Games to play with your baby

Your baby will develop at an amazing rate in her first year. She'll seem to acquire new skills overnight.

It won't be long before your wriggling, helpless baby works out how to roll over, sit, crawl, stand and walk.

The games below will help you to encourage your baby to make the most of her new abilities as she discovers them. You should both have a lot of fun along the way.

Which games are best for babies under three months?

Copycat

Your baby loves having the chance to watch your face and this game will help sharpen her visual skills too. Hold your baby close, she can focus best at about 20cm to 35 cm. When she is gazing into your eyes, slowly poke your tongue out. Do this every 20 seconds or so.

It may take about a minute but you will soon notice she's sticking her tiny tongue back out at you. She'll try to imitate other facial expressions too, such as a big smile or wide open mouth.

Tickle songs

Once your baby is a little older, play This Little Piggy or Round and Round the Garden with her feet or hands. Hold her on your lap and gently uncurl her toes or fingers as you sing. Repeat the song a couple of times until she starts to giggle in excited anticipation of the tickle at the end.

Simple, repetitive rhymes are great for improving your baby's memory skills.

Roll and stretch

Your baby will soon be able to raise her head up for a second or two when lying on her tummy. If she's happy in this position, roll a brightly-coloured ball across her line of vision, about 60cm from her body.

To begin with she'll concentrate on watching the ball, but soon she'll try to stretch towards it. This will help strengthen her neck, arm and leg muscles. Always give her lots of praise and finish the game as soon as she starts to get frustrated.

Which games are best for babies under six months?

Catch me

Attach a small soft toy to a brightly-coloured ribbon. Dangle it in front of your baby and make it sway. When she reaches out to try and touch or grab it, give her lots of praise. Squeaky toys will also entice your baby to reach and grab, and help her practise her hand-eye co-ordination.

Chatterbox

Have a conversation together. Your baby loves interacting with you and as she becomes more vocal. Responding to her coos, gurgles and grunts will also encourage her to understand and try to form words.

Sit her facing you and when she says "aahh" say "aahh" in return. Encourage her to mimic you too. Try, for example, stretching the sounds out. Instead of "bah" say "baaaaaah". Or even add a new sound to a familiar one, for example "ooh-baaaah".

Bubble magic

Most babies are fascinated by bubbles. Sit her in her bouncy chair or car seat and blow bubbles around her. See how she follows the bubbles with her eyes as they float down.

Blow bubbles when she's outside in her buggy too. If she catches one she'll learn about cause and effect, touch a bubble and watch it go pop. (Remember to clean her hands afterwards so she doesn't get soapy water in her eyes.)

Which games are best for babies under nine months?

Puppet show

Make some simple finger puppets by cutting the fingers off old gloves. Give them ears, eyes and a mouth with pieces of glued-on felt. Show your baby how you can make them sing, dance, tickle and kiss. She'll love watching them come alive, and pretending that the puppets are real will help develop her imagination.

In and out

Your baby loves emptying everything including drawers, your purse, boxes of tissues, bags. Turn this into a game you can both play.

Fill a large plastic container or bowl with safe, interesting objects, such as blocks, small soft toys, rattles or measuring cups. Help your baby pick up the container and turn it upside down, then together fill the container up again.

Handling different objects will help her learn about size, shape and weight as well as introducing concepts such as big and small, empty and full.

Adventure playground

If your baby is on the move, build a miniature obstacle course out of cushions. Stay at ground level and peep out from behind them, or use a toy to encourage her to climb over them. This fun game will help develop her body strength, balance and co-ordination.
Which games are best for babies under 12 months?

Kick ball

Your baby doesn't need to be walking to have fun with a football. Place a lightweight, medium-sized ball in front of you and hold her firmly under the arms. Pick her up and swing her forward so her legs make contact with the ball. By doing this you can help her kick it across the floor.

Swinging her legs helps your baby strengthen her tummy and leg muscles, and prepares her for playing football for real when she's older!

Tower power

Gather together a collection of old cereal boxes, lightweight books, plastic bowls, yoghurt pots and baby blocks. Then work together to build a tower. Once it's up and ready, take it in turns to knock it down. Your baby will love watching it tumble. At the same time, she's learning about sizes and shapes.

Watch me!

Your baby loves imitating you. If she sees you busy brushing your hair or wiping your face she'll try to copy what you're doing. Turn this instinct into a fun game by doing things like slapping your thigh, putting your hands on your head and blowing out your cheeks.

Invent a silly song to go with your actions, and she'll learn new words too. Learning to imitate is one of the first steps towards imaginative play.