2. Do the laundry.

It may be monotonous for you, but for your child, the laundry is a sensory adventure. "A toddler helping fold laundry fresh from the dryer is using her senses to process information, and we help them understand that information when we talk about the experiences. ‘Aren't these towels warm? Don't your PJs smell good? Feel how soft this sweater is!’" suggests Jeff Johnson, founder of the Iowa-based Explorations Early Learning, LLC and author of Babies in The Rain: Promoting Play, Exploration, and Discovery with Infants and Toddlers.

3. Make morning routines more meaningful.

Clothing or feeding your child (or having them do it on their own, depending on his age) clearly involves senses like touch, seeing, taste, and smell. But you can add a conversation to involve the sense of hearing in these everyday rituals. For instance, serve a crispy rice cereal. Have your child listen to the crackling, taste the cereal, learn the word "Pop!" and allow him to add any other comments (through expressions, sounds, or words, again, depending on his age). Ask him what color shirt he wants to wear, if he wants apple juice or milk and why, how different fabrics feel against his skin or how creamed corn tastes. Says Johnson, "That running commentary while eating, dressing, grocery shopping, driving, and doing all the mundane things that are part of daily life is the best way to help kids make sense of their senses. It also builds language skills and interpersonal bonds."

4. Put on a show.

While you don't have to entertain kids nonstop, engaging them in some parent-child musical theatre can be fun—and beneficial. Says Sparrow, "The idea is [to focus on] activities that involve this relationship with another human being as the source of the stimulation." Your voice can be more interesting to your baby than, say, the robotic tones of a mobile. "Babies' hearing is set up so they attend preferentially to sounds within the human range," says Sparrow. Plus, the visual of your improve acting just may cause them to join in. Think of your yourself as the best mobile toy ever—you can be funny, soothing, fast, slow, loud, quiet, depending on what your child's face and body language is telling you.