Tell Fairy Non Bio about your experience of play with your baby - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

As part of our partnership with Fairy Non Bio, we’ve produced the Mumsnet Babies Podcast. There are ten episodes in the series, and episode six is about play - you can listen to it here. Whenever you get the chance, Fairy Non Bio would like you to have a listen to the podcast and join the discussion on this thread.

As babies grow and develop, their experience of play is constantly changing thanks to their still-developing perceptions of colour and sound and awareness of the world around them.

Fairy Non Bio would like you to share your experiences of playing with your baby, whether you can’t get enough of role playing games, or you force yourself into fancy dress with gritted teeth. Perhaps your baby can easily amuse her/himself with everyday household items such as wooden spoons, or maybe you invest in elaborate mobiles and brightly coloured floor mats, in the hope to keep them occupied while you have some ‘me time’.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

If you’d like to rate the Mumsnet Babies Podcast, please go to the iTunes store to add a review.

Thanks, and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[pfcpompeysarah]

My son used to love playing with trains, cars, anything that made a very loud noise (oh how that was fun!) and he couldn't get enough of things like playing shops or train driver role play.

[pfcpompeysarah]

My son used to love playing with trains, cars, anything that made a very loud noise (oh how that was fun!) and he couldn't get enough of things like playing shops or train driver role play.

[finleypop]

We love to do arts & crafts, baking & building together. It's lovely to have play time where you are not worried about getting in a bit of a mess

[phillie1]

Mud pies in the garden always a favourite activity

[devito92]

My son loved to act out everyday scenario's , such as playing shop

[moosexxx]

Both of boys loved playing with wooden building blocks.
They especially liked it when i build lots of towers and houses which they could then smash over.

[1wokeuplikethis]

My 16mth old son is obsessed with vehicles, we spend literally hours driving his diggers, cars, tractors, recycling trucks all around the wooden floor and passing them to each other, under the sofa and doing the sounds. He loves us pretending to be aeroplanes aroundthe living room.
My 4 year old daughter loves playing games (guess who, kerplunk, board games) but her favourite is imaginary play. I am always te witch and she is the princess.
They both love getting the hosepipe out and some paint brushes and 'painting' the patio with water.

[sofieellis]

I loved playing with my boys when they were little, plus keeping them busy with play helped to stop my twins from fighting! Role play is great and can be used to help teach them things such as the concept of paying for things in shops, then on to counting the pennies etc.

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

My DD loves playing 'mummy' - she'll look after her 'babies' putting them to sleep, changing their nappies, taking them for walks & feeding them. I often get involved as someone she makes a cup of tea for or cooks dinner - she likes looking after me too!

She also loves a cardboard box!! It becomes a boat or a house or a car... Her imagination is amazing!

[BeeMyBaby]

My son is 17mo and loves to plug things in, if I leave any utensils in his reach he will grab them and try to plug them into a socket. I have now removed anything like that, that he might ever reach and instead sometimes let his play with the extension cable (obviously not plugged in) under supervision. He also likes to blow raspberries on my belly while I'm trying to get him to sleep .

[Byrdie]

All my three loved / love to play on their own. My eldest would play endlessly with peg boards, second was into puzzles and third on is into (pretty much any!) little dolls and especially little lego disney figures. That's quite annoying as they are expensive / only come as part of a set plus they are tiny and pull apart so it's easy to lose bits... but on the plus side, it keeps her entertained for ages and ages!

[vickyors]

We play games on a Saturday morning. Simple things; pots and pans on the kitchen floor, or actual 'potions' in tv garden with flower and soil etc.. they're the best!

[asuwere]

DS3 has lots of toys to choose from but he loves playing with pots, bowls, pegs, brooms etc - it's good though as I can clear out the toys and he helps with washing and sweeping the floor :)

[Gazelda]

If I'm honest, I really struggled to play with DD when she was a baby. I had PND, and didn't have any sort of post-natal group, friends or HV support. Although I knew it was important to play and interact with baby, I don't think I realised how crucial it was, both from a bonding as well as a 'happy smiley baby' perspective.
I look back with huge regret. My DD has developed well, we are very close (she's now 9), but is a very serious child and I wonder whether that is my fault.
My advice to all new mums is to do whatever it takes to spend time having fun with your baby. Make them smile and giggle and reach out to you.

[MerlinsBeard87]

My 2 year old likes to do imaginary play based on his books. His favourite is "we're going on a bear hunt", and he will run round the house saying the bear is chasing him, or tell me what bears like to eat. His toys don't entertain him for long, but I'm trying to get him to be more independent before his brother is born in October

[Rosehips]

Babies really don't need that much play, dangle your cars keys in front of them and you're good.

[Minnibix]

Its one of the best parts of being a parent sharing playtime with your little ones we started with dressing up and play acting, moving on to Cluedo, Operation and Buckeroo, and then Battleships and Chess, it is amazing how quickly our children grow up

[mamof3boys]

I was always more the educator and nurturer - books, puzzles and cuddles. DH did all the make believe stuff. I'm rubbish at all that.

[calicoskies2016]

My son was obsessed with playing with cars from just a few months old. We had chunky Megabloks cars for him and he just loved them. I'm pretty sure they are what got him crawling as he would push them and then crawl after them.

[Ikea1234]

As a baby, my son was very quick to cotton on whether a toy had batteries, made noises etc. Friends used to say "just turn it down / off / take out the batteries etc",but I simply couldn't get away with it! He'd turn toys on, and if it didn't work,he'd bring it to me for batteries to be put in!

[honeyandginger48]

My two children always chose the non-toy option when they were babies and just enjoyed exploring their environment. They would choose to play with a bunch of keys rather than a rattle, a spoon and saucepan rather than their toys. and as others have mentioned the box and wrapping paper was always far more fun than the actual present!

[boobybirdsworth]

A wooden train set is the toy obsession at the moment and I love playing with my great nephews and nieces with it.

[badgermum]

My son has a plastic box in the kitchen with toy saucepans in and my actual kitchen plastic utensils some tupperware boxes and a couple of cardboard empty product boxes he loves playing with them either just banging them about or trying to pretend cook and meal whenever i'm busy in the kitchen

[twinklenicci]

my youngest is 3 and the things she loves the most are usually the messiest things. Painting, playing in the mud , playing in the sand and looking for bugs are among her fave games

[cocochips]

I like to keep play simple and I utilise things I have around at the time