Montessori Monday – Christmas Sensory Experiences for Babies of All Ages

In case you’re new to my blog, I’m a first-time grandma … and I’m having the time of my life! Not only is it amazing to have a new baby in the family, but I get to try out lots of the fun activities I find online!

My granddaughter is only 7 weeks old, so most activities involving toys aren’t appropriate yet. But I’ve found some great ways to have holiday fun and provide some helpful sensory experiences even for a baby who’s too young for toys and most sensory activities.

There are lots of fun sensory experiences you can have with older babies both at home and while out shopping or attending Christmas events. But here I’ll share 10 of my favorite ideas for Montessori-inspired sensory activities that work for any age of baby – even very young babies – without leaving the house.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you)

10 Christmas Sensory Experiences for Even Very Young Babies {without Leaving the House}

1. Looking at the Christmas tree lights and decorations. What could be more fun than holding a new baby while looking at the lights and decorations on the Christmas tree together?! Obviously, with older babies you have to be sure they can’t reach decorations that would be dangerous for them.

2. Lying on a mat near the Christmas tree or with visible Christmas decorations.  I always had a Montessori-style floor mat when my kids were babies where they played and took naps during the day. It’s the same at Grandma’s house. My granddaughter has a floor bed, which is near the Christmas tree right now. You can read more about my family’s baby environment along with lots of other Montessori baby resources in my “Montessori Baby Resources” post.

3. Looking in a mirror while dressed in a Christmas outfit and/or with Christmas decorations nearby. Our baby floor bed was always near a full-length child’s mirror placed horizontally. It’s the same for my granddaughter. You can find the floor mirror I ordered in my “Montessori Baby and Toddler Toys” post.

4. Listening to Christmas songs while looking at pictures in a book. My granddaughter likes to look at the pictures in a Christmas song book while I sing to her. I cradle her in one arm while I hold the book up with my other arm. I just sing until she’s tired or wants a change of activity.

The book I’ve used is Tomie de Paola’s Book of Christmas Carols. We still have that from when my kids were young. It’s a beautiful book but out of print now, so it’s very expensive new.  You can find reasonably priced used books on Amazon, though. Any book of Christmas songs with nice artwork would work well. I like using a book both for the pictures and because it reminds me of the words to the verses I’m unsure of otherwise.

5. Listening to “Jingle Bells” and the soft ringing of a small jingle bell. This is a super-easy activity to prepare. I simply sing “Jingle Bells” while I softly ring a small bell in time to the music for my granddaughter.

6. Listening to a Christmas CD or YouTube playlist playing softly in the background. My granddaughter seems to love having Christmas songs play in the background. You can either use a Christmas CD or a playlist like the one from True Aim Education in “Classic Christmas Songs for Kids Free Printable.”

7. Listening to a Christmas book or poem and looking at the pictures.

8. Smelling Christmas potpourri simmering on the stove. I used the recipe for Christmas Potpourri from Nothing if Not Intentional.

9. Smelling Christmas treats baking.

10. Touching a soft Christmas tree ornament or stuffed animal. Older babies often enjoy all sorts of tactile experiences, but new babies typically like very mild sensory experiences. We have some soft Beanie Baby ornaments on our tree, but you can use any soft ornament or stuffed animal. I only help my granddaughter touch the soft ornament when she’s interested and would enjoy it.

With any of these activities, I follow the baby’s lead. Often young babies become tired quickly after sensory experiences, so you need to be extra careful to observe the baby’s interest or exhaustion.

Does your baby or a baby you care for have a favorite Christmas sensory activity?

Montessori Monday Link-Up

If you have some Montessori activity trays/lessons to share, please link up below. It’s fine to link up a post from your archives – and you may link up anytime during the week! Your post may be any Montessori-inspired activity or idea. It doesn’t need to be related to my Montessori Monday post.

Link up your exact post URL so that we can find your activity if we return to the linky at a later date (which I often do when I’m looking for activities for a roundup post). I publish the Montessori Monday post and linky at 6:00 a.m. EST each Monday and keep the linky open throughout the week.

Please place the Montessori Monday button (using the code from the right sidebar) in your post or put a link back to this post. Let’s use Montessori Monday to gain inspiration/ideas and to encourage each other! If you would leave an encouraging comment on the post linked up ahead of you (along with any other posts you’re drawn to), that would be awesome!

I’m not able to comment on every post, but I do a lot of pinning on Pinterest and sharing on the Living Montessori Now Facebook page from the Montessori Monday link-up. Thanks for participating!

Notes For community discussions, please join us at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page, We Teach Montessori Group, and/or Google+ Montessori Community.

The We Teach Montessori group has a Member Resources Sharing (for resources such as freebies and series) as well as a Linky Party for We Teach Montessori. We Teach Montessori has a linky just like the one here except that it’s continuous where you may add your Montessori-inspired activities and ideas to the same linky. New links will go to the top of the linky. I’d love to see us build up a great collection of Montessori-inspired ideas there, too. After you link up here, why not hop over to the We Teach Montessori Group and link up there?!

And don’t forget the Saturday/Sunday Parent/Teacher Preparation Days share where you may share a kid-related activity of any kind at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page! It’s also Motivational Monday on Mondays now! I invite you to share something positive on the Bits of Positivity Facebook page (Bits of Positivity is my other blog) to help us all get a good start on the work/school week. You might share an inspirational or motivational quote, positive graphic, or post about finding balance or simplifying your life. Or you might share a post on organizing, an encouraging post, a post about making a difference in the world, or a positive parenting post. Just go ahead and share on the Bits of Positivity wall any time today! (Please “like” the Bits of Positivity Facebook page if you haven’t already.) I’ll be pinning a number of ideas to my regular Pinterest boards.

Last Day! Don’t miss my Alison’s Montessori review and AWESOME giveaway of 5 $100 Alison’s Montessori gift certificates! Open in the U.S. Ends tonight at 10pm MST.

If you have a giveaway on your blog, please add it to my Family-Friendly Giveaway Linky Page! If you enjoy entering giveaways, you’ll always find some great giveaways there.

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! You can purchase this as a gift on Amazon … and it isn’t too late up to the last minute! 🙂

Also, if you’ve ever been linked to in one of my roundup posts, please feel free to grab the “Featured on” badge.

Have you added the Montessori Monday button or a text link? Please be sure you’ve done one or the other so that others can find the link-up, too! Thank you!

Last Day for Montessori Helper’s Crazy Christmas Deal!

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