Activities for 4-Month-Olds
Four months old and your baby is an active participant in the world. They reach for what they want, protest when they don't get it, and laugh at things they find genuinely funny. The personality you're seeing now is real — your baby has preferences, opinions, and a growing understanding that they are a separate person who can make things happen.
What's Happening Right Now
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Cognitive
Intentional reaching is the big cognitive leap this month. Your baby sees a toy, wants it, and reaches for it — a deceptively simple action that requires coordinating vision, motor planning, and desire. They're also developing object permanence; they'll look briefly for a dropped toy instead of forgetting it existed. Babbling is becoming more varied as they experiment with different sounds.
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Physical
Rolling from tummy to back is happening or about to happen. Your baby can hold their head completely steady and pushes up on straight arms during tummy time. They reach for toys with one hand while supporting themselves with the other. They're starting to bear weight on their legs when held upright and love the bouncing sensation. Core strength is building fast.
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Social & Emotional
Your baby recognizes familiar faces and may be wary of strangers for the first time. They laugh at surprising things — a funny sound, a game of peekaboo, your exaggerated expressions. They show frustration when they can't reach something and delight when they succeed. Emotions are bigger and more varied now, and that's exactly right.
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What's Coming Next
Rolling both directions, sitting with support, and transferring toys between hands are on the near horizon. Your baby will start babbling with consonant-vowel combinations (ba-ba, da-da) and showing more interest in solid foods. The 4-month sleep regression may hit — it's actually a sign of brain development, even though it doesn't feel like a gift at 3 AM.
Activities by Category
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Learning
These activities build intentional reaching, early cause-and-effect understanding, and the cognitive flexibility that comes from exploring objects in new ways.
🏃Physical / Motor
These activities strengthen the trunk rotation needed for rolling, develop weight-bearing through arms, and encourage the mobility that leads to crawling.
🎨Creative / Art
These sensory art experiences develop sustained visual attention, color discrimination, and the ability to focus on details within a larger scene.
🧩Sensory
These activities integrate visual, tactile, and oral sensory information, building the multi-sensory processing skills that support cognitive development.
👫Social
These activities strengthen secure attachment, encourage social referencing, and build the emotional safety that gives your baby confidence to explore.
💬Language
These activities encourage consonant-vowel babbling, build listening comprehension, and support the oral motor development that underlies clear speech.
🎵Music
These musical activities develop rhythm perception, encourage vocal imitation, and support the auditory memory that helps babies recognize patterns.
🌿Nature / Outdoor
These outdoor experiences strengthen visual tracking, introduce temperature and texture variation, and provide the sensory richness that indoor environments can't match.
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A Note for Parents
The 4-month mark often brings a sleep regression and a developmental leap happening simultaneously. If your baby seems fussier or clingier than usual, it's because their brain is reorganizing. This is temporary. Your baby needs the same thing they've always needed: your consistent, responsive presence. Everything else is noise.
What to Expect at This Age
Four-month-olds are beginning to roll, babble, and reach for toys with purpose. They enjoy looking at themselves in mirrors and respond to their name. Activities build hand-eye coordination and encourage vocalisation.
Curated Activities
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