Supporting babies to play

1.1
State ways that babies development is supported by play in the following areas:
Physical development
Hand development, babies need to learn to control their hands, while playing and having fun many activities will help babies to use their hands. Babies will try to reach out and grasp a toy like a rattle or your finger if offered to them. Also when they are sitting upright in their highchair you could give them a toy like a pop up toy they might try and push the button, this will help them to develop their hand movements.
Large movement, babies have to learn to get control of their arm and legs. Several play activities and toys can help them move their body. Large movement can be encouraged by hanging a mobile above the baby’s cot this will help them to use their arm because they must stretch up to reach it. Also you can encourage them to use their legs by sitting them in a door bouncer this will help them to use their legs while having fun.
Social and emotional development
When playing with babies it is important to make eye contact with them, while you are doing this you will be helping them to copy and develop an important social skill. Smiling at babies when interacting with them is also important this will show that you are happy to be with them, which will make them happy. Also babies need to trust people who look after them there are many games which will help the baby to trust you. Play is also very important for babies as it gives them time to make a special relationship with their parent or career.
Intellectual and language development
Babies need to have adult attention to stimulate learning. When babies play they need to think. They also need to use their memories. Adult must sing and talk to babies to encourage memory skill and thinking skills. For example, encouraging babies to play with toys which will help them think like a shape sorters this will help them to understand and learn about different shapes and sizes. Also playing with stacking blocks will help them to learn about balancing two objects on top of one another.
It is essential to talk to babies so that they can hear and recognize words. Also if an adult uses the same words and phrases each time they play with a baby, the baby will quickly remember the sound and then they will start to understand the meaning of the words. Also if an adult points to objects while saying words, this will help the baby to learn and develop language.

1.2
Give examples of how the individual needs of babies can be supported through play:

2.1: Identify different play activities and the resources to support play for the following ages/ 2.2: state what the benefits are to babies of each play activity identified:
Age group of baby Game or toy Activities for babies Benefits for babies
Birth to 3 months

Woodsy friends bouncer Door bouncer Daisy lane play mat and gym
• Toy bar with pull down musical owl.
• Vibration feature to calm and sooth babies.
• Suitable for babies who can hold their head up unaided.
• They can jump up and down.

• Padded play mat and arch with detachable toys for discovering textures and sounds. • Helps the baby to learn new sounds
• This will help the baby to fall asleep

• It will help them develop their gross motor skills because they will be using their leg to jump.

• It will help them develop their gross motor skills by stretching up to reach the toys dangling above them.
4 months to 7 months Lights and
Sounds
Buggy
Driver

• Steering wheel toy with fun light and sounds, with horn, gear stick, radio, wind mirrors and indicators great for keeping baby happy on the move. • They can look in the mirrors and discover themselves.
• It will help them to develop hand eye coordination when pressing the buttons.
• The bright colours and sound will help stimulate their senses and encourage them to look, listen, touch and feel

Loved So Much
Sit Me Up
Cosy

• The nest that grows up with your baby and provides a wonderful place to play during their first year. • This will help baby to relax and feel safe.
• Converts into a supportive prop for older babies who are ready to sit up. Lights and Sounds Wobble & Glow

• Make him wobble to see him light up and make sounds whilst the balls in his tummy move from side to side. • This will help encourage the baby to move their arms and hands, which will develop their gross motor skill.
• Help the baby to learn new sounds.
8 months to 11 months Shape
Sorting
Bus

• Six activity shapes to push into the slots.
• Great for pushing along and encouraging crawling. • Helps encourage them to try and crawl and then later on try and walk.
• Discovering how shapes work will help their problem-solving and thinking skills.

Who's on the Farm?
Book

• This book will let little one explore the farm through bright colours, different textures and surprising squeakers. • Helps the baby to communicate.
• Helps babies to use their hands

Sensory
Stacking
rings

• Learn how to stack the different textured rings onto the rocking base and put the giraffes head on top.
• They can enjoy feeling and chewing the textured rings. • It will help them to learn about sequences and different sizes.
• It will also help them develop their gross motor skills.
• Learn different texture and colour.
12 months to 15 months Wooden Pop Up Surprise

• Match all 3 animal characters and push the pegs down for a pop up surprise • This will help babies to learn to match up colours as well as different animals.
• This will help babies develop problem-solving skills.

Sensory Ball Pit

• This ball pit will encourage them to move about and explore while having fun. • Helps develop their strength and coordination with reaching, rolling and grasping the balls

The Safari Wooden Push Along Activity
Cube

• This cube has 5 activities that are sure to spark their imagination, including a xylophone, clock face, chalkboard, spinner and a shape sorter.
• They can learn colour and shapes as they learn to walk. • Helps your baby to recognize and tell the different between shapes, time and animals.
• Shapes and colours will help them to develop their hand eye coordination.

3.1
Identify the adult’s role in ensuring that babies can play safely:
Choking
Babies can choke on small objects such as Lego, buttons, coins, balloons and small rocks ect. Everything you give to a baby make sure that it is larger than their mouth, that way they won’t be able to choke on it. A good way to avoid this is by making sure everything that you give them is the width of three adult’s fingers.
Cleanliness
When there are babies about in the house it is very important to keep the whole house clean top to bottom. This is because when babies want to explore they will often put thing in their mouths, you cannot stop this it is just natural for them. This is why it is very important to keep everything clean as it will stop any germs from spreading.
Water
Babies enjoy playing with water. Always check the temperature of the water to see if the temperature is just right, not to hot or cold the prefect temperature is about 36°C – 38°C. Water can be very dangerous if it’s too hot for babies as their skin burn very easily so remember to check it. Also you should never leave a baby unattended with water.
Fall
When using swings, rocker or sit and ride toys, you should always stay near to them as they could fall. You should also not leave babied alone in their highchairs.

3.2
Give examples of how adults encourage babies to play:
Smiling
When playing with babies they need to have fun. Smiling when playing with babies can show them that you are happy to be with me which will make them happy

Talking to the baby
When we are playing with babies we need to talk to them, even if they don’t understand us it is comforting for them. We may also need to repeat words as this will encourage them to talk
Showing the baby what to do
Sometime we may need to show babies how to do things. We may show them how to press a button on a toy or shake a rattle.
Making eye contact
Babies need us to make eye contact. Whether we are playing with them or just listening to them, we always need to make eye contact. This lets them see we are interested. It can also help them to communicate
Be ready to repeat play
When playing with babies they will often need to repeat play over and over again. If they are happy we need to keep joining in.