For 3 To 4 Months Old Baby: Activities + Insights + What’s Happening
A widespread concern of parents when their baby is 3 or 4 months old is what activities or things they can do with a 3 or 4-month-old baby to entertain them and enhance the pace of their skills development.
But before getting down to 3-month-old baby activities, it’s important to understand what’s happening during this phase.
When 3 or 4-month-old, your baby is developing emotions and communication skills. They’re now familiar with your voice, and they’ll start reacting to your call when they hear you calling or interacting with them.
At times, the cute little fellas will also laugh or smile without any reason leaving you to wonder what triggered this beautiful emotion.
They’ll also look around curiously at their surrounding – especially at their fingers and toes.
Sounds familiar, right?
I know because I’ve been there too, and nothing would entertain your 3-month-old baby more than the activities that I’ve put together in this blog.
Now, these activities to do with a 3-month-old aren’t simply going to entertain your baby but also help you to strengthen the bond you share with them and boost motor skills and brain development.
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Insights into your baby’s development when they’re 3 – 4 months old
Whether you’re trying to streamline activities for your 6-month-old baby or a 3 – 4-month-old, it always seems a little difficult to determine the best activities as per your baby’s age.
There is a lot of debate on what skills the baby is developing at what stage, but once you go through the following points, you’ll get an idea of what skills babies are actually developing when they’re 3 – 4 months old.
- Babies usually start expressing emotions, try to communicate in various ways and learn how to move their hands, feet, head and other parts of their body.
- Interacting or communicating with your 3-month-old baby is a great activity as they’re learning how to talk. You’ll definitely hear them making beautiful sounds.
- If you’re concerned about your baby’s development, you can always speak with your GP or family health nurse to get support.
Your baby’s development at 3 – 4 months: What’s happening?
Let me start by saying that something amazing is happening to your baby when they’re 3 to 4 months old. For starters, know that your baby is super busy during this stage.
They’re learning how to communicate, they’re discovering emotions, they’re linking what you’re saying to your facial expressions, and all of this is resulting in them being able to interact with their surrounding and with you in a playful manner.
Amid all of this, one thing’s for sure, and that is that your baby loves to see you, and they’re finding new faces interesting. This is the main reason why you see them turning their head towards you or others who are trying to interact with them.
For the emotions part, you’ll see your little one laugh, smile, and make a sound like ‘Ah-ga’ or ‘Ah-go’ a lot.
When you talk to them, you’ll see them listening to you, and when they’re alone, you’ll hear them babbling to themselves. (When my daughter was 3 to 4 months old, she used to make all these beautiful sounds that we all adored)
One other thing that you need to keep in mind is that the extra crying – the part where your baby starts to cry for no reason will settle around when your baby is 12 to 16 weeks old.
Moreover, one of the activities that little ones do all by themselves when they’re 3 to 4 months old is that they try to grab objects, stare at objects and shake them.
Moreover, control over head movement, sitting up straight and other activities may be common during this stage, but I would recommend you provide support to your baby while he or she is sitting or doing the other stuff mentioned earlier, mainly because their bones aren’t strong enough yet.
One way to entertain your 3-month-old is by helping them roll over, but first, you’ll have to see if your baby is trying to roll over all by themselves.
Do keep an eye on them if they’re doing the rolling activity, as they could try to reach out to something that’s dangerous for them.
The 10 Activities to do with your 3-month-old baby
1. Tummy time
I bet you know what tummy time is, but what you may not know is that this thing to do with your 3-month-old is considered an essential sensory activity that you should include in your baby’s everyday routine.
Your 3-month-old baby is building some important skills like navigation and motor skills, and this is the perfect time to help them with a little tummy time.
Tummy time improves hand and eye coordination and strengthens the neck, shoulder, arms and trunk.
Also practising tummy time would also enhance the development of muscles enabling your little one to learn how to crawl, pull and rollover.
2. Dance
Who doesn’t love to dance? I mean, we all love to groove to the music we love, and the same goes for babies. Hence, I consider it a great thing to do with a 3-month-old baby.
Let me tell you what I used to do with my daughter. I used to turn on my favourite songs or play melodies, pick up my 3-month-old baby and start moving my body gently.
It may look or sound silly but trust me, during this time, your baby will be having the time of his or her life. Not only is dancing a lot of fun, but it’s a whole different experience for your little one.
They’re exploring different movements by moving their hands up, down, side to side, round and round, fast and slow – all of this activity your having with a 3-month-old is actually stimulating the development of the vestibular system.
After hearing all that, I would say that dancing would definitely entertain your 3-month-old while providing them awareness as to what else they can do.
3. Move To The Rhythm
In case you’re wondering what else to do with a 3-month-old, here’s another activity that is related to yoga while listening to baby songs.
Songs like “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes” or “If you’re happy and you know it claps your hands” incite different motions, and once your baby starts learning these motions, it’ll be easier for them to start moving on their own when they’re a little old.
The best part? You’ll get a lot of smiles from your baby + motor, and gross skill development is evident.
4. Mirror Mirror on The Wall
Self-discovery is the primary advantage of this activity for your 3-month-old. It’s just amazing to let your 3 to 4-month-old baby sit in front of the mirror and let them react to you or themselves.
Just make sure the mirror is unbreakable and doesn’t pose a threat to your little baby.
It is a little unreal to think that your little baby would recognize themselves at 3 or 4 months old, but they’ll definitely be surprised to see someone who looks just like them or is as small as they are.
Spoiler Alert: You may get a lot of smiles while opting for this activity for a 3-month-old.
5. Peek-a-boo
The cutest and most recognized activity for a 3 or 4-month-old in the world is Peek-a-boo.
Peek-a-boo enhances the development of object prominence. Object prominence is the understanding of objects and events that continue to exist even when they’re not visible to the eye and cannot be touched or heard.
Basically, your baby develops this concept when they’re 6 months or a year old, but it’s always good to start this development in different brackets of their age.
To further understand object permanence, click here.
6. Grab and Hold
In the development insights part of the blog, we discussed that your baby would start to grab and hold objects when they’re 3 or 4 months old, and the “grab and hold” activity for a 3-month-old would improve eye-hand coordination skills improving your baby’s grabbing and holding capabilities.
This thing to do with a 3-month-old requires a toy or a harmless object that you know your baby would try to hold or grab – all you have to do is give them things that can be easily grabbed.
7. The Roly Poly Activity For 3 Month Old
The nursery rhyme Roly Poly comes to mind whenever I speak about this activity to do with a 3-month-old. Babies tend to try to roll from their stomachs to their backs when they’re 3 months old.
Let’s convert this into an activity that I’m sure your child will love.
While your baby is on their tummy, sit in front of them or with a toy or thing that they love.
Once you’ve got the attention of your baby, start moving in a rolling direction. Once your baby is on their back, gently turn them on their belly.
This 3-month-old activity will be exciting for your little one, but make sure you give them a break after every roll and be super gentle, as fast motion may be a danger for the little baby.
8. The Dancing Activity
The next activity for a 3 – 4-month-old on this list is designed to improve your baby’s head control, and although it may sound as if the activity is purely entertainment centered, it’s not.
Now, this activity is a little tricky, so just relax and understand the process first.
- Lay down on your back with your knees bent.
- Your feet should be pointed towards your hips.
- Your baby will sit on your tummy facing you.
- Your thigh will support your baby while he/she is sitting on your tummy.
Once you’ve nailed the position, hold your baby’s hands, sign nursery rhymes, and gently move their hands to the rhythm.
Perform different gestures as per the rhymes. For instance, when singing “The wheels on the bus,” you can move their hands round and round.
Do this, and I’m pretty sure your baby will ask for it the next time they’re sitting on your tummy.
9. Multiple Gym Ball Activities for 3-month-old
Here are a few multiple ways through which you can entertain your 3-month-old, and all it requires is a big exercise ball.
Here’s the exercise ball that I would recommend!
But this activity for a 3-month baby is more than a simple entertainment hack; it’s developmental in nature – it is an exercise that would stimulate the development of the vestibular system as there are a lot of movements involved in this activity for your 3-month-old.
Let’s get on to the three recommended activities to enhance a 3 – 4-month-old baby’s development:
- Bounce
Just sit on the exercise ball with your baby in your lap and make sure you’re in a secure position – don’t want the ball to roll away from underneath.
Hold the baby and start bouncing up and down. You can also play rhymes and melodies to make it more entertaining for the 3-month-old.
- Swaying
Similar to the bouncing activity for a 3-month-old, Swaying is getting your feet flat on the floor, securing your baby in your lap and singing along with swaying your baby side to side.
You can use movement-appropriate songs to amplify the experience your baby is getting during this time.
Just make sure you stop frequently and give your baby some time to register the movement saving them from overstimulation.
- Flying Time
What else can you do with a 3-month-old baby and an exercise ball? Flying time!
Flying time is great as it enhances your toddler’s stability.
Just place your baby’s tummy over the ball with his/her face away from you.
Hold the baby for stability and gently roll the ball back and forth.
10. Outing
It’s time to discuss the simplest yet one of the most effective activities for your 3-month-old baby’s development.
Nothing would entertain your 3-month-old than going outside for a simple walk. For starters, this activity is beneficial for you and your baby.
To spice things up a little, you can go to the park with a blanket, lay down with your baby on his/her tummy and just let them be entertained by experiencing nature.
The trees, birds, sky, wind, animals and other gifts of nature will provide a delightful experience for your little one. Just be a little careful while around animals – don’t let them come near your baby.
Although this activity is best for improving your baby’s senses but knows that every baby develops at their own pace, and if you find your baby not interested in an outing, try out some other activities for a 3 to 4-month-old mentioned on this list.
Some other things you can do with a 3-month-old all-day
After learning how to play with your 3-month-old baby, let’s see what else you can do with them at this age:
- Sing songs with them, read books to them, make funny sounds – all of this will help you develop a stronger bond with your baby
- Smiling at your baby smiling releases natural chemicals in your and your baby’s body that make them feel safe and happy. Smiling also enhances brain development
- Talk to your baby and make eye contact, and eventually, they’ll start reacting to your voice by turning their head, thus, improving neck strength and head control
- Plan and stick to a routine of activities that you and your baby can do together to ensure consistent progress
Also, there are times when we all feel down and aren’t in the mood to do anything, and the same goes for your baby, so don’t get demotivated if your baby isn’t reacting to the activities mentioned on this list.
It’s possible that they might’ve had enough and just want some rest for now.
Understanding the Crying Dilemma
Let’s get one thing straight, babies cry a lot, and most of the time, it is for no reason, but it would become easier to handle the situation if you knew how to respond.
Changing your baby’s nappy, feeding your baby or changing their clothes can help your baby feel comfortable. But still, this is where you have to identify the problem.
What’s irritating your baby? Is he/she hungry?
Once you start identifying the problem, you’ll end up with the solution to stop your baby from crying.
You can talk to them in a gentle tone, cuddle them, entertain them, or simply see if they’re hungry.
One mistake that parents make all the time is that they start shaking the baby while they’re crying.
Never do that!
Shaking the baby can cause nausea and internal bleeding leading to permanent or temporary brain damage.
If crying persists, just get in touch with a professional or expert and let them handle the situation.
A Final Piece Of Advice
Your baby is in this growing phase, and every day is a new experience for him/her.
As babies grow older, parents learn about them, get closer, and understand what they want and how they want it, so it’ll be more learning and exploring experience for you.
That said, it’s always great to have some activities planned that you and your little one can enjoy together.
I’ve been there, and I know it’s really beautiful to see babies grow, have activities with them, help them learn and support them in their development.
It is equally important to look after their hair, health, and emotions and give them all the love and attention they need to grow and thrive.
Now, if your baby is a little older than 3 or 4 months old or you have another child that is older, the following are some of the blogs that you can check out:
Lastly, I would love to hear your thoughts on the activities for 3 – 4 months old babies mentioned on this list. By sharing your thoughts, you’ll be helping parents and babies around the world, so feel free to share whatever you have in mind.
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