Go sightseeing in your home! Walk with your baby and point out different objects. Describe an item and if safe, let them touch it. Say, “Do you feel the lamp shade? It is rough. Watch what happens when I turn on the light.” Pay attention to where they point or look and respond.
Category: 6 Loving Habits
Hiding Bowl
Turn some bowls upside down and cover them with a towel. Reach under the towel and hide something—like a spoon—under one of the bowls. Then pull off the cover. Can your child figure out which bowl is the hiding bowl from having watched your hand move under the towel?
Same or Different
While in the store, hold up different pairs of things and ask your child how they’re the same or different. You can model this kind of thinking and say, “This pepper is green and this pepper is red, but they’re the same vegetable!” Encourage them to describe what they see.
Draw Shapes in the Air
Ask your child to watch your finger as you draw a shape in the air. Start with something simple, like a circle. Can they guess what it is? Make it harder and draw more complicated shapes, like a heart or a star. Then have them take a turn drawing and you take a turn guessing.
Balancing Act
Take turns with your child standing on one foot and then the other, trying to balance. You can say, “Your turn,” and “My turn.” See if you can do it with your eyes closed. What else can you do?
My Turn, Your Turn
Take turns stacking things with your child to build a tower. Say, “My turn,” as you stack one and then, “Your turn,” as they do. Eventually, stop using words. Do they keep taking turns? Try to playfully break the rules and take two turns. What do they do?
Silly Song Game
You and your child can play this game anywhere you are. Find a small item to pass back and forth and sing a song as you do. As the song ends, whoever has the object does something special or silly, like blink three times or jump up and down. Take turns.
Be a Statue
Ask your child to pretend to be a statue and freeze in a pose, like standing on one foot. Try to have them hold this pose as long as possible while you do everything you can to make them laugh and move. Then you can take a turn as the statue and see if they… Continue reading Be a Statue
Copy Each Other
Smile at your child and wink at them. Then encourage them to try to copy you. When they can do this, change the order—wink first and then smile. You can step it up the challenge by smiling and winking two times.
Word Pattern
Pick two food words, such as banana and apple, to make a word pattern two times. Repeat with your child, “Banana, apple, banana, apple.” Have them pick two food words and make a pattern two times: “fork, spoon, fork, spoon.” Talk about which word comes first and second.
