Play mats and play gym can really engage your baby and help her coordinate her muscles while stimulating her other sense with sights and sounds. They make "tummy time" much more fun and help in motor and sensory skill development. Play gyms are usually lightweight and many of them fold up for convenience. Most play mats can be folded.
Play mats are appropriate for ages 0 to 8 months. Some of them have various textures on them, and may have other features like baby safe mirrors, plastic pull rings for teething and links for attaching favorite toys.
Baby play gyms encourage that physical activity to channel all that energy babies seem to have. Usually they consist of one or two arches crossed diagonally over a play mat with numerous toys suspended from the arches. Babies love to bat and swing the suspended toys, which encourages their gross motor skills.
Baby play gyms offer all kinds of sensory stimulation for your child. Even very young babies can watch the toys. Once he is old enough to reach for toys, the suspended toys give him tactile experience with different textures and help his hand eye coordination develop. Each piece on a baby activity center gives mom and dad something to show their baby and describe: "See the bird? This bird is red." Simple interaction of this type helps language development and bonding with parents.
Here are some things to look for in your baby’s activity gym. It should have a variety of bright, primary colored toys with varying textures and sounds. There should be toys that engage your baby’s motor skills in several ways, such as toys to grab, roll, or spin. And of course you should follow all safety recommendations.
Your baby may not use all the activities in their play gym, at least at first. But given time, your baby will want to explore more toys for longer periods of time. Having dad or mom around to point out toys and talk to her is extra beneficial, since it aids in language development.
