Activities for the Brain Development of an 8-Month-Old
At 8 months old, your baby is likely to be crawling and actively exploring his environment. His attention span is also very short, which means that he may spend only a few minutes on one activity. He is amused by simple things at this age, so you can foster his brain development by exposing him to a variety of objects, textures and simple games.
Cause and Effect
Give your baby different objects to bang on a table or other hard surface. She learns cause and effect by realizing that if she bangs an object on a hard surface, it makes a noise. Show her how common household items work, too, such as a light switch or remote. As your baby experiments with a variety of items, her observing brain will make important connections.
- Give your baby different objects to bang on a table or other hard surface.
Baby Hide-and-Seek
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Peek-a-Boo or a similar game can help your baby learn about object permanence, which is developing at around 8 months of age. When your baby understands object permanence, he knows that even if he cannot see an object, it is still there. Try covering your face or a toy with a blanket and surprising him by allowing it to reappear. He will likely enjoy the anticipation and may soon begin looking for the hidden object himself.
- Peek-a-Boo or a similar game can help your baby learn about object permanence, which is developing at around 8 months of age.
Explore It All
Give your baby a variety of objects to explore. Offer her hard, soft, hollow and oddly shaped objects to investigate, and she will likely drop, roll, throw or wave them around, according to HealthyChildren 1. Take your baby through the house to see how the lighting changes from room to room, and let her feel soft, fuzzy, smooth and rough textures. Your baby is expanding her brain development as she uses her senses to explore.
- Give your baby a variety of objects to explore.
- Take your baby through the house to see how the lighting changes from room to room, and let her feel soft, fuzzy, smooth and rough textures.
Stimulate with Stories
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Reading to your baby can stimulate his imagination and help him learn the rhythm of language. When you read to him, it teaches him about the emotional connection behind words. Try setting aside time to read each day, and point out objects, words and pictures in the books. You don’t have to make it through the entire book in one sitting. Your baby will benefit from a few pages at a time.
- Reading to your baby can stimulate his imagination and help him learn the rhythm of language.
- Your baby will benefit from a few pages at a time.
Related Articles
References
- HealthyChildren: Parenting Your Infant
- HealthyChildren: Cognitive Development: 8 to 12 Months
- U.S. National Library of Medicine. Choking – infant under 1 year. MedlinePlus. Updated January 12, 2019.
- American Red Cross. Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED.
- Nemours Foundation. Finger Foods for Babies. KidsHealth. Updated June 2018.
- American Red Cross. Child and Baby CPR.
- Habrat D. How to Treat the Choking Conscious Infant. Merck Manual Professional Version. Updated August 2019.
Writer Bio
Rose Welton is a journalism major and a freelance writer. Her education is focused on nutrition and early childhood studies, making her an expert when it comes to writing about health and children's growth and development. She has written numerous articles and blog posts on various topics for online publications and has also worked on an Internet news team.