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.

Baby Hide-and-Seek

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.

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. 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.

Stimulate with Stories

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.