3 Months Old: Brain Boosting Play

3 Months Old: Brain Boosting Play

April 28th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

At three months old, your baby is really beginning to interact with the world around her. She is starting to be able to grasp toys and respond to you with smiles, laughter and coos. Her eyesight is improving and she can see her surroundings much better, allowing her to respond.

Talk to Me!

Language skills are just starting to develop at this time, and the more you speak, sing and read to your baby the more she will learn about sounds and words. If you haven’t yet, this is a great time introduce books. She can hold her head up relatively well, and will be able to sit in your lap while you read and look at the pictures. Point things out to her and talk about what is on the page.

Singing will not only entertain baby, but will further advance her introduction to sounds. Try songs with entertaining hand gestures such as “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”. Take baby’s hands and help her to perform the motions as well. This will help to develop her awareness of her body and learn what she can do.

When baby starts to vocalize, be sure to respond to her as much as possible. Hold a conversation with her as she talks by asking her questions like “And then what happened?” and “Are you sure?” She won’t know what you are saying, but she will begin to pick up the rhythm of conversation from these exchanges.

Body Language

Your three month old is just starting to be aware of his body and how he can use it to get what he wants and interact with the world. Part of this learning involves his developing understanding of cause and effect, object permanence, as well as hand-eye coordination and motor skills. Remember that physical development requires brain development! Every time your baby practices a new physical skill, his brain is forming new connections that will keep moving him forward.

Help baby’s brain figure it out with physical games. Hold a toy out to him and encourage him to reach for it. Pull it away, and then bring it back, making sure he catches it regularly so that he will remain entertained and not become frustrated. At this age tummy time becomes very important. Get down on the floor with your baby and play too! Hold a toy in front of his face, and lift it slowly into the air. As he tries to follow it with his eyes, he will lift his head and shoulders off the ground, strengthening important muscles. These skills will lead to baby’s ability to roll over, push himself up and eventually crawl.

Touch and Learn

Now that baby can hold and examine objects, he will begin to learn more about his world through touch. Offer him objects with varying textures and sizes to touch and hold. Let him touch your face, hair and clothing. Every new thing that your baby gets his hands on will help his brain to categorize and understand the things he encounters. Books that offer textured pages for baby to feel will make him a more active participant in reading and learning.

This age opens many new doors for baby, and every minute that he is awake he is learning something new. You are baby’s first teacher, and building his brain is as easy as being aware of the ways in which he learns from you every day, even at play!

Help your Baby Learn Through Games

Help your Baby Learn Through Games

April 26th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Playtime with your baby is more than just entertainment; through fun and games your baby is learning about how the world around him works, as well as developing his motor skills. Making time for play every day is not only a great way to spend time with your baby, it’s also vital to his development. So give these simple learning games a try and watch him discover his world!

Little One, Big One

Teach your baby all about opposites by gathering common items and toys together from around the house in contrasting pairs. Try items like a small teddy bear and a large one, a baby spoon and a soup spoon and a washcloth and bath towel. Hold the smaller one up first and say “Small!”, and then the larger one, saying “Big!”

Size isn’t the only comparison you can start to teach! Show him the concepts of in and out by placing toys in a bin and then removing them. Lift him up into the air saying “up!” and back to the floor with “down!” Let him touch opposite textures, such as soft and hard, smooth and rough. It will be a while before he learns all the words, but before you know it, when you ask him which one is soft, or which is bigger, he will surprise you by choosing correctly!

Where Did It Go?

Babies aren’t born with an understanding of object permanence. They have to learn that when something (or someone) disappears, it doesn’t cease to exist. Simple games to help your baby grasp this concept include various versions of peek-a-boo and hide and seek. Hide behind the couch and pop up at different angles, sometimes on the side, other times at the top. Once baby is on the move, you can call out to him saying “Where’s mommy? Can you find mommy?” and let him follow the sound of your voice to discover your location.

Hiding a toy behind your back and then bringing it out, or throwing a blanket over something and then removing it are basic playtime ways to teach object permanence. At first, baby will wait for you to reveal the object, but soon he will begin to crane his neck to see behind you or lift the blanket himself as he starts to understand that the object is still there, just hiding!

Did I Do That?

One of the major concepts your baby will develop through play is an understanding of cause and effect. As she starts to interact more with the world around her, she will slowly start to realize that she can make things happen! Take baby around the house and find fun things she can try out. Put her hand on a light switch and help her to flip it, or help her to turn on the faucet. Musical toys are great for teaching cause and effect, as she will learn how to make new and interesting noises. Let her bang on pots and pans with a wooden spoon, or fill an empty plastic bottle with a tight-fitting lid with beans to create a home made maraca.

Bath time offers opportunities to teach cause and effect as well. Give baby a sponge and show her how to wet it and then squeeze the water out. Let her fill a cup with water and dump it out. Even simply splashing in the tub is helping her to learn!

Simple games like these turn playtime into learning time and will keep baby stimulated and happy too!

What Children Learn Through Play

What Children Learn Through Play

April 23rd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Playtime isn’t just fun and games. It is the most important tool children have for learning. From the infant years where babies learn simple concepts like cause and effect, through childhood, where play encourages learning of social skills and more, a child at play is a child developing.

Infants: Learning about the World

The earliest forms of play in infancy are the ways in which a baby discovers what is in his world, how it works, and how he fits into it. Through play a baby learns about cause and effect; how he can have an impact on objects and people, and how to elicit responses in different ways. He learns how to move his body, improve his motor skills, and make his way through the world. Play encourages an understanding of spatial awareness, object permanence, differences between objects and more.

Through play, an infant is also learning how to use his voice, how to communicate his needs and desires, and creating the building blocks of language. Games involving a lot of interaction with mom and dad are vital to this learning process.

Toddlers: Independence and Personality

Entering the toddler years, play is an avenue for a child to develop a sense of who he is as a person, and what his role is in the family. Play encourages your toddler to test his independence while learning – and then pushing past – his limitations. Toddlers begin to build a foundation for social skills and also develop imagination, both of which are important to future endeavors. As independence blossoms, your toddler will learn to play by himself and to solve his own problems

Your toddler is also swiftly adding to a wider knowledge base about the world, as he learns colors, numbers, sizes and even more abstract concepts like feelings. Vocabulary is expanding at an incredible rate as he learns the labels for more and more things and can relate experiences to each other. All of these things are learned through play, which becomes more imaginative and involving during these years.

Preschoolers: Social Skills and Problem Solving

As your preschooler begins to interact more and more with her peers, the play they engage in together will teach her vital social skills. Your preschooler is learning to share, and to think about other people’s needs. She is learning how to cooperate with other children, through negotiation, compromise and exploring options. She is learning patience, taking turns, and how to deal with delayed gratification. Play with others also teaches preschoolers about empathy; she is learning to consider other people’s feelings, and to understand how others might feel in various situations.

Although problem solving skills begin at a very young age, in preschool they go to a whole new level. Your preschooler is working with more abstract concepts and solving problems that are not always right in front of her. In addition to teaching cooperation, working out the issues encountered while playing with others teaches problem solving. At this age, she is also practicing these skills through role-playing games which allows her to see things from a different perspective.

Throughout childhood, the most important task at hand is learning, and the number one way children do this is through play. From infancy through into school, the skills learned at playtime build upon each other to help children to make sense of their world and prepare to be citizens within it.

Helping your Baby Explore

Helping your Baby Explore

April 20th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

The more aware your baby becomes of his surroundings, the more his curiosity and desire to explore will grow. Exploring his world is an important part of learning and developing, so encourage your baby to check things out. Remember, he doesn’t know what is safe and what is not, so supervise his explorations closely to keep him safe!

Exploring the Senses

Your baby is busy making use of his senses to get to know the world around him. Things catch his attention either through sound or sight, and from there he wants to engage the rest of his senses to find out more. Encourage baby to touch the things he comes into contact with. Give him different textures to feel, such as soft blankets, a rough sponge, a smooth plastic ball.

Next, you will notice your baby putting all kinds of objects into his mouth. Don’t discourage him from doing this unless the object is dangerous to him! Let him put clean toys and other objects into his mouth, as long as there is no danger of small parts coming loose and choking him. Exploring things with the mouth is a normal part of your baby’s development. He is not only learning this way, he may also be showing the first signs of teething with his desire to chew!

Baby will do more through sight and hearing than just find things to touch. He is exploring the sights and sounds of his world all the time. Give him a mirror, and he will stare at himself for a long time, taking in this interesting new face. Sing to him, or play music to him. Try different types of music to see what he responds to most. Some babies may enjoy soothing classical music, while others enjoy bouncing pop music beats.

Baby on the Move

When your baby starts to crawl and make her way around the house, it’s really time to step up the safety patrol. While you want her to be able to practice her new skill and check out all the new sights, make sure she does it safely. Install gates, outlet covers and door latches to make sure she doesn’t get into anything. Then, set her free!

Help your baby get the most of her movements around the house by letting her check out some new things she hasn’t seen before. Keep one cupboard or drawer in the kitchen unlatched for her to open and dig through. Make sure it’s filled with safe items such as plastic bowls, storage containers and maybe a few measuring cups or wooden spoons. She will make a mess tearing everything out, but will have a great time with it.

Let baby follow you as you go through your daily routine, doing chores and preparing meals (use caution when preparing hot foods however), as she will be fascinated by what you have been up to! It might be tiring to have to re-fold all the laundry, but letting your baby check it out is helping her to learn about her environment.

Babies are little explorers, and they have a lot to learn, so encourage her inquisitiveness and engage her with new things as much as possible. Exploring doesn’t have to happen all at home either! Take your baby outside, and let her explore the yard or a park. There’s plenty to be learned out there as well.

With careful attention to safety precautions, your little one can satisfy her curiosity and learn more every day!

What is your Preschooler’s Favorite Type of Play?

What is your Preschooler’s Favorite Type of Play?

April 19th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

In the preschool years, play becomes more sophisticated, and so does the learning process behind it. What your preschooler enjoys most at playtime can tell you a lot about what is going with his development and learning. Children at this age engage in several different types of play, and each provides a different method for a preschooler to learn about his world and how to become a part of it.

Symbolic Play

Does your little one like to pretend his building blocks are a birthday cake, or his teddy bear is a baby? He’s engaging in symbolic play. This important stage in cognitive development is allowing your preschooler to place a symbolic value on an object, which is important for his understanding of how the world works. By pretending his teddy bear is a baby and imitating the same behaviors he has seen in you and other mothers, he developing an understanding of his place in the world, and the roles of others around him.

Parallel Play

You may notice that when you get your young preschooler together with other kids, he doesn’t really play with them so much as next to them. This doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of the presence of his friends, or that he doesn’t want to play with them. This type of side-by-side play is just the beginning of social play for children. While two children may sit next to each other playing with different toys, they are learning to share space with others and also the very first rules of interaction, which they will build upon later in the preschool years.

Watch for things like imitative play, verbal communications that may seem unrelated to the play at hand (but make perfect sense in your little one’s mind) and the important first steps towards sharing. When the little girl next to him suddenly develops an interest in the toy he is playing with, he will likely be defensive of it. But this reaction is an important starting point for learning about cooperation and sharing, so as much as you can, let the kids work it out amongst themselves. You might just catch the kid who took away your son’s truck offering him another toy in return!

Imaginary Play

Is the bathtub an ocean or the couch a space ship? Does your preschooler present you with invisible cookies to eat, or talk to someone who isn’t there? She is developing her imagination, an important tool for her social development. The ability to imagine herself in the shoes of another person is the beginning of developing empathy. Imagination will also help her to begin anticipating events and guessing (correctly!) at the outcome of her behaviors.

If your child has an imaginary friend, don’t worry about it at all. This natural phase of development is a mark of a very active imagination, which research shows is a positive sign for future social interaction.

Collaborative Play

As your child head further into her preschool years, you will start to see more direct interaction with other kids during play. As she plays more with other children, she will learn all about the rules of society. This play is crucial to helping your child learn how to have successful work and personal relationships.

She is learning things such as sharing, taking turns, how to work out differences through negotiation and compromise, and how to follow social norms and rules. Collaborative play will help her to learn to keep her impulses in check and delay gratification, all things which are difficult for children, who are naturally self-centered.

Every type of play is important to preschoolers, but if your child enjoys one type more than another, don’t worry. Remember that personality plays a role as well, and your little one might be focused on one area of learning right now, but will move on soon.

Brighten a Rainy Day with an Indoor Rainbow

Brighten a Rainy Day with an Indoor Rainbow

April 14th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Stuck inside on a rainy day? Break through the gloom by creating cheerful rainbow crafts that will brighten everyone’s day. With these three easy and entertaining crafts, you will find something for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Rainbow Mobile

Hang rainbows from your ceiling or doorway with this bright and easy creation.

What you will need:

  • Paper plates
  • Streamers, tissue paper cut into strips, or thick ribbon in four rainbow colors
  • Paint to match the streamer colors
  • Scissors and glue

Cut a paper plate in half, and paint four strips of different colors following the curve of the plate to create your rainbow. Next, glue a strip of the streamer, tissue paper or ribbon to the edge of the plate, matching it to the color of the paint. Blue should hang from the blue paint, red from the line of red paint, and so on, to create the impression that the rainbow continues off the edge of the plate. Finally, punch a small hole in the top of the plate and string a piece of ribbon through it. Tie off the ends, and hang wherever you like!

Make your mobile even better by repeating the process to create two mobiles. Before attaching the streamers, cut carefully up the center of one of the plate halves, not quite to the top, and slide it down over the other plate. This will work best if you cut off any raised edge from the plate. Finish with your streamers for a three-dimensional mobile.

Fruity Cereal Rainbow

This quick craft is entertaining fun and a tasty snack all in one!

What you will need:

  • Colored fruit-flavored cereal such as Fruit Loops or Fruity Cheerios
  • Paper plate
  • Glue and scissors

As in the first craft, start by cutting your paper plate in half. Separate the cereal into piles of each available color. Then glue the cereal in rows following the curve of the plate, creating rows of different colors. When your rainbow is complete, sit back and admire it while you snack on the leftover cereal!

Rainbow with a Pot of Gold

You can all find the hidden treasure at the end of the rainbow with this craft!

What you will need:

  • A large piece of cardboard (from a box)
  • A large empty coffee tin
  • Paints
  • Construction paper, green and yellow
  • Chocolate coins
  • Glue and scissors

Start by painting your empty coffee tin black, and set it aside to dry. Measure the diameter of the opening of the coffee tin. Use this measurement to cut an arch out of the cardboard that is just a little narrower than the tin’s diameter. Paint four strips of rainbow colors along the arch on both sides. It might take more than one coat on both the tin and the cardboard to get good coverage.

Cut out green shamrocks and yellow circles from the construction paper, and glue them onto the dry coffee tin. When everything is dry, stand up your cardboard rainbow so that one end is inside the tin. Finally, fill your pot with chocolate coins to make it a true Pot of Gold!

Nothing brightens up a cloudy, rainy day like a rainbow. These easy crafts will help make your day a little more colorful and pass away those hours stuck inside until the sun comes out again!

Create a Valentine’s Day Tissue Paper Flower Bouquet

Create a Valentine’s Day Tissue Paper Flower Bouquet

April 12th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Celebrate Valentine’s Day and spread the love with a colorful bouquet made of tissue paper flowers in a pretty vase. This easy craft results in a cute gift any child would be happy to present to a loved one on Valentine’s Day.

What you will need:

  • Tissue paper in Valentine’s Day colors such as red, pink and white
  • Green pipe cleaners
  • Construction paper in red, pink and white
  • Scissors and glue

Making the Flowers

You can create a varied bouquet with several different types of flowers, or stick to just one style, it’s up to you! Here are three different options for beautiful tissue paper flowers.

Flower #1. Cut different colors of tissue paper into the shape of a dog bone. Stack about ten of the bone shapes one on top of the other, and fan them out so that they don’t all line up. Next, pass a green pipe cleaner through the center of your stack of bone shapes and twist it down at the top to make sure the petals don’t fall off. Pinch the bottom of the petals to push them up into a bloom. The petals will look like little hearts! Finally, wind the pipe cleaner around the pinched paper a few times to make sure the petals don’t slide down the stem and the petals stand up in a bloom shape rather than lying flat.

Flower #2. Stack four 5″ x 11″ pieces of tissue paper in alternating colors one on top of the other. Fold the stack of paper accordion style, creating approximately ¾” folds. With scissors, round off the end of the tissue paper accordion. Pinch the center of the folded paper and wrap the end of a pipe cleaner around it. Carefully fan out the pieces of tissue paper and adjust them to create the bloom.

Flower #3. Make a stack of tissue paper in either varying colors, or all the same color if you prefer. Cut out a star shape, with approximately 8-10 points to each star. Twist the stars around so that the points are spaced out and not all on top of each other. Push a pipe cleaner through the center and secure it as in flower number one, bending it at the top and pinching the center underneath the petals, then winding the pipe cleaner around the pinched off paper.

Making the Vase

Check the length of your pipe cleaner stems against a piece of construction paper, and trim it as needed so that the stems are longer. Glue the ends of your trimmed paper together to make a cylinder that will stand on its own. If it doesn’t seem stiff or stable enough, double up the paper with another sheet. Cut out construction paper hearts in various shapes and sizes, and glue them to the cylinder.

Then simply slip your flowers into the vase, and arrange them however you like! You can stand them up straight, or bend the pipe cleaners a little so that they peek over the edge of the vase. Mix different types of flowers in one vase, or make one vase for each type of paper bloom.

With this simple and pretty Valentine craft, you will create colorful flowers that will continue to bloom for as long as you want to display them!

Getting Physical: Guidelines for Children

Getting Physical: Guidelines for Children

April 10th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

We all know physical activity is important for good health, but often we forget that our children need to be physically active just as much as adults. With childhood obesity reaching near-epidemic proportions and juvenile diabetes on the rise, a warning sign is being sent to parents about the effects of lack of exercise on our children. By making physical activity a regular part of your child’s life early on, you will set her up for a lifetime of healthy habits.

How Much Exercise Should My Child Get?

The American Heart Association recommends that children and adolescents over the age of two should participate in at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, while older children and adolescents should aim for 60 minutes. This activity should be moderate to vigorous; this means that it should get your child’s heart rate up. If necessary, it’s ok to split the activity into more than one session; fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes in the afternoon will add up to 30 minutes just the same as doing it straight.

What Activities are Best for y Child?

The right type of physical activity depends on your child’s age, developmental stage and physical abilities. Your 3 year old probably isn’t coordinated enough to jump rope, but for a six year old it is a great choice. Most young children will get enough exercise just by spending an hour at a playground. Running around and climbing on play structures will increase heart rate as well as improve strength.

Older children will benefit from organized sports in more ways than one. In addition to improving their health, sports teach teamwork and increase self-confidence. Soccer is a great first sport for young children, as it is an easy sport to learn and carries less chance of injury than some other options. It’s always a good idea to choose a sport that your child is interested in playing. If they aren’t into it, they won’t have a good time and are likely to want to quit. Remember that fun is the name of the game! Children who learn that physical activity is enjoyable are more likely to stick with it through adulthood.

Your kids aren’t the only ones who should get in the habit of regular exercise. Remember that your children are much more likely to develop healthy habits if they see you engaging in the same practices; if they see you getting physical and enjoying it, they’ll want to do the same. Get involved in activities as a family; try bike riding, hiking, or throwing a ball around at the park. Good health isn’t the only benefit of exercising together; you will also get to spend quality time with your family.

General Precautions

With any physical activity, there are always a few precautions to keep in mind. Prevent injuries by making sure your child always has the proper equipment for the activity at hand. Especially on hot days, be sure there is plenty of water available and that your child consumes it. And don’t forget the sunscreen if you are playing outside; even on a cloudy day, damage can be done to the skin, so get in the habit of using it every time. Make sure your kids know to stop if something is hurting, and never keep playing on an injury.

Making physical activity a regular part of your everyday life will help your children to grow up healthy and strong. It may be the most important thing you can do to ensure your little one’s current and future health.

Simple Tricks to Comfort Your Baby

Simple Tricks to Comfort Your Baby

March 29th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

There is nothing worse than listening to the sound of your baby crying and feeling helpless to soothe him. Sometimes figuring out what exactly a newborn wants can be a challenge. If you have ruled out hunger and a dirty diaper as sources of the problem, then in all likelihood your baby just needs to be comforted. Fortunately there are some easy tricks you can use to comfort your baby.

Tone Down the Environment

A baby can become over-stimulated easily. Remember, he is used to the peace of the womb; noise, light and activity can all overwhelm him very quickly. Try turning off the TV, dimming the lights, and keeping other people out of the room while you try to calm your baby.

Swaddling

Used to the confines of the womb, newborns find it very comforting to be tightly wrapped in a blanket. It offers both warmth and a feeling of security, and can both calm your baby as well as help him to sleep better. Swaddling can be a bit tricky to learn at first; it’s a good idea to watch the nurses at the hospital when your baby is born to pick up their tricks, as they are professionals. If you weren’t quite in the state of mind to pick up such details during your hospital stay, you can still learn with a little practice. However, if you find it difficult or frustrating, you can pick up one of the various blankets designed to make swaddling easier.

White Noise

Many new mothers find it odd that their baby doesn’t seem at all disturbed by the sound of the vacuum. The sound made by a vacuum is white noise, and babies find this monotonous type of sound very soothing. The instinct to make a “Shhhhh” sound to soothe baby is a good one; though you may not realize it, you are creating white noise. There are a number of white noise machines on the market that you can purchase for the nursery; however, a simple fan will do the same job and using a fan in baby’s room was recently linked with a significant reduction of the risk of SIDS.

Gentle Motion

The image of a mother gently rocking her baby is well-known for a good reason. Gentle motion such as rocking and vibration are also soothing to newborns. The soft swaying may remind them of the motion inside the womb. An infant swing or rocking bassinet are also good options to provide the same comforting motion, but you may find it more effective if you hold baby and rock her yourself. There is nothing quite like being held in mom’s arms while gently rocking to calm an upset baby quickly.

When Nothing Seems to Work

If you have tried every trick in the book and your baby still won’t be comforted, there might be something else going on. You may have a colicky baby, which is not a dangerous condition although quite difficult for the new mom and dad to deal with. Or it could be that something else is bothering your baby, such as reflux. If your baby is crying for more than 3 hours at a time and you can’t seem to comfort her, or starts crying during feedings and seems to be in pain, it’s time to call your pediatrician. Follow your instincts; if you feel your baby’s crying is not normal, put a call into the doctor’s office.

All babies cry; it’s their main method of communication. Fortunately, most reasons for crying can be solved by ruling out obvious culprits and using these simple tricks to make baby feel safe, secure, and loved.

Great Games for the Youngest Babies

Great Games for the Youngest Babies

March 11th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Even in the earliest months, there are games you can play with your baby to engage, stimulate, and encourage development. While baby isn’t really ready yet for much in the way of toys, she is taking everything in and will soon start responding to your efforts to communicate. Simple games, although they start out one sided, are a great way to motivate those responses.

Remember when you are talking to and playing with your new baby, especially in the first three months, that her eyesight is still developing. She sees best from a distance of about a foot, and is best able to make out high contrast colors, especially black and white. So keep games up close and personal to allow baby to see what’s going on.

Making Faces

Young babies respond best to human faces. There is nothing they would rather look at, so using your face to play games with baby is a great way to get started. Start with the most basic baby game – peek-a-boo. First hide your whole face in your hands, then try hiding just half, covering one eye and then the other, or just your mouth or eyes. Next, drop down out of baby’s sight and then reappear.

Make different faces for baby by changing your expression, sticking out your tongue, and raising your eyebrows. You can combine this game with peek-a-boo by varying the expression on your face every time it reappears. Eventually, you will notice that she starts smiling or trying to imitate your expressions, but for the first few months she is just taking it all in. Don’t be disappointed if there isn’t as much reaction as you had hoped for; your baby is just too young yet to respond, but she is definitely paying attention.

A Little Anatomy Lesson

In the first months of life, your baby is just learning that he even has a body, never mind what to do with it. Discovering body parts like hands and feet are great fun for baby, and games that point out body parts are a great way to help baby locate and learn all about his own body.

A classic game like “This Little Piggy” is a great one for young babies. It’s best done with baby lying on his back, so his feet can be up in the air and within his range of sight. Kneel over him and grab each toe as you play the game. Stick with the traditional tale of the piggy that went to market and the one who stayed home, or make up your own words. Just make sure to include the grand finale, tickling your fingers up baby’s body!

Another simple anatomy game is to lay your baby on the floor and kiss each body part in turn, naming them as you go. Start at the feet and work your way up so you can finish by kissing his soft little cheeks and lips! This is a wonderful post-bath game when you can get at all those little parts before putting clothes on again!

Remember that your baby is learning even when he is very young and doesn’t appear to be involved in what’s going on. His developing mind is working overtime absorbing information and trying to make sense of it. Before long, baby will start playing his part in the games as well, and you will realize he was paying attention all along.