At 9 months, your baby has already achieved remarkable milestones! Their interaction with you has become more engaging and playful, with games becoming more complex and physical activity hinting that your little one is on the brink of becoming quick and agile. Knowing how important it is to support your baby at every stage of growth and skill development, we will explore toys, games, and activities that can be offered to promote their overall development.
What Can Your 9-Month-Old Do?
By now, your baby can sit well, crawl proficiently, and stand while holding onto your hand or nearby objects. Sometimes, they crawl faster than some people can run! It’s also typical at this age for babies to put everything in their mouths, taste things, and lick objects. This is part of oral exploration, a natural way for them to learn about their environment. However, it's important to keep a close eye on them to ensure they don’t put anything potentially dangerous into their mouth. At this stage, babies love toys that involve movement and sound. They enjoy shaking, listening, and playing with these items with more enthusiasm.
Easy Montessori Activities for 9-Month-Olds to Develop Various Skills
At 9 months, activities include more sensory exploration and movement. Muscles are strengthening, motor skills are improving, and it's essential to help your baby refine their abilities.
Gross Motor Development
Your baby is likely pulling themselves up to stand, cruising along furniture, and crawling at different speeds. They can grasp and hold various objects with their entire hand, and their movements are becoming more coordinated. It’s important to create a safe space where these skills can be naturally honed. For example, a Montessori climbing set is a great idea. This includes the Montessori triangle, arch, and a two-sided ramp. These structures provide a fun and exciting environment for movement, where babies can practice pulling themselves up, standing, taking first steps, crawling under, sliding down, and more. These activities are perfect for developing strength, coordination, and confidence.
Indoor jungle gyms with various accessories are also excellent for this age. These climbing toys encourage independence and allow your baby to move at their own pace while gaining physical agility.
Fine Motor Development and Coordination
Montessori activities for 9-month-olds also include exercises that promote fine motor skills. These help improve the ability to grasp small objects, transfer them from hand to hand, and use the pincer grip (thumb and index finger, or thumb, middle, and index finger). Fine motor development is closely linked to the brain's speech centers, meaning working on one area results in broader benefits. Many fun, homemade activities can help improve a baby’s fine motor skills, such as sorting beads strung on sturdy string or allowing them to play with wooden pencils, picking them up, and moving them from one pile to another.
Best Toys for Babies to Enhance Fine Motor Skills and Coordination
- Offer toys like stacking blocks, pyramids, or large building blocks. Babies can grab and hold these items, trying to stack them, which trains coordination and improves fine motor skills.
- Sorters are another great option. These toys entertain babies while improving their fine motor skills and enhancing cognitive abilities and logic. Sorters come in many forms but generally involve matching shapes and sizes to corresponding slots. Although babies may not yet be experts at this task, they can begin learning how.
- Puzzle games with pegs also help train fine motor skills while teaching children to connect pieces.
Sensory Development Features in 9-Month-Olds
At this stage, babies become more curious and actively explore different textures. They enjoy touching soft, hard, slippery, rough, dry, and wet surfaces, using their hands and objects to investigate these sensations. By 9 months, babies also have excellent visual perception and are drawn to bright colors and moving objects. They love listening to music and often try to utter simple words like "mama" or "dada." And, of course, they still explore the world through taste.
Best Toys for Sensory Development in Infants
- A sensory balance beam allows babies to perform various exercises while experiencing different sensory inputs.
- Sensory containers are another option. You can buy ready-made sensory baskets or create your own using household materials. Fill different containers with objects of various textures: pasta, rice, fabric scraps, wooden blocks, textured massage balls, etc. Let babies explore the contents, feeling the different textures.
- Water play is another simple sensory activity that provides rich experiences. Pouring water from one container to another or splashing ensures great sensory input.
Best Montessori Games for 9-Month-Olds
Try different Montessori activities for 9-month-olds based on your baby’s mood, current development level, and readiness for more complex games or exercises. If some games seem too difficult, set them aside for a few days and offer them later. Let playtime flow naturally and pleasantly, so it relaxes the baby and fosters warmth and a close bond within the family. During this time, you can play games such as:
- Crawling on sensory mats or a massage ramp
- Overcoming a simple obstacle course (crawling)
- Pulling up on the Montessori triangle
- Sensory games in the kitchen or bathroom
- Listening to music, audiobooks, or reading aloud
- Playing with sorters, sensory boxes, or sensory bottles
All these Montessori activities for 9-month-olds will guide your baby toward new stages of development and skills. Start with simple tasks and gradually introduce more complex games. Allow your child to progress at their own pace, enjoying every new day.