
Trying for a baby	Pregnant	Birth & labour	Baby	Toddler

Games to play with an older baby

Play is a hugely important part of every child’s development because it encourages natural creativity, fuels their imaginations and helps them to practise all sorts of skills needed for when they are older. It is not enough to put your baby down in front of a television, what your baby really needs is you down on the floor with him, making mud pies or blowing bubbles. Obviously you can’t play with your child all the time, but if you have other tasks to do try to incorporate play along with them.

For example, if you are making dinner why not give your baby saucepans and a wooden spoon so he can help you by making a pretend dinner.

Games to play with 4-6 month old babies:
- Most babies love bubbles
- Shine a torch at the ceiling and create a light show
- Your baby will love any ‘tickle’ game particularly ‘round and round the garden’ and ‘this little piggy’.
- Scoop your child up and play flying rockets
- Balls, activity centres, bath toys, and buttons which make noises will all be fascinating for your baby
- You can start reading to your baby as soon as possible
- Peek-a-boo
- Singing games like ‘Wind the bobbin up’ and ‘Old Macdonald’.

Games to play with 7-9 month old babies
- Banging a drum, saucepan or anything
- Building bricks
- Stacking toys
- Baby books with flaps or pop-up pictures, or baby books with touch and feel elements
- Toys which make noises or switch on and off lights
- Obstacle courses
- Peek-a-boo
- Where’s Mummy? (Hiding under the baby blanket)
- Dropping games and saying ‘whoops’ and ‘uh-oh’
- All singing games like ‘The wheels on the bus’ and ‘five little ducks’.

Games to play with 10-12 month old babies
- Stacking games
- Hide and seek with toys and with babies
- Hiding toys in boxes and encouraging your baby to find them
- Going through photos of your baby’s family and naming everyone
- Kitchen music (pots and pans and wooden spoons)
- Obstacle courses
- Ball games especially rolling a ball to and from your baby
- Baby swings
- Finger painting
- Finger puppets
- Wind toys like windmills that blow in the breeze
- Action rhymes like ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’

For more on this, watch our video on Games to play with an older baby. If you want to know what games other mums of toddlers are playing, visit the Guide to Toddler area of our chat forum.