6-12 Month Old Babies
Best Baby Books and Games
Books and stories feature prominently in the lives of children and babies. I have included here my best baby books and some other ideas for storytelling and visual games.
Stories are such an important part of childhood encouraging both imagination and early language skills. Let your children see your own enjoyment in reading and they will follow in your footsteps.
Books
Your baby is never to young to be read to. At this age babies will like to help turn the pages of books, board books or fabric books are best. They will enjoy the pictures, shapes and textures as well as the social interaction and sounds. Try to choose books with simple, bold illustrations. Your baby will like the same stories being read over and over so don't feel like you need to keep a whole library of books.
My top 5 best baby books would have to be
 Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Counting Kisses- A Kiss & Read Book by Karen Katz
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
In/Out/Over/Under
These are concepts that can take a while for babies to grasp so playing simple games with a paper bag and a few toys will help them understand what these words mean.
Photo Album
Make up a photo album of the friends and family that your baby is familiar with. She will love to sit down and turn the pages with you talking about the people you see and helping her to learn their names. It is also a good way to learn about family who may be distant from you.
Mirror Games
Babies of this age love looking at themselves in the mirror. Different activities that you can play with him include smiling and laughing shaking different parts of his body clapping hands making strange noises like those of animals or sounds with an emphasis on the lips Peek-a-Boo Puppets
Hand or finger puppets can be used to play peek-a-boo. She will quickly learn and become excited at the anticipation of the moment when the puppet appears. Hide and seek games like this actually wire your baby's brain for cognitive skills.
Similar games can be played with a piece of light material which you can place over your head or peek around the sides. If you don't have any props you can always play with your hands. After your baby understands the game you can try placing the material over her face and see if she pulls it off.  **TIP- Puppets are also great for telling stories. Finger puppets are easily carried in your handbag and be pulled out at any time when you are stuck somewhere without anything for entertainment.
|
