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At that age my son LOVED our fish tank. He would stare at it for hours.
Sensory bottles are also great at that age. Empty pop bottles filled with stuff. Dried pasta, rice, lentils etc, for them to shake and look at colours, water with glitter and food colouring (add some glycerin to the water to make the glitter fall slower), half coloured water , half baby oil with a couple of brightly coloured beads to float between layers.
treasure boxes are also fab. Get an empty shoe box/wicker basket, depending on how much money you have, and fill it with random everyday objects for LO to explore. beads on a string, pine cones, big pebbles, washing up sponges, pieces of fabric, shells, feathers, an apple, smallish ball (not small enough to swallow) tooth brush, nail brush, empty cotton reels, egg cup, clothes pegs, wooden spoon, wooden curtain rings, metal tea trainer, velvet powder puff (CLEAN!!), lengths of ribbon tied together, the inside of a toilet roll, a bean bag, etc.
by Earthmummy 18 October 2009
ETA - treasure boxes are meant to be for *supervised but uninterupted play* which basically means sit LO on a blanket and put the box with in easy reach, and then let them explore for themselves. You need to keep a close eye on them though, as the objects aren't specifically made as toys. This is really good for their development, its used in a lot of nurseries etc
by Earthmummy 18 October 2009
Me again - you might want to superglue the tops on the sensory bottles. I reckoned DS was too young to get the tops off until he suprised me at 8months by covering himself in orange water and glycerine
by Earthmummy 18 October 2009
thanx soo much for your great ideas! xx
by mummy-to-Zak 20 October 2009
If you want something you can do together how about getting one of those aqua draw things that they show on the TV. I know they say for 2years or something like that but aslong as you are sat with the baby they should be fine. They will enjoy making patterns on the mat, its only water if it gets on the floor and will be amazed when it dries and vanishes! I sit Cody opposite me sometimes and roll a ball to him and try to get him to roll it back to me. Still hasn't mastered it yet but he loves it. Playing simple games like peek - a - boo is fun at their age,
by mumof2 21 October 2009