Playing 'Soccer' with Daddy

Baby J loves to move, bounce, kick, throw, and scream.  He is my little baby athlete.

As athletes ourselves, my husband and I enjoy 'sports' activities that strengthen J's gross motor skills.

In the future, I look forward to posting a list of fun activities that are helpful in strengthening these important muscles in infants; however, I wanted to first share a little of our own fun that we have been having here at home.

We have a hand-me-down Fisher Price jumper that is meant to be suspended from a doorway frame.  Since we do not have trim around the frames in our kitchen/family room area, my husband kindly attached a heavy duty eye hook (with attached ring) into the beam of our kitchen entryway.  With a strong carabiner we can now easily set up and take down the jumper as needed.

Every few days Baby J spends about 10 minutes jumping his heart out and squealing with excitement.  His arms flail, his feet fly, and the smile on his face stretches from ear to ear!

Indoor 'soccer' has become the fun activity as of late.  My husband plays with J, kicking a pink bouncy ball back and forth across the floor.  Hubby aims it at Baby J's legs, and as J bounces and plays with daddy, he often kicks the ball around.  In the pictures that follow, you can see how excited J gets while playing 'soccer' with daddy.

We have found that by playing this way, Baby J will now give a little kick when you roll a ball toward his feet (while he is sitting on the floor).  Gross motor development AND fun!

(Note: I do not have a preference to soccer.  I am actually a rower, and will support any sport that my children choose to participate in!)