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

[Hopezibah]

Sometimes its a tricky one to get the balance right - I know the baby and toddler days will fly by so fast that we all wish we'd had more time playing with our children but on the other hand there are only so many times playing 'schools' or 'shops' that I can tolerate!

i try to put other chores out my mind to spend a short amount of focussed time playing with my kids because i know it is so important for their development and just for them to feel valued - i want them to know that I enjoy spending time with them.

[nerysw]

When my kids were really little they loved playing with the simplest of things - in summer a large paintbrush and some water kept them happy for ages - 'painting' the patio!

[Sammyislost]

Playing is much easier when they are a baby. We used to build towers from blocks, play with duplo and with toys such as trains and farms.
When my children were older, they wanted to play less with toys, and do more physical games, such as Paw Patrol, where they run around and I am one of the characters too....that's more challenging and sometimes I'm genuinely not mentally capable of being Chase from Paw Patrol!!

[SuzCG]

Honestly, I found really little baby play hard work and much preferred it when they could sit up and do more stuff - although I did love reading to them when they were very little. As they grew a little I got much more into play - my eldest liked to dis-assemble everything and we'd spend hours working out how to put things back together. His favourite thing was his cars and we played loads with these - and learned everything from counting to colours and even used the wheels to paint with! My daughter loved tea parties - this was definitely our game of choice together.

[Alexandra87]

All of mine have loved anything to do with music when they were little. We had music on all the time and danced. They also loved nursery rhymes and me singing to them.

[Firewall]

My baby loves to play on ride ons, especially sitting on the back of the trailer of one of them (even though it's meant to be for soft toys!)

[Earthmoon]

Ds1 loves everything to do with trains. Always making new tracks away from the baby who loves to destroy/ play with the tracks. Now Ds3 is crawling he knows he needs to hide/ play away from him unless he is willing to share or distract him with a ball. Ds3 loves balls and always falls for ds1 attempt of getting him away from his train tracks.

[EasterRobin]

My DD adored the Fisher Price Jumperoo when she was a baby. She would just bounce up and down laughing hysterically at the experience.

[littletwofeet]

Playdough is a favourite, lots of ways to play.
We love duplo too and play lots of imaginative games with it, good for all ages so older ones can join in too.

[andbabymakesthree]

Peekaboo is an instant laughter inducing madness in our house

[Rae1000]

My daughter loved & I mean loved cleaning when she was a baby. I even bought her a fake hoover, spray bottle, sponge etc. Now she is older...well it is a completely different story

[BondJayneBond]

My youngest (7.5 months) loves playing with people most. Games of peek a boo, tickling games, being sung to. Actual toys are of less interest to him at the moment.

My older children (5 and 3) are keener on toys, but I've found that out of the mountain of toys they've had, there's really only a handful they keep going back to - notably toy trains and duplo / Lego. There's all sorts of world building that goes on around those, but as a general rule, adults are expected to watch admiringly rather than participate.
The other big attraction is playing with water, although that's one we try to keep to the garden where possible.

[GuiltyFeet]

My son loves playing with water - in the bath or in one of those plastic tray things. Simple toys like plastic pots, measuring spoons and a jug keep him occupied for ages, and we have a few plastic sea creatures, too. We found some tablets you can put in the bath to make the water different colours, and those add a little extra fun. My favourite thing is doing silly voices for the toy shark and making it do daft things.

[Teabay]

Whenever the day with my baby or toddler seemed to be long, we would just go and get in the bath for a play. The water was such good fun, and we used plastic items from the kitchen too. We could play for hours, all free. Brilliant for rainy afternoons!

[Zebee]

I remember putting my daughter in front of the washing machine and she thought it was fabulous- oh for the days of such easy entertainment!

[ruthr79]

i love playing with my son love his smiles and coos he enjoys his play mat and i like to sing to him

[lhlawrie]

My son loves making up games with his trains, and my daughter enjoys 'creating' things with play doh. Stories are also a favorite for both of them

[Quietvoiceplease]

A game my children enjoyed as toddlers - and still do now they're much older - is water painting outside. Cheap, little mess and as creative as they like. All it needs is a few paintbrushes (we use 'proper' adult ones) too and jugs of water. They 'paint' on the patio, 'paint' the fence or walls, anything really. Best on a warm day, but fine too on a not warm day. And actually one of those games that I genuinely enjoyed playing too. It is amazing how creative you feel when you know the sun will dry it out in a few minutes...

[FuckingHateRats]

My kids were happy to play with regular household objects - colanders, wooden spoons...pegs were always very popular! Babies don't need fancy toys.

[Moogdroog]

The simpler things were enjoyed more. Also, every toy has its time - not necessarily what it says on the packet. You might get something new, if its not a hit, but put it away and try again - its time will come!

[malisa]

I love take part in play and I don't think is right let a baby play alone for a long time. Great interaction in play could only be beneficial for my baby, builds stronger bond and helps his development.

[hannahbjm]

I love playing with my daughter Lola who is 19 months. Her favourite thing is literally books, i could read 10 in a row and she would still want me to read more and stays still and content throughout.
My oldest son who is 6 we do Lego together and we play playstation together which he loves. He also thinks i am amazing at games which is a bonus!

[rachaelsit]

I am totally child led when it comes to play. I'll do anything and if practicality allows it, set up anything they ask to do. We bake, craft (badly) play hide b seek, dress up, races, whatever. He is just 3 but I have a 10 month old as well and I am trying to start to play with them together which is more about helping them to engage well.