Free Baby Game

Encouraging Visual Co-Ordination

Your baby's eyes are still developing in the first 3-4 months of life. Playing any of the following free baby games not only helps them to bond with you it also improves their eyesight. They prefer looking at human faces, yours in particular, more than any other object with the best distance for them to view being roughly 20cm / 8 inches.

Mobiles are favourite items because they are usually brightly coloured and move gently. Making your own mobile is easy and gives the opportunity to change the objects so as to keep your baby stimulated. Other visual games you can play use items like mirrors and other simple household objects to help your baby improve his head and eye co-ordination.

Mobiles
Hanging mobiles so that they cast a shadow serves a dual purpose. Your baby can watch the mobile as it moves above her and she can also see the changing shadows as the light changes in her room. This helps to further stimulate her vision and help her to track moving objects.
Mobiles are best made from materials that are lightweight enough to move in the slightest of breezes. Felt and cardboards are ideal and easy to work with.

Alternatively you can purchase mobiles that are powered by a small motor to keep them moving. They generally have an appropriate lullaby or music box to accompany them. When making a mobile use bold and bright colours and keep in mind that your baby will be laying down so the objects need to hang horizontally for best viewing.
Another good location for a mobile is above a change table. You can even make one with family pictures, as faces are her favourite thing to look at.

Mirrors
More and more baby toys feature baby-safe mirrors. These enable your baby to see the reflection of what he is doing as well as having the opportunity to see his own face. It is not until he is roughly a year old that he will begin to understand that it is actually his own reflection that he is seeing. Until then it will make a wonderful toy for sitting in front of and getting to know himself! This is an 'almost' free baby game that will entertain him for hours. If your baby does not have access to a mirror he really is missing out on a valuable teaching toy.

Reaching and Grabbing
The next stage beyond visual stimulation is for babies to reach out and grab for objects. A way to be ready for this is to have a toy or bumper attached to your baby's cot which your baby can reach for. When she is ready she will start reaching out for the toy. This stage begins at around 8-10 weeks for some babies, and slightly later for others.

By about four months your baby will be able to visually locate a toy and then reach for it directly and will begin to understand that her actions have an effect in the world. By attaching items to a length of dowel and moving them in front of her you can introduce different household objects to her as well as encouraging her visual motor co-ordination. Baby gyms that arch over babies are perfect for a variety of reaching activities and often have mirrors fitted to them as well as squeaky and rustling parts.

**TIP- Make sure that any play things are not small enough to be swallowed or poked in little eyes. All toys at this age will be explored by mouth as well as hands so for babies under five months keep toys and play area clean to avoid sickness and diarrhoea which can cause dehydration.

Back to Home from Free Baby Game . More Baby Games...