Play With Baby

Here are some my favorite ideas on how to play a simple games with your baby.
Easy. Cheap. and Anytime.

1. Peek-A-boo
There's no limit to the versions of peekaboo your baby will enjoy. This one builds on your baby's fascination with facial expressions.

Skills developed: understanding of object permanence, fine motor
What you'll need: paper or cardboard; pens, scraps of cloth, scissors, glue

Remember that page in Pat the Bunny where you can lift up a slip of cloth and see Paul's face? Taking this as inspiration, make your own peekaboo pictures, using different characters and facial expressions. On several sturdy pieces of construction paper or cardboard, draw simple sketches of people, each with a happy, sad, or grumpy expression. If you'd rather not draw, cut out pictures from a magazine instead. Then cut rectangular pieces of cloth a little taller than each figure. Use glue to attach the cloth just above each picture, creating a flap that lifts up. When the glue is dry, show your baby how to raise the flaps. Make up a story about the person underneath, and end it with your baby "finding" the face.

Variations: Cut squares of cloth big enough to cover the faces, but leave the bodies uncovered. Or draw only faces rather than full figures.


2. Rattle & Roll

There's nothing like a rattle to excite budding young percussionists — although babies tend to tire of these toys faster than we'd like. Shake things up by making your baby his very own maracas to create new and different sounds.

Skills developed: fine motor, sense of rhythm
What you'll need: small containers such as film canisters, one-serving Tupperware containers with tightly fitting lids, empty yogurt cups, or half-pint milk cartons; fillers such as dried rice, macaroni, or beans; strong packing or duct tape

Empty film canisters (thoroughly scrubbed to get rid of that chemical smell) make perfect shakers for small hands. Empty yogurt cups and small Tupperware containers work well, too. If your baby is past the stage of putting everything in his mouth, cardboard toilet paper tubes with the ends taped over and half-pint milk cartons sealed shut are other great noisemakers, and they're easy to decorate with construction paper. Load each rattle with different fillers for a variety of tones. Then put on some snappy Latin jazz or salsa, sit your baby down with his new rhythm section, and get ready to rattle and roll!

Note: Prevent any choking hazard by taping all rattles tightly closed. And if your baby is the type to get it open no matter what, use bigger fillers such as bow-tie pasta or ping-pong balls.


3. Tug a - Lug
You may have noticed how your baby absolutely will not let go of something when you try to take it away. It's as if she's instinctively protecting her territory, and in a way, she is. (She's finally learned to hold on to things, and she's going to hold on tight.) Go along with that new doggedness by starting a game of tug-of-war.

Skills developed: gross motor
What you'll need: a dish towel or other small piece of cloth, or a soft toy

Let your baby grab hold of a dish towel or a toy such as a cloth-covered rattle. Then grab the other end of it and pull gently, testing her strength. As she gets used to this, it's fun to tug hard enough to actually lift her up slightly so her arms are supporting her own weight; which builds upper body strength. Think of it as your baby's first weight-lifting routine.


Remember: Each baby develops at a different pace, so if yours isn't quite ready for this week's activities, don't worry — just try them again in a few weeks.

4. Climb the cushion
Even as your baby learns to walk, she'll set her sights on climbing. You'll spend lots of extra minutes getting up your front steps and into the house because she'll want to scale the stairs all by herself — not once, not twice, but until you call off the ascent.

Skills developed: gross motor
What you'll need: lots of pillows from the bed, sofa, and elsewhere

Pile up a high stack of pillows for a safe, fun climbing activity. Use the largest, most stable pillows, such as couch cushions and bed pillows, on the bottom, then add chair pillows, throw pillows, and so on. Holding your baby steady, help her climb up the mountain of pillows and stand triumphant on top. If you have a lot of rectangular pillows, you can use them to create more of a stair-step structure, but you'll need to hold your baby's hand to make sure she doesn't step off the top tier into thin air.

Safety note: Never leave a baby alone with her pillow mountain; this activity should be supervised constantly. And move any furniture with sharp corners, so there's nothing for her to bang against if she falls.

5. Spoon Landing
Until your baby learns to feed himself, it's one of the great challenges of parenthood to get food into his mouth. These spoon maneuvers have met with swooping success.

Skills developed: being spoonfed
What you'll need: a baby spoon

While he may already have gotten wise to the tried-and-true "airplane coming in for a landing" trick, there are endless variations that can keep your baby open-mouthed (and that's what you want, right?) in astonishment. A good one for surprise value is "rocket, landing on the moon": Hold the spoon down below the table or high-chair tray, then bring it up quickly but carefully (as close to vertical as you can without spilling the contents) and gently place it in your baby's mouth just as you say "moon." Or, use a horizontal move to bring the spoon into your baby's field of vision as you say "here comes the racing speedboat" or try using an up-and-down bobbing motion to introduce a "whale swimming in the ocean." Some babies are particularly partial to choo-choo trains (a "chug-a-chug-a-whoo-whoo" sound as you bob the spoon along) and leaping dolphins (a dramatic arcing move sure to make a "splash").

6. Choo choo Tunnel
Best when your baby has lots of energy and is raring to go, this activity is a blast for new crawlers who have clearly "left the station."

Skills developed: crawling, gross motor
What you'll need: no equipment necessary

Stand with your legs a little wider apart than your shoulders. Tell your baby she's the train and you're the tunnel, then have her crawl through your legs. Add a few "chug-a-chug-a's" and train whistle sound effects as she passes through. After she's done this a few times, suggest that now the train needs to go through the tunnel quickly, before it collapses. As she passes through, squeeze your legs together and try to catch her (giving her a head start, of course), or lower your body (bending your knees) as if you're about to sit on her. Provided you don't get her overly excited while playing, this is a great way to tucker out a pre-walker before bed.

7.Kick It
etting ready to crawl, stand, and walk is a big challenge — all sorts of new muscles need to develop in those little legs. This kicking game develops gross motor coordination while your young go-getter's still "on the bench."

Skills developed: gross motor
What you'll need: a midsize plastic ball

Kneeling or sitting on the floor, hold your baby in front of you (and facing away from you) with one arm around his chest and the other hand supporting his bottom so his legs stick out in front of you both. Place a ball directly in front of him and help his feet kick the ball forward; then move forward so he can propel the ball across the floor, like a mini soccer star. Cheer encouragingly every time his foot makes contact with the ball, and point out how far he's "kicked" it. This makes a great game when you get your baby together with a playmate: The parents can position the players to face each other and kick the ball back and forth.

8. Where's the noise?
Squeaky toys are such favorites because babies love to be surprised by unexpected sounds. Add the fun of peekaboo and you have an audiovisual guessing game.

Skills developed: understanding of object permanence, hand-eye coordination
What you'll need: several noise-making toys; a dish towel or small blanket

Show your baby a squeaky toy, give it a good noisy squeeze, then cover it with a dish towel or small blanket and let him uncover it. Then cover it again and try making it squeak while it's still invisible — this is always good for a laugh and a rush to "discover" it. Substitute a toy that rattles, then one that makes a crunching noise or other unusual sound (you can make your own with a ball of waxed paper). For the final act, throw a blanket over a tape recorder, then push the button (through the blanket) to start up a tape. If nothing else has gotten a big reaction, this certainly will!

9. Story boards
For those times when the regular nighty-night routine seems a little too ho-hum, try substituting your very own hand-animated bedtime story.

Skills developed: verbal, auditory
What you'll need: a flannel board, available from educational toy stores and catalogs; sheets of colored felt and scissors, or purchased felt shapes

You can use traditional store-bought felt shapes, which usually come in themed sets (farm animals, numbers, faces) or make your own by cutting them out with scissors. A good place to start is with a "paper doll" made from felt in the same gender as your child, with a simple wardrobe or props that let you make it day or night, winter or summer. Then you can add a dog, cat, or rabbit, a simple house and car, and other elements to spin a tale that reflects your baby's life or interests.

Sit facing your baby with the felt board propped on your knees so it is clearly visible. Tell your story — any story, really; don't feel you have to be a master narrator — illustrating the major points with the felt shapes. You might start out, "Once upon a time there was a little boy (lay out the felt figure) who lived in a tiny house (lay out the house)." When your baby is a little older, it's fun — and very revealing — to have him tell you a felt-board bedtime story.

10. Photo Album
Recognizing familiar faces (including your own) is an enormous treat for your baby as he learns to identify people by name and association.

Skills developed: pattern recognition, fine motor
What you'll need: a small photo album — the type where the photos slide into clear plastic pockets

Buy a small photo album (one that holds 3-by-5- or 4-by-6-inch photos — one to a page is the best) and fill it with snapshots of your baby and the people in his life. In addition to relatives and family friends (the most typical photo subjects), make sure you include pictures of babysitters or caregivers, neighbors, and other babies and children you know.

11. Clap your hands!
There comes a miraculous moment, sometime around the 6-month mark, when your baby discovers she can spontaneously bring her hands together to touch each other. But even before she masters this skill, clapping games give her a thrill. What's more, they provide a chance to interact with you face-to-face and to try to mimic your actions.

Skills developed: two-hand coordination
What you'll need: no equipment necessary

Patty-cake is an old favorite for babies, but this version is a little more challenging. Sit your baby on the floor, then sit down cross-legged facing her. If she doesn't sit securely yet, prop a pillow behind her. Then sing this song (any tune will do), acting out the commands as you come to them.

Clap, clap, clap your hands
Clap your tiny hands
Clap, clap, clap your hands
Clap your tiny hands

Additional verses:
Stomp, stomp, stomp your feet... (and so on).
Pat, pat, pat your head... (and so on).
Rub, rub, rub your tummy... (and so on).

Help your baby make the movements herself, even if it means holding her ankles and stomping her feet for her. You can continue to make up sillier and sillier verses (wiggle your eyebrows; stick out your tongue) as long as she continues to giggle.
Give the album to your baby and tell him it's his very own. Sit with him and show him the photos, letting him communicate his feelings to you. He'll react to the familiar ones with excitement and point out any faces he doesn't recognize with a questioning expression. Then put the album in his bookshelf or toy box, where he can page through it on his own. It'll quickly become a favorite — and a lifesaver on plane trips and long car rides.

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