3 Ways to Encourage Your Baby Towards Intentional Play

I did not always know what Intentional Play was, but I always had that idea running through my head when thinking about the toys we got for our baby. Before my daughter was born my husband and I both decided that we did not want to have a playroom filled with meaningless toys. We didn’t want a whole bunch of fancy, noisy, gadgets that would only be played with for minutes before being tossed aside for something new.

We wanted to encourage our daughter to learn and actually play, rather than just merely be entertained.

We’ve done well with keeping the amount of “stuff” in her toy bin to an easily maintained (and contained) minimum.

But encouraging intentional play is not the same as limiting the number of toys you have in your home.

It is so much more. Creating an environment that inspires your child to learn through play requires thought, attention, and encouragement.

It means that you carefully choose things that will awaken your child’s curiosity. It means that you will create an environment that will aid their learning process.

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You need to get rid of distractions.

I started developing a bad habit a few months back, and have been working very hard to fix it. I made it way too easy for myself to shove a new toy in front of my daughter just to keep her occupied with something she hadn’t seen before. And as she began to lose interest in that item, I’d pop a new one in front of her to keep her happy.

It took me a little while to realize how I was training her to need something new all the time. Instead of encouraging her curiosity and creativity, I was stifling it by constantly shoving new things in her face.

I began really thinking about what toys I chose for her to play with. What things would encourage her to learn and create?
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Now, when I pull out toys for my daughter to play with, I grab a few toys that are similar. Things that she will learn to actually truly play with.

This is the first way you can encourage intentional play. 

Often, we pull out her set of wooden blocks. She loves feeling all the different shapes, and as she plays and I point out which shape is which. Usually, that’s all she will play with all day long.

The next day I might pull her set of soft animals to play with and we’ll go over the colors and animal names together.

When she is older I will, of course, give her the option to choose what toys she wants to play with. But for now, I can choose what I deem will best encourage her desire to learn and explore.

Part of encouraging Little-bit towards intentional play required us to purge all flashy and noisy toys.

The fact that they merely amuse her and don’t teach her anything led us to this decision. (And it helps keep Mama and Daddy sane! 😉 ) By replacing those toys with simpler ones, we facilitate learning. When we give her something to play with, she has to figure out how to have fun with it.

This is the second way to encourage your child towards intentional play. 

It is amazing to watch her study the objects she plays with. I always wonder what kinds of information her sweet little mind is soaking in.

Another big way we support intentional play is by actually playing with our daughter.

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She begins to learn how to play as we give her examples. And as she sees what we do, she is encouraged to explore her own creativity with that particular toy.

Setting aside solid blocks of time to really sit down and focus on playing with your baby requires a bit of dedication. It’s not always easy to ignore all other distractions and focus only on playing, but I promise you that your time will be so well spent! 

This is the third way to encourage your child towards intentional play. 

Already we have been amazed by the attention span our eight-month-old has. Several folks have commented on how she doesn’t get bored easily, and how she really concentrates on what she is doing.

I so look forward to continuing this practice of play with my daughter as she grows older. I can not wait to watch her continue to learn and grow. It is seriously so exciting to I think about all the activities we will do together. Things like painting, building moss huts and playing with dollhouses.

What are your thoughts on Intentional Play? In what ways do you encourage creativity when your baby plays? I would love to hear your thoughts below!

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35 Comments

  • maintainingmeghan

    April 11, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    Yes! Yes! Yes! I love this! I’m all about watching and being amazed and how quickly they can learn things if you just let them!

    • Nikki

      April 11, 2018 at 9:25 pm

      Exactly! Our little ones are much smarter than I think we give them credit for most of the time! <3 I love watching them grow and learn.

  • Tabitha Blue

    April 12, 2018 at 2:43 am

    Wow, I needed to read this. Loved the concept that we are teaching them to need new toys to play with when we switch them out… I didn’t think that way. Love this!

    • Nikki

      April 12, 2018 at 11:23 am

      I hadn’t had that thought either until just recently. But it makes so much sense! It is so amazing to see her begin to actually use and play with her toys. Little ones learn so quickly!

  • The Cinnamon Mom

    April 12, 2018 at 3:56 am

    This is great, I completely agree about the necessity of intentional play! In addition to lots of noiseless wooden toys and puzzles, we love books and reading. These activities all work together beautifully to increase baby’s curiosity and ability to focus!

    • Nikki

      April 12, 2018 at 11:24 am

      Yes! My husband and I have been working on getting a nice little library built up for our Little. Any books that you particularly recommend?

  • Petria

    April 12, 2018 at 11:07 am

    Thank you for sharing. I absolutely love the idea of not only intentional play but also minimal toys. Our children time and time again show us they they would rather play with a box/stick/leaves then toys that won’t last their lifetime.

    • Nikki

      April 12, 2018 at 11:26 am

      Thank you for reading Petria! I know! Isn’t so wonderful how the kiddos would rather play with the box, than the new toy that came in it? Our daughter loves being outside and playing with the grass… it’s one of her favorite things! <3

  • lacyngo

    April 12, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    Wow! This post was fantastic and eye-opening for me. This has given me some things to think about as far as the toy choices we make.

  • Cait

    April 12, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    these are such great tips! i def need to do this more w/ my little one and def think its ok to let them play with intentional play when needed!

  • heartloveshome

    April 12, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    My older two girls, 6 and 5, love to play with legos and create fun creations. My youngest daughter, who is almost 2, loves to build legos too. She’ll come up to me and say, “Look what I made!” I love her excitement whenever she creates something.

    • Nikki

      April 13, 2018 at 10:14 am

      Aww how sweet! I love to see children building and exploring! I also love seeing their creations through their eyes! My little sisters love legos, and they would come show me the animals they built with them. Often, I didn’t immediately see what they were seeing, and it was so much fun to try and understand why their creation looked like a horse or a cat to them. <3

  • saltedmoon2017

    April 12, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    So helpful! I love that you simplified the toys and are trying to encourage her to learn how to play. It’s crazy, but a lot of parents don’t really realize that playing is a skill too and that children have to learn how to play and be creative! Thank you for the tips and the reminder!

    • Nikki

      April 13, 2018 at 10:29 am

      I am sure that little ones can learn how to have fun on their own, but I think the real skill is found in learning while playing. And I believe it is so important to nurture their creativity through play. <3 I am all for simple toys! Babies always seem to prefer the simpler things anyway. Like the wrapping paper instead of a new toy. 😉 Thank you so much for reading!

  • Jessica Gardner

    April 12, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    I couldn’t agree more with this post!! I am all for children to play and play outside (when old enough) too many are getting into technology too young that they never learn to play or pretend.

    • Nikki

      April 13, 2018 at 10:33 am

      Jessica, YES! The age that children are getting into technology honestly scares me. It stifles their creativity… Children should be children, just having fun, learning and growing, and as you said, playing and pretending. I don’t think they need to have all the added stresses that come with using technology. My little one already loves playing outside. I have to keep a close eye on her, because she really enjoys trying to eat the grass. 😉

  • serena hale

    April 13, 2018 at 10:52 pm

    Children are so creative, but with always giving them technology or even sometimes a lot of toys they do not have to be because the toy or tech piece does it for them. Being intentional is an awesome idea.

  • Justine Y @ Little Dove

    April 14, 2018 at 3:00 am

    This is so interesting and something I hadn’t really thought about before, but after reading this I’m realizing that my husband and I are the same way, we want out children’s playtime to be intentional and not just have them being entertained.

    • Nikki

      April 14, 2018 at 3:52 pm

      Justine, so glad I could give you something to think about! 🙂 I am so happy to see so many parents choose to nurture creativity in their children. <3

  • Jessica McKenna

    April 16, 2018 at 10:50 am

    This is wonderful and is so meaningful to those of us with little ones. They are eager to learn about everything around them and we can create the condition for quality learning, rather than simply entertaining them (I love how you put that!). In those moments of overwhelm it’s easy to see why we turn to those “entertainment” toys but it can so quickly become a habit and everyone becomes disengaged from the learning in play. Love this post!

    • Nikki

      April 18, 2018 at 1:15 pm

      Thank you so much Jessica, I am so happy that you enjoyed this! It is so easy to turn to entertaining when I am feeling overwhelmed… it’s why I’ve had to make sure I don’t keep a lot of things around that are there only to amuse. It helps me not fall into a bad habit. 🙂

  • Elaine Michaels

    April 16, 2018 at 11:49 am

    As a 16 yr Pediatric Physical Therapist here, play is super important in a child’s development! Back and forth interaction is so powerful! Love that you’re posting about it here. Thank you!