Sensory play

Sensory play is play that involves the use of one or more of the five senses, touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing. This is VERY important for developing babies.
We do a lot of sensory play around here...

Rainbows

I was in search of a prism for Emily and I recently scored a great deal on a beautiful one at Kirkland's Home.
Today we hung it up and watched our room transform into a land of rainbows.  It was beautiful! Emily LOVED looking at the rainbows and she had a blast trying to "get them".

If you want an easy, beautiful way to entertain your babe, go out and find a cute prism and hang it in a sunny window.

Treasure Basket

Emily has found a treasure....a basket of household items of various textures, weights, temperatures and shapes for her exploration.
This is an idea I gleaned from How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way

I also read it on a forum I quite frequently read. 

The treasure basket currently holds: a salad spoon, a wooden spoon, a ball of wool yarn, a scrap of cotton flannel, a thick glass jar/bottle, a small glass measuring bowl, and a felted wool ball.
Emily loves to sit in front of her basket, taking things in and out, touching them with her hands and feet, and putting them in her mouth.
The treasure basket has worked its way into our morning routine. After waking, Emily sits with her basket as we listen to some quiet piano music. Then -  usually her and daddy are off on their morning walk to greet the beautiful day.

I will rotate items in and out and add random things as I find them (toothbrush,whisk...etc).  Emily gets bored easily, so I make sure to not leave her treasure basket out all day.   And I have so many random baskets around the house, that I make sure to use different baskets to hold all the items. 

For more information about making your own type of treasure basket and how this type of exploration (Heuristic play) is important for your babe, see here.

Have fun!!! I know your baby will enjoy it! :)