Things to Do with a 10-Month-Old

At 10 months old, your baby is learning much about his surroundings and much about himself. He’s chatting more and understanding simple phrases, exploring with his hands, perfecting his crawling abilities, attempting his first steps and imitating actions of others. With such milestones, you may need to engage in more interactive, exciting activities with your baby to grab his attention.

Play Hide-and-Seek

Your child is now able to learn object permanence, or knowing that an object out of sight is still existent and can return. You can demonstrate this idea by hiding an object and asking her, “Where did it go?” Then bring it back into view and exclaim, “There it is!” Your baby will start to grasp that though it is out of view, it has not disappeared. She will then associate object permanence with people, understanding that even though you have left for work, you have not disappeared and will return later.

Have Play Dates with Others

Activities to Promote Perceptual & Motor Skills

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Your baby might start to engage in parallel play: playing alongside other babies but not playing with them. This is because your baby is too young to understand the concept of making friends. To encourage his interaction with others and to help him develop social skills, plan informal play dates. These dates can also help your baby plant new ideas for play as he watches the other children interact with toys. These play dates can be good for you as well; interacting with other parents will provide you with socialization, help and support.

Transport Items

From standing and taking steps to pointing her fingers, your 10-month-old baby’s motor skills are rapidly developing 2. Also developing are her fine-motor skills. For instance, she might grasp small pieces of cereal or small items by gripping them between her thumb and forefinger, known as the pincer grasp. Indulge in this discovery by using two bowls or buckets and having her move small items back and forth between them.

Play Ball

Social Development Activities for Babies

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Encourage interaction by involving simple ball play. As you both are sitting, place you and your baby’s legs in a V shape and roll a ball back and forth. Say to him, “I’ll roll the ball to you and you can roll the ball back to me.” This also encourages cooperation in playtime, as well as balance and coordination. You can also hold the ball and encourage him to hit it out of your hand, toss it in a hoop or bucket or throw it down a chute. This basic form of basketball will build your baby’s hand-eye coordination and understanding of cause-and-effect.