Advantages of play gym
Our Yael loves to kick and straighten his legs when on his back. At this age, he could very well appreciate his play gym. It is always a joy to see him kick his new mat gym in order for it to light up and make sounds.
Just like any mom, I am guilty of overspending for my boys. We tend to hoard cute onesies and rompers which our babies could wear for only a few months. We have the tendency to overstuff our children with toys they would only play for a few months or weeks.
Imagining that our Yael would look cute with these clothes on or toys, I oftentimes give in to the temptation of buying baby stuff
for him. But I guess there is always a time for everything and that includes buying these cool baby necessities or wants.
As I see our Yael grow, I may say that the best time to buy a play gym is when he reaches three months of age. By this time, he now tries to reach out and touch things close by. He also kicks a lot and would love to straighten his feet. A play gym would definitely help his physical development!
Ours is from Bright Starts and it has a baby-safe mirror, tummy time pillow, dangling toys of different textures, shapes and colors, and a musical box which plays melodies and animal sounds.
Listed below are some of the developmental benefits of a play gym as I watch our baby plays with it:
Advantages of play gym
Visual benefit. When I was shopping for a play gym, the store attendant mentioned that babies are born nearsighted. Objects or faces about eight inches from their face register clearly as oppose to those beyond 12 inches which may appear blurry. They are highly attracted to contrasting colors like black and white. Most play gyms take advantage of this thus have bright contrasting colors.
Motor benefit. A play gym encourages babies to use the muscles in their arms, legs, neck, and even tummy. Why? because everything is just so colorful and attractive they would want to reach them all.
Mental benefit. Yael would stare at the dangling cat that shows colors and makes sounds. Then the light and sound stop. He accidentally kicked one of the arches of the play gym and the light and sound appear again. He must have realized that kicking his play gym would make the sound and light come back again, thus he repeat doing it. \ Through this exercise, he learns at a very young age the basics of cause and effect. Those kick-activated toys respond to his actions, facilitating him to understand the concept of cause and effect.
Sensory stimulation benefit. A play gym features various textures, colors, and sounds. The dangling toys help babies develop their visual awareness skills. The music and rattles make babies curious thus push them to look for the sound. Even the texture of the toys would teach them what hard and soft mean and how rough and smooth feel.
Self-awareness benefit. It is most advisable to get a play gym with a non-breakable mirror so babies can spend the time to look at themselves in the mirror. Our Yael was three months old when he first recognized himself in the mirror. And he was stunned. Now, at four months, he begins to playfully respond to his mirror image by making faces. And watching him is such a joy!
Indeed a baby play mat can be an excellent tool to teach our babies and assist in their development. But still, the best teacher and stimulation is us, mommies or daddies. Even the kuyas and ates. It is best that our babies hear our voice, touch our face, and even smell our hair because aside from letting them develop their senses, they would definitely feel a lot secured. Why? because they know they are with people who love them dearly.
So after your babies play with their gym, how about you play or sing with him?
*Yael at 3 months old
I have this din! Just a different brand. Problem is whenever my baby is playing my elder daughter will come over and play too, and then they end up fighting! Haha hopefully they learn to share soon though. I totally agree with the benefits you wrote. Thanks for sharing!
Haha. How cute for your elder daughter to play with your baby. Sooner they will understand how to share. Thanks and hello there to your kids!
Yes love buying stuffs for my children too. Especially with my first born, I was so excited buying kiddie everything.
hahaha. and our husband would only scratch his head upon seeing the new toys. hahaha.
I am guilty on overspending for my boy too! The contrasting color thing about the babies being near sighted is definitely true that’s why when my kid was still a baby, our room was decorated with bright colors too!
Haha. All guilty moms tayo. Would like to repaint our bedroom wall with something bright but saw wall decals so bought them instead. My 4mo old baby loves to look at our wall. Seems so fascinated. Now, we have so many wall stickers in the house. Ihihi.
What a nice play gym! My kids are teens now and I don’t think we had this when they were babies.
even with my three school boys, we didnt buy a play gym. i feel like a renewed mom as i am learning so much now.
I didn’t really research on the benefits, I just bought one when my daughter was still a baby, haha. Thanks for sharing this, nice read.
Thank you. Hahaa. Now we know its advantages and next time we buy one, we could defend it to our husband. hhahaha.
I also have a similar one to keep my baby (then) busy and at the same time stimulate his senses. Agree with all the dvantages you have enumerated here. The sad part is, my baby outgrew this as soon as he started to walk.
Yes on the sad part. Our play gym is also now left unattended for months 🙁 But I could still use the mat anytime he plays or use it as a changing mat whenever we go outside. 🙂
My sis-in-law passed me her hand-me-down baby stuff to me and one of them is the play gym. I’m glad I don’t need to buy one and aside from that, it’s good to know the advantages/benefits of the play gym. Thanks for sharing! xx
Nice to have sisters-in-law! And I so love hand-me-down stuff.
My kids had a playgym too and they loved playing with it 🙂 Now, ipinamana na sya sa baby cousins nila, very useful indeed 🙂
Yup. couldn’t agree more on the advantages. 🙂 Swerte the cousins 🙂
I agree that playgyms do wonders for little kids! However, my son didn’t get to have one because he was a clingy baby and would never leave my side. We just read soft books nalang
Haha. So sweet naman your baby not wanting to be away from you. But reading books is advantageous as well. They will develop that liking for books as they grow up.