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I want to take my daughter, 7 months now would be about 9 or 10 months when we go but is that too young? What has been your experiance with babys and those types of activities
Also if that is too young what are some fun summer activities we could do. Outdoor type of stuff
Hmmm, I think that age might be a little to young to hold her attention for a long while at the zoo. My son is 2 (28 months) and we took him to our local natural science center a couple of weeks ago. It's essentially a mini Zoo. He was into it for a while, but toward the end he wasn't really paying a ton of attention. We're still planning to go to our big state zoo, which is an hour away, this spring. I'm sure he's get tired at some point and end up falling asleep, but we also want to see it ourselves. It's been several years since we last went. So if YOU want to go, you should go! I'm sure your daughter will enjoy it some, but I wouldn't go solely for her at that age.
My son was 6 to 9 months his first summer, and we honestly didn't do a lot. We did get a kiddie pool for him to splash in in the yard. But we didn't have any activities really for him. Hopefully someone else will have some advice. Maybe we missed the boat!
I don't think it's too young, just be prepared for the baby to end up snoozing in the stroller while you enjoy the zoo. We took our kids at all ages to a free county zoo down near the Jersey shore. Even as young as 6 months or so, the baby still enjoyed looking at the animals. The aquarium was also a big hit, but that is indoors. On that note, if it's really hot or humid, sometimes those indoor activities are the better ones.
As far as what else to do, the nice thing about babies is that they find everything so awesomely interesting. You could put a little water in a baby pool and a couple of toys and they think it's the coolest thing ever. A lot of time, my kids just enjoyed going out for walks and looking at interesting things we saw along the way. Basically you don't really need to "do things" with a baby, everythings an adventure for them, so just live life and bring them along for the ride.
we also took our kids to the zoo at least that young. A day in the stroller, around other people and seeing the animals is another way to socialize your children. They may not especially relate to the animals that young but they do enjoy seeing them. It was at that age and younger too that we read to our kids and picture books with animals are a big hit for little ones. When they see the real animal I think it helps.
We didnt try the zoo when he was that young, we waited until he could walk a little and took him to the zoo that NJGoat is talking about. But when he was like 6 or 7 months we took him to the aquarium and he seriously loved it. For like 3 hours he was content in the stroller seeing everything. He still asks to go every year as his birthday trip and has a much fun as always. As they get older they discover new things so things are always exciting. Just make sure the stroller is high enough that the little one can see everything. They love to people watch at that age too.
I know someone who told us when our son was little that theres no point in taking him to these activities because he wont remember them anyway. No he wont remember but he is always learning. And children and babies LOVE TO LEARN AND EXPERIENCE>
ETA: We used to put him in that carrier thing or the off road stroller and go for short nature walks or hikes. We would let him touch (and taste sometimes!) all the interesting things in the woods. Children are obsessed with new textures. He loved bark and all bark is different. And bright colored flowers. And singing birds.
my philosophy was to expose the my daughter to everything and anything, within reason. Stimulation is so important. I think it's important to read to them before they get it, expose them to restaraunts early, sights and sounds, everything. As long as the environment is wholesome and healthy, don't limit yourself. Also, it makes parenting more enjoyable when you get to do what you enjoy doing.
I don't think that's too young. Your baby may be fascinated by all the sights, smells, sounds...but after awhile may get overstimulated and cranky. I wouldn't make it an all day trip, maybe a couple hours or so at the most.
my philosophy was to expose the my daughter to everything and anything, within reason. Stimulation is so important. I think it's important to read to them before they get it, expose them to restaraunts early, sights and sounds, everything. As long as the environment is wholesome and healthy, don't limit yourself. Also, it makes parenting more enjoyable when you get to do what you enjoy doing.
This was my thinking as well.... and it was intersting to see her make connections from things she had seen in her books to things she experienced. My daughter had several of those picture books (learn a word, no story) - she could identify scads of animals pictures fairly early on but in her book - an elephant and a lady bug are pretty much the same size.
As to the zoo - some of it depends on the zoo. We live in San Deigo and our zoo is excellant ("world famous") but it's also overly crowded (too much stimulation) , the animals are in more "kinder" enclosures - better for them but we've been dozens of times and never even seen the tiger, and it's dangerous to let her explore (they have double decker buses giving tours and park employees constanly zipping about)
A couple of weeks ago, we were in Hawaii and I got the membership to the Honolulu Zoo since it was walking distance of our hotel. We went every morning - she enjoyed it alot more than our zoo, it was much more kid friendly - a huge farm area, dozens of peacocks roaming around, easy to see the animals , and best of all - I could let her out of the stroller to wander and discover things for herself since I didn't have to worry about her being flattened by a bus (also the zoo employees rode bicycles)
I don't think that's too young. Your baby may be fascinated by all the sights, smells, sounds...but after awhile may get overstimulated and cranky. I wouldn't make it an all day trip, maybe a couple hours or so at the most.
This is what I was trying to say rather clumsily. LOL At that age, or even my son's age, I wouldn't drive three our four hours away to go to a zoo or aquarium. I don't think he would be into it long enough to make it a daylong or weeklong trip. Not in the way a 4- or 5-year-old would be. But a zoo that's in town on pretty regional, sure!
I want to take my daughter, 7 months now would be about 9 or 10 months when we go but is that too young? What has been your experiance with babys and those types of activities
Also if that is too young what are some fun summer activities we could do. Outdoor type of stuff
I don't think she'd have a bad time, just maybe not be as "into" it as when she's a bit older. We took my son when he was just over 1 and he was old enough to ride the carousel. But I would definitely go!
The aquarium would be great - have you taken her? We took my son at 9-10 months and he LOVED the tanks.
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