How dads can bond with their babies

Having fun with your baby doesn’t require a trip to the toy store, fancy baby equipment or a special membership to a baby gym.

Greg Bishop, founder of Boot Camp for New Dads, a non-profit orientation program for fathers-to-be, operating in more than 260 hospitals, clinics, schools, fire stations and churches around North America and internationally, and author of two books on fathering, offers 12 budget friendly activities to do with baby.

Below, Bishop shares input from working with more than 200,000 new dads over the past 18 years and an excerpt from his most recent book Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists and Cheat Sheets:

1. Take a tour of your own house with baby in a front carrier, letting him/her grab things within reach.
2. Sing songs together. It doesn’t matter if it’s a lullaby or rock ‘n’ roll as long as it’s repetitive and sung with enthusiasm.
3. Give him/her "airplane" rides through the house or yard.
4. Create some tall buildings with blocks then let him/her knock them down.
5. Put baby in a carrier and go on short hiking adventures.
6. Build an indoor obstacle course with pillows and sheets for tunnels that baby will enjoy crawling through.
7. Start a kitchen band with pots and pans and spoons and really make some noise.
8. Play “hide and seek” with toys to teach him/her how to find his/her hidden treasures.
9. Encourage your little artist with crayons or non-toxic finger paint. Spread newspaper on the kitchen floor and cover with drawing paper.
10. Bring the bath and beach toys into the tub along with a colander and let baby have a blast sinking ships and making “rain”.
11. Make funny faces together while looking in a mirror. Use shaving cream to give baby a mirror beard and moustache.
12. Make junior an instant sports fan. Watch your favorite team together on TV and practice doing the wave.

According to Bishop, “Research has shown that babies benefit from time spent with dad, doing what comes naturally to dads, such as roughhousing, playing and simply showing him/her the world. Best of all, these activities don’t cost a thing.”

Tips, advice, instructions
Greg Bishop offers strategies from more than 200,000 new dads that have gone through the Boot Camp for New Dads program in his second book, Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists and Cheat Sheets. His first book, Hit the Ground Crawling, covers work balance, being a dad, caring for a new mom and much more. Both books are available online at www.DadsAdventure.com