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Activities

One tap logs an activity for today. Reading a specific piece? Log it from the Read to baby shelf and the title comes along. Read to baby shelf →

Things to do with the baby

Ideas grouped by the age they usually start working, youngest first. Pick an area to see only those ideas. Open one for the steps, the reason it helps, and the sign to stop. Every idea logs with one tap, the same way the read shelf does.

From 4 months · 2

Who's in the mirror?
  1. Hold the baby in front of a shatterproof baby mirror, or stand it beside them during tummy time.
  2. Point to the baby in the mirror and say their name.
  3. Make a face — a big smile, a surprised mouth — and wait to see what they do.
  4. Point to yourself in the mirror and say “Mommy” or “Daddy”.

Why it helps

Babies love faces, and a mirror shows them two at once that move when they move. It will be a long while before they know the face in the mirror is their own, but the smiling, watching, and copying are all practice with people.

Watch for

Use only a shatterproof baby mirror, held in your hand or fixed in place. Never put a glass mirror on the floor or lean one against a wall where the baby can tip it. Stop when the baby looks away.

Copy my face
  1. Hold the baby face to face, about thirty centimeters from you.
  2. Make one big, slow face: open your mouth wide, stick out your tongue, or raise your eyebrows.
  3. Hold it, then wait several seconds for the baby to try.
  4. When the baby makes a face, copy theirs back.

Why it helps

Faces are the first thing a baby learns to read. Watching yours closely, and trying to move their own to match, is early practice in reading and sharing feelings — and copying them back tells them their face is worth answering.

Watch for

Stop when the baby looks away, yawns, or starts to fuss — those are signs of too much input, not boredom. Keep each round short and try again after a rest.

From 5 months · 2

Pat-a-cake
  1. Sit the baby on your lap facing you, with your knees up behind their back.
  2. Clap your own hands slowly as you say “Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man”.
  3. Hold their forearms loosely and bring their hands together on the beat.
  4. Let go and leave a gap, in case they want to clap on their own.

Why it helps

Clapping to a rhyme ties a sound, a beat, and a movement together, and the shared routine is one of the first real games a baby plays with you. Many babies play pat-a-cake back by their first birthday.

Watch for

Guide gently at the forearms, and never swing or lift the baby by the hands or arms. A sudden pull can slip the elbow partly out of place, an injury called nursemaid's elbow. Stop if the baby pulls their hands away.

Say their name
  1. Say the baby's name each time you come into the room, before anything else.
  2. Call it from a little way off, and smile when they turn to find you.
  3. Put their name into songs and rhymes in place of the name in the words.

Why it helps

Hearing the same word with every greeting teaches the baby that this sound is about them. Turning to their name is also the first step toward answering when someone calls.

Watch for

Call in a normal voice, not a shout, and do not keep calling while the baby is busy with something — try again later. By about nine months, most babies look when they hear their name — it is one of the CDC milestones. If yours does not, mention it to the pediatrician.

From 6 months · 1

Meet new people slowly
  1. Hold the baby in your arms when a new person arrives.
  2. Ask the visitor to talk to you first, warmly, while the baby watches.
  3. After a while, have the visitor offer a toy without reaching for the baby.
  4. Let the baby decide whether to go closer.

Why it helps

A baby checks your face to decide whether something new is safe. Seeing you relaxed and chatting with a stranger gives them the answer, and letting them set the pace builds trust instead of fear.

Watch for

Fear of strangers is normal around eight to ten months, and it is a sign the baby knows who their people are. Do not hand over a crying baby to be won over. Anyone who is sick, or has a cold sore, waits for another visit.

From 7 months · 2

Time with other babies
  1. Sit the baby on the floor near another baby or a toddler, with a grown-up beside each child.
  2. Put out a few toys for each of them and let them play side by side.
  3. Let them watch each other — at this age, staring is the main event.
  4. Say what the other child is doing: “Look, she is banging the drum.”

Why it helps

Babies this age play next to each other rather than together, and they learn a great deal just from watching. Another child is the most interesting thing in the room, and copying them is how new ideas travel.

Watch for

Older children's toys often have small pieces, so clear the floor of anything small enough to choke on before the babies sit down. A child who is sick stays home for another day. Stay close, and step in for rough hugs, hair pulls, and toys grabbed from hands.

A calm “no”, then something else
  1. When the baby reaches for something unsafe, say “No” once, calmly and briefly.
  2. Move the baby, or move the thing, out of reach.
  3. Offer something they can have instead, and name it: “Here's the cup.”

Why it helps

A short, calm word followed every time by the same action is something a baby can learn. Offering something else gives the reach somewhere to go, and many babies begin to pause at “no” around their first birthday.

Watch for

Never shout, slap hands, or shake a baby. Babies this age cannot yet hold back an impulse, so the real protection is moving hazards out of reach — cleaners, medicines, button batteries, cords, and outlets. The word “no” only starts the habit.

From 8 months · 1

Give and take
  1. Hand the baby a toy and say, “Here you go.”
  2. Hold out an open hand and ask, “My turn?”
  3. If they let go of it into your hand, say “Thank you!”
  4. Give it straight back, so the turn always comes around again.

Why it helps

Letting go on purpose is a new skill at this age, and handing something over is the first step toward taking turns and, much later, sharing. Giving the toy straight back teaches that a turn is not a loss.

Watch for

Never take a toy by force or pull it from the baby's grip. If they do not let go, that is fine — holding on is normal, and the game can wait. Use toys too big to fit in the mouth.

Ages say when an idea usually starts working, not when your baby should manage it. Babies reach these months in their own order.