• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Course
    • Teaching Every Reader
  • Subscriber Freebies
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Member Login

The Measured Mom

Education resources for parents and teachers

  • Alphabet
  • Reading
    • Structured literacy
    • Printable Books
    • Pre-Reading
    • Phonics
    • Sight Words
    • Comprehension
    • Fluency
    • Vocabulary
  • Writing
    • Grammar
    • Handwriting
    • Spelling
    • Writing in Pre-K
    • Writing in K-3
  • Math
    • Counting
    • Number Recognition
    • Addition & Subtraction
    • Colors, Shapes & Patterns
    • Visual Discrimination
    • Time, Money & Measurement
    • Place Value
    • Graphs
    • Multiplication & Division
    • Fractions
    • Problem Solving
  • Book Lists
    • Letter of the Week
    • Early Childhood Themes
    • Pre-Reading Skills
    • Math Concepts
    • Writing Mentor Texts
    • Versions of Familiar Tales
    • Holidays and Seasonal
    • History
    • Leveled Book Lists
  • Join Membership
Home
  • Shop
  • Blog
    • Alphabet
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Math
    • Book Lists
  • Podcast
  • Courses
    • Teaching Every Reader
    • Teaching Every Writer
  • Subscriber Freebies
  • About
  • Membership
  • Contact

PSPKK1237 Comments

Button Play: An older baby play idea (Mommy & Me)

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

the measured mom - button play - Mommy & Me - older baby

My baby wakes up from his nap. Either something woke him up early, and he’s extra cranky, or despite a two-hour siesta he’s whiny and fussy.  I try all my tricks — books, snack, cuddle time — to no avail.  Ugh.  I have a fussy baby for two hours until dinnertime.  Now what?

My baby is demanding personal time from me.  And unless I want to listen for screaming for two hours, I get to find something fun for us to do together.

When my children woke up fussy as older babies and toddlers, the first thing I did was read to them.  For some of my kids (I have four), that’s worked.  When my daughter was ten months old, I could bring out a book and the tears would literally freeze on her face.  But when my 13-month old is cranky, a book does not comfort him.  He grabs it from my  hand and hurls it.

The other day, after trying the books, the snack, and the cuddle, I wondered what to do next.  My eye caught the jar of buttons in our play dough cupboard.  Usually I work to keep small items from my little guy, but I was going to sit right with him.  Why not?  This worked out great as a Mommy & Me baby play idea.

child trying to take button out of jar

I set out a mini-muffin tray and a jar of buttons (the tiny ones had been removed). I loved how excited he was.  Buttons? For me??  You’ve never let me touch these before!

child holding button

In the last month he’s shown great interest in putting things into containers.  So I pulled out a mini-muffin tray and showed him what to do.  He was busy for a long time.  (By a long time, I mean about 5 minutes.  Baby attention span here :).)

child placing button into muffin tray

He was so busy that he didn’t even try to put buttons in his mouth– right away.  The few times he tried, I was right there with him (it’s Mommy & Me, after all!) and was able to stop him.  He’s old enough now to understand “No! No! Not in your mouth!”

child placing button into popsicle moldNext, I brought out these Tupperware popsicle molds which gave him a little more of a challenge.  He loved filling these up, too.

child playing with buttonsI tried bringing out paper muffin cups, but he only wanted to scrunch them.

He learned while he played:

  • explored shapes (circles)
  • experienced the feel of different buttons/textures
  • practiced fine motor skills of grabbing, dropping, and placing in and out
  • heard language: in/out ; no eating!

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: General

You May Also Enjoy These Posts:

Learn the Alphabet Activity: Crayon Resist Hearts (guest post) Letter B Activities for 2-Year-Olds A peek at our week: Letter F Activities for Preschool
Letter H Math Activities
Icy insect sensory bin

Reader Interactions

7 Comments

  1. Sugar Aunts

    March 14, 2013 at 4:53 pm

    We love ideas like this! Thank you for sharing at Share it Saturday!

    Reply to this comment
    • annageig

      March 14, 2013 at 8:01 pm

      Anything to get through those fussy baby days!

      Reply to this comment
  2. Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest

    March 8, 2013 at 5:58 pm

    My son (33 months) has loved playing with buttons for as long as I can remember. We’ve actually had a jar of buttons out for a couple of days and he’s been towing them around behind one of his trains and pretending that they’re chocolates that he needs to deliver. It’s fun to witness the new ways little ones play with the same old thing as they get older.

    Reply to this comment
  3. annageig

    March 7, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    That’s great, Christine — thanks for reminding me about expanding this idea. One thing my other kids enjoyed was putting poker chips into a slot. Sounds like your guy is ready for that!

    Reply to this comment
  4. Christine

    March 7, 2013 at 8:51 am

    My little guy is also 14 months, and he really enjoyed this activity…it became his favorite game for a few days running. I also cut a slot into the top of the jar we hold our buttons in and would then help him put them in one at a time. He loved to watch them clank to the bottom and also learned about sizes, etc., as he tried to fit bouncy balls, golf balls, you name it into the little slot. And then got really excited when we took the lid off and, behold, the balls fit too!

    Reply to this comment
  5. Leah

    March 6, 2013 at 9:47 am

    What age is your little one? My youngest just rolled over for the first time, so this is a little early for her, but I figure I have to start coming up with activities for her soon! I like this idea!

    Reply to this comment
    • annageig

      March 6, 2013 at 2:16 pm

      Hi Leah! My little guy is almost 14 months. I figure the kids are ready for this sort of thing when they don’t immediately put something new into their mouths. For my kids, that transition has happened somewhere around one year.

      Reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Grade Level Key

  • PS Preschool (ages 2-3 years)
  • PK Pre-K (ages 4-5 years)
  • K Kindergarten
  • 1 1st grade
  • 2 2nd grade
  • 3 3rd grade

Hello, I’m Anna!

Welcome to The Measured Mom. I’m so glad you’re here!

Meet Our Team

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Shop Our Newest Resources

At The Measured Mom®, our mission is to share high quality educational resources that are engaging for students and easy for educators.

Fluency Centers – MEGA BUNDLE

$39.00

Phonics Centers – MEGA BUNDLE

$49.00

A-Z Letter Cards & More

$12.00

Shop All Resources

Members get more!

The Measured Mom Plus is the perfect online membership for Pre-K to third grade educators.

Learn More

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Join our online course and get the tools you need to teach every learner in K-2!

Confidently teach every reader in your classroom. Still have time to live your life.

Learn More

Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher

Check out these recent podcast episodes:

  • What does the research say about alphabet instruction? with Dr. Shayne Piasta
  • What is set for variability? A conversation with Dr. Marnie Ginsberg
  • How to help students improve language comprehension – a conversation with Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan
More Episodes

Check out these FREE email courses...

Get strategies and tools to teach a particular topic with a free 5-day email series! Just click an image to sign up. We recommend signing up for just one at a time.

For Pre-K Educators

How to teach phonological & phonemic awareness

How to teach phonological & phonemic awareness

Learn how to develop this important pre-reading skill with a free 5-day email series!

How to teach preschool math

How to teach preschool math

Learn exactly what to teach your preschoolers in this free 5-day series!

For Kinder & 1st Grade Educators

How to teach kids to sound out words

How to teach kids to sound out words

Learn my top strategies for teaching kids to "sound it out"

How to teach sight words

How to teach sight words

Get strategies and tools for teaching sight words to young learners!

Tips for teaching phonics

Tips for teaching phonics

Sign up for our free 5-day email series to learn what phonics skills to teach and how to structure your phonics lessons!

For 2nd & 3rd Grade Educators

How to build reading fluency

How to build reading fluency

Learn smart strategies for helping your learners become fluent readers with this free 5-day series!

How to build reading comprehension

How to build reading comprehension

Discover the essential reading comprehension strategies for 2nd & 3rd grade and how to teach them!

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Matthew 6:33

Copyright © 2023 The Measured Mom •  All rights reserved  •  Privacy & Disclosure Statement  •  Site Design by Emily White Designs