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Activities

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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

Copy the babble
  1. Get face to face, close enough that the baby can see your mouth.
  2. When the baby makes a sound, say the same sound back.
  3. Wait, and count to five in your head, so there is room to answer.
  4. Answer whatever comes next, and keep the turns going for as long as the baby does.

Why it helps

This is a conversation before there are words. Taking turns with sounds teaches the rhythm of talking — I speak, you answer — and being copied shows the baby that their voice makes something happen.

Watch for

Stop when the baby turns away or goes quiet, and try again later. By about nine months, most babies babble strings like “bababa” or “mamama” — it is one of the CDC milestones. If yours does not yet, mention it to the pediatrician.

Say what you are doing
  1. Pick an ordinary job: a diaper change, getting dressed, putting the groceries away.
  2. Say each step in a few short words as you do it — “Socks on. One sock. Two socks.”
  3. Pause and look at the baby, so they can answer with a sound or a kick.

Why it helps

Babies learn words by hearing them next to the thing they mean, again and again. Short words about what is right in front of them are the easiest to connect, and everyday jobs repeat often enough to do the teaching.

Watch for

Talk face to face where you can, and turn off a TV that is on in the background — it pulls attention away from your voice. The AAP advises no screen media before eighteen months, other than video chat with family. If the baby looks away, go quiet for a while.

From 6 months · 2

Nose, toes, tummy
  1. At bath time or a diaper change, touch one body part gently and name it: “Nose.”
  2. Touch your own nose and say the word again.
  3. Move on to toes, tummy, and hands — a few each time, and the same ones often.
  4. Later, ask “Where is your nose?” and wait a moment before you show them.

Why it helps

A baby's own body is the first thing they know well, so its words are easy to attach. Understanding comes long before speaking, so the words go in now and come out later.

Watch for

On a changing table, keep one hand on the baby the whole time, even to reach for a wipe. In the bath, stay within arm's reach and never step away, not even for a moment — a baby can drown in very shallow water.

A rhyme on your knee
  1. Sit the baby on your knees facing you, with your hands around their trunk.
  2. Say a short traditional rhyme, like “Hickory Dickory Dock”, with one small bounce on each beat.
  3. Slow down near the end and pause just before the last word.
  4. Say the last word with a big smile, then wait to see if the baby asks for more.

Why it helps

A steady beat and a rhyme make the sounds of language easy to hear and easy to predict. The pause turns the rhyme into a game of waiting, and soon the baby wriggles or laughs to ask for the ending.

Watch for

Hold the trunk firmly so the head and back stay steady, and keep the bounce small and soft. Never shake a baby, in play or at any other time. Skip it straight after a feed, and stop when the baby looks away or fusses.

From 7 months · 1

What does the cow say?
  1. Open a board book with animals in it, or line up two or three large toy animals.
  2. Point and say, “The cow says moo,” in a big, happy voice.
  3. Next time, say “The cow says…” and pause, so the baby can fill the gap.
  4. Cheer any sound that comes, whether or not it is “moo”.

Why it helps

Animal sounds are some of the easiest “words” a baby can say: short, repeated, and fun to make. Pausing gives the baby a turn, and pointing at the picture links the sound to the thing.

Watch for

Use board books with thick pages, and toy animals too big to fit in the mouth — anything that passes through a toilet-paper tube is small enough to choke on. Stop when the baby loses interest, even in the middle of the book.

From 8 months · 2

Where's Daddy?
  1. With Daddy, or another family member, across the room, ask the baby “Where's Daddy?”
  2. Have Daddy wave and call the baby's name, so the baby turns and finds him.
  3. Point at him and look at him yourself as you say, “There's Daddy!”
  4. Swap in other people, and use everyone's names often through the day.

Why it helps

The baby learns that a word can stand for a person, and that following your point or your gaze leads somewhere worth looking. Looking where someone else looks is one of the foundations of learning words.

Watch for

Keep it a game and stop when the baby loses interest. By about nine months, many babies look toward a familiar person when you say their name. If, by around the first birthday, the baby rarely looks where you point or where you look, mention it to the pediatrician.

Wave bye-bye
  1. Each time someone leaves, wave and say “Bye-bye!” the same way.
  2. Hold out an open hand and say “Give me” when you want something passed to you.
  3. Clap and say “Yay!” when something good happens.
  4. Wait after each one, so the baby has a turn to try it.

Why it helps

A gesture is easier to make than a word, and it carries the same meaning. Pairing the two again and again helps the word land, and many babies wave bye-bye around their first birthday.

Watch for

Never move the baby's hands through the gesture for them, and never ask for a performance for visitors. Show it, wait, and stop when they lose interest — the gesture comes when it comes.

From 9 months · 1

Feed the teddy
  1. Sit a teddy up next to the baby and say, “Teddy is hungry.”
  2. Feed it from an empty spoon and name what you do: “Open wide. Yum.”
  3. Hand the spoon to the baby and say, “Your turn.”
  4. Name each thing they do: “You fed Teddy. Now Teddy is full.”

Why it helps

Pretend play starts with copying what you do every day, and feeding is the job the baby knows best. Naming each action as they do it puts words like “eat”, “spoon”, and “full” at the moment they mean the most.

Watch for

Choose a soft toy with stitched eyes and no buttons, beads, or ribbons that can come off. Use a short, soft baby spoon, and keep the baby sitting while they hold it, so a fall does not push it into 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.