Brilliant Babies

Games and activities such as the ones below may help support your child's communication and language development:

Turn-taking: if your baby makes a certain sound or noise, copy the sound/noise and wait for your baby to make another. This way, you are having a ‘baby conversation’ and while practising this important skill.

Imitation: if your baby makes sounds while they are playing with a toy or looking at an object, imitate those sounds and interpret them by providing the name of the toy/object.

Peeka-boo: You can also play hiding games with your baby. Let a piece of tissue or scarf fall over your head or cover a toy and encourage your baby to pull it off.

Reading: read and show your baby books with large, simple, colourful photographs. Most importantly:
HAVE FUN with your baby!

Find more ideas and information about babies' communication and language development on the following sites: 

• Speech and language development from birth to 12 months | Great Ormond Street Hospital (gosh.nhs.uk)

• Learning to talk 0 to 6 months - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

• NSPCC: Look, Say, Sing, Play 

• Stories and rhymes for under 5s | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (rbkc.gov.uk)

Games and activities such as the ones below may help support your child's physical development:

Clapping: take turns clapping your hands and their hands together. It requires a fair amount of muscle control, fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Take and give: encourage your baby to reach for suitable items and toys, push and pull. This is a simple way to stimulate your baby and improve their coordination.

Exploring their senses: through different sensory materials such as things that are see-through, shiny and crinkly; things that bang or thump or things that are rigid or delicate.

Encourage movement: as your baby starts gaining movement control, encourage them to explore such as by joining them as they crawl or roll. This helps developing their physical skills.

IMPORTANT: Don't let your child (ages 3 and under) play with small toys and parts and always supervise your child when playing and handling objects to avoid risk of choking and other hazards like strangulation or suffocation.

Find out about more ideas on how to support your babies physical development:

Baby moves - Start for Life - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Physical Development - Early Years Matters

The following games and activities may help support your child's communication and language development:

Dance to some music while holding your baby. Most babies love the gentle rocking motion and being close to you. This is great for bonding and for babies' emotional development.

Talking to your baby: describe the things around you, recite a nursery rhyme or read a book. It doesn't really matter what you talk about – it all helps with their communication skills.

Imitation games: respond to your child by copying their facial expressions and sounds and give them time to respond back.

Peeka-boo: You can also play hiding games with your baby. Let a piece of tissue or scarf fall over your head or cover a toy and encourage your baby to pull it off

Find out about more ideas on how to support your babies personal, social and emotional development:

Promoting good infant mental health booklet.pdf (barnardos.org.uk)

Early Years Matters: babies social and emotional development

The following games and activities may help support your child's communication and language development:

Read and show your baby books with large, simple, colourful photographs. Imitate animal or vehicle sounds when pointing at images. This could help them making connections and spark their curiosity.

Being out and about with your baby provides plenty of learning opportunities such as undertanding the weather: rain, wind, sunshine...Talk to your baby about what is happening around you to help them make these important connections.

It is never too early to develop cultural awareness! Support your baby's development by for example, playing music in different languages and exposing them to a diversity of cultural events and gatherings.

Find out about more ideas on how to support your babies' understanding of the world:

Understanding the World (UW) - Early Years Matters

• Speech and language development from birth to 12 months | Great Ormond Street Hospital (gosh.nhs.uk)

• Stories and rhymes for under 5s | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (rbkc.gov.uk)

• Learning to talk 0 to 6 months - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

• NSPCC: Look, Say, Sing, Play 

• Promoting good infant mental health booklet.pdf (barnardos.org.uk)

• Early Years Matters: babies social and emotional development

• Understanding the World (UW) - Early Years Matters

• Learning at home booklet (pdf)