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The power of play with baby

Playing with your baby is more than fun and games: Play is serious business when it comes to a baby’s health and development. It’s the key to building thriving brains, bodies and social bonds, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Want to be wowed? Your child’s brain doubles in size by age 1, and by age 3 has reached 80 percent of its adult size,” says Stephanie Schott, the early literacy program manager at Best Beginnings. “The positive and nurturing interactions made through play are key to this brain development.”  Here are some ways to play with baby:

Toys and Object Play

Letting babies engage with objects of different shapes and textures can help them learn about their world. Let them bring safe objects to their mouth to explore and experience new textures.

“Use words to describe what he is feeling to make a connection between the experience of the texture with words,” suggests Stephanie.

Here’s one play idea: “Fill up a bottle with water, food coloring and small objects. Roll the bottle on the ground and let your crawler chase it,” says Stephanie. “If your baby isn’t crawling yet, use this as a soothing toy by letting her watch the bottle’s contents change as you turn it around or shake it.”

Physical Play

“Tummy time” (laying babies on their stomachs for brief periods while they're awake) builds neck, shoulder and arm muscles in babies that is essential to their motor development. Try to do two to three one-minute supervised tummy time “sessions” per day. As your baby gets used to it, you can go for a little longer.

As babies reach and grab things, it helps support physical development, such as hand-eye coordination. “Offer your child different objects from around the house to grasp that are lightweight,” suggests Stephanie. “Try putting different objects together in a bowl, so he can use the sides to help with grasping.”

Other ideas include letting baby shake a rattle, and letting baby use thumb and forefinger to turn pages as you read together.

Games like peek-a-boo are also good. “This classic game teaches babies to track movements with their eyes, and that objects, like mom and dad, are permanent (even if they can’t see them),” says Stephanie.  “As your child ages, you can move from covering your eyes to hiding behind furniture.”

Outdoor Play

Help your baby experience the outdoor world. Being outdoors will give your baby an opportunity to build their senses and learn spacial awareness. At 7-12 months old, taking them outside to play on the grass or catch bubbles, for example, is a great way to expose baby to a variety of sensory experiences.

Pretend Play

While it’s too early to include things like "dress-up" or playing imaginary roles, it’s the perfect time to play games like making funny faces and being silly. These games will make baby laugh and feel good. Try poking out your tongue, winking, puffing out your cheeks, wiggling your eyebrows, and making an exaggerated sad face and then a happy face.

Sing along songs and rhymes like Patty-Cake, This Little Piggy, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider invite participation with their corresponding actions. Your baby will delight in watching you make the moves early on, and eventually, she’ll join in the fun. 

Have a chat. Imitate your baby's coos and babbles and have a back-and-forth "conversation" giving her a chance to answer. She might respond by squealing, cooing, moving her arms or legs, and eventually smiling! “That back-and-forth talking with babies and toddlers helps build their vocabulary, comprehension, and other language skills, and those skills stick,” says Abbe Hensley, executive director of Best Beginnings.

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“As your child gets closer to the one-year mark, more traditional toys enter the picture,” says Stephanie. “Young children love toys they can push while learning to walk, building blocks that they can stack and knock over, cups where you can hide objects, and realistic toys based on food or tools for dramatic play. Following your child’s interest is key! Play should never feel like work.”