When your little one starts to get to the age where they want to actively interact with the world, it pays to invest in their happiness. And one of the best ways you could spend your money here is to invest it in an activity baby gym. These sporting centres provide your kid with an easy way to interact with the world, learn about physical movement, and generally just have a wonderful time to themselves!
When parenting at such a young age for a baby, it really can be hard to determine their needs and wants. In fact, it will be quite some time until your little one is telling you in no uncertain terms what they want. That’s why you might want to buy a baby activity play gym; something like this could be the ideal way to get them active, engaged, and self-satisfied. From wanting to stretch out to climbing, hanging toys, or even running around on a baby gym piano, you can give kids all manner of fun ways to learn.
Growth is a big part of this phase of their life, and a baby floor gym could be just what they need.
What is a baby activity gym?
This term can be a catch-all for many accessories you might seek to give to a child. Most of the time, though, it is something akin to a Baby Einstein play gym. These offer a lot of ways for your child to play, to exercise, and to generally build an understanding of this confusing world they new inhabit. A baby gym for new-borns often makes you think you are putting your kid into a workout routine. This, though, is not an obstacle course. A typical baby climbing gym could include all manner of tools for them to interact, feel new sensations, and engage with some very intriguing activities.
It will give any little baby a specific set of activities that they can play with on demand. However, a baby boy play gym and a baby girl play gym might be quite different things. They tend to contain different colour schemes, features, accessories, and usually can be quite different in their general purpose.
For the most part, though, a baby activity gym is to help them stay perpetually busy, entertained, and happy from the moment they wake ‘til they sleep!
What can a baby activity play gym offer my child?
The main benefit they receive from playing with a product like this is a sensory enjoyment. Most children will find that they just want to play, explore, and see how things look, feel, and act. That is why you might be very cautious at first around a baby; you want to avoid them interacting with things that might hurt them. Well, something like a baby floor gym can offer them everything they need to interact with and engage with their senses.
This can be very useful for making sure that a young child can really lean into the fun factor that stems from having an activity gym. It should offer them a lot of opportunities to have fun, to explore their minds, and to simply experiment with no risk of failure. The main thing about these little activity play gyms is they tend to also be very colourful and engaging. To a young mind, all of that extra charm and brightness can give their brains a huge boost in terms of understanding the world.
Babies will soon grow to understand a lot about the world simply by engaging with something as friendly and as charming as a baby gym.
Should I focus on colour?
You should definitely make sure that any baby gym you look to build comes with lots of colour. Sensory exploration is a big part of growing up and initiating your child to the brightness and vibrancy of colour is a big boon for their mental health. They start to appreciate colours as opposed to find them off-putting. That explosion of colour is sure to entertain them and make them want to look further into what the cause of the colour is.
Sure, you could buy a baby gym grey and keep things nice and neutral. This is recommended perhaps in a room that is already loaded with bombastic numbers of colour and charm. A standard baby gym, though, should be built around a solid concept and a clear and engaging colour scheme.
Kids are sure to love playing with a gym that is more exciting and colourful. Even things like the baby gym hanging toys should be loaded with colour. Kids tend to love that chromatic charm, so make sure that any baby activity gym you look at least incorporates some kind of bright colours into the design.
Some suggest black and white gyms – what do you suggest?
A common suggestion today that is often given to parents revolves around giving your child a baby play gym black and white in colour. This can be useful, though, even if it might sound dull and tiresome. The colour scheme works as an obvious contrast to a room that is already bursting with colour. While you want your little one to have lots of fun, you don’t want to overload their small senses. Therefore, while colour is useful to help them learn and stay excited, you have to be a bit more focused on going overboard.
If you worry the room is always going to be too bright, then you should look to use a black and white gym option. This can generally look better, give you a far more contrasting design, and still allow for your child to learn. Kids still love that black and white contrast, and it can play another role in helping to expand and improve upon their general feelings on a daily basis.
A young child will always benefit from colours that change, though; even something as simple as a black and white tone helps their senses explode.
What about lights?
Some parents worry about using one too many sets of lights in their babies’ room in case it upsets them or frightens them. However, the best baby play gyms will make smart use of lights. These are very useful for giving your child an easy way to improve their eye movement and help them to track things with their eyes in a way that we simply cannot.
These gentler, more colourful lights can be bright and interactive, giving your child a real appreciation for that extra sparkle in their life. This is why you should never disregard a gym based on having lights. Again, unless their room is absolutely loaded with lights, you might want to try and focus on making sure they get enough bright colours in these important activities.
Any child should enjoy being able to engage with the lighting because it should offer a great way for them to improve their eye strength. Their vision will improve, as will their ability to react to things like lighting, ensuring they tend to become more active and alert little babies.
Trust us – lights are only something to avoid when they are in utter excess. Otherwise, they can only assist.
What material should a baby gym be made from?
Material is a big part of the discussion for sure. If you want to buy the best baby gym mamas and papas can find, then you do want something that is nice and soft. This should allow for them to easily roam around, climb over objects, and explore without you having to worry about them bumping into a hard surface or hurting themselves.
At the same time, though, you probably want to look at getting something like a baby gym frame wood if possible. Frames are good as they can give a clear structure for the whole experience, allowing your child to relax within the framework of the actual mat. Now, you shouldn’t come in and find your baby lying half way across the room! These little frames help to add a clear definition for where they can play.
This can be useful for you if you want to ensure they stick to the confines of the baby activity gym. More often than not, this helps to set a clear boundary that they will stick to they’ll often be having too much fun to voluntarily leave, anyway!
And tummy time? Does a baby activity gym allow for tummy time?
Ah, tummy time – if only we could still enjoy such an experience as adults!
For a young baby, tummy time is essential to help them rest, recuperate, and to allow their bodies to just recover. However, you want to make sure your child isn’t going to be too pushed and tired; with that in mind, you should absolutely look to invest some money into a baby activity gym that is useful for ‘tummy time’. The longer they get to enjoy this vital part of their day, the better.
Try and find an activity gym that comes with a little pillow prop, as well, as this will allow your child to rest out, stretch out, and just have a little bit of added relaxation. If you are serious about trying to give your child that added bit of tummy time without risking their discomfort, then an activity gym should definitely include such a feature.
If you are trying to help your child to relax and to enjoy their senses, then something like this can really help them out. The more exposure they get to variable ways to think and explore their world, the better!
Will this improve motor skills?
Since your typical kick and play baby gym is going to be loaded with things to touch, move around on, hold, and move around, your baby is sure to find their motor skills improve. They will get used to using their arms and legs more, and in using their brain in conjunction with physical movement. They will begin to work out what they need to do if they want to move anything around the little mat. These precious moments of strategy and thinking are utterly essential to their development as young children.
Therefore, you should definitely look to include a newborn baby gym that is going to see them really work on their body. It should make them move around, interact with various items, and get used to dealing with things moving as they touch them etc.
These sound like obvious things to an adult, but these are the years where our babies are most keen to learn how the world works and reacts to the things they do. Even something like a wooden baby gym with a few blocks to move around can be great for their motor skills.
Buying the best baby gym in the UK
With the above ideas, you should know what kind of features to look out for when it comes to buying a baby gym. You want to look out for themes they will love, such as a Finding Nemo baby gym. You might also want to look into other major brands like a Fisher Price baby gym, a Bright Starts baby gym or even a theme like a rainforest baby gym.
Find something they seem to find inspiring; look at the toys and tools they play with and seem to adore the most. Can you find an activity gym that packs all of these kind of key features into the one place. The sooner they have a little HQ to use for rest, relaxation, and general enjoyment, the more likely they are to have some fun when they get settled down.
And trust us – your baby will love having so many things to interact with, learn about, and deal with. So long as it has enough features and colours for them to enjoy working with, you can easily improve the whole experience that they get to enjoy even when just playing at home.