Give babies choices about what they can play with.
Play visual tracking games, such as "Wheeee!" games with aeroplanes, or spoons as they go into mouths. Play with moving toys in front of children to encourage them to follow the movement.
Provide babies with a range of toys that they can handle in several different ways. Talk about how toys look, feel, smell and taste. This helps babies to begin to compare and notice differences.
Pull funny faces and comment on the faces babies pull in response.
Play 'dropping' games, asking "Where's it gone?".
Use cause and effect toys that have a hidden surprise, such as a Jack-in-the-box. Talk about what babies see using exaggerated intonation and exclamations to reinforce the element of surprise.
Link actions such as bouncing babies on your knee to nursery rhymes and action rhymes.
Imitate babies' actions to help them become more aware of the effect of their actions on other people.
Make the language and actions you use in interactive play very repetitive. This will help babies to develop a sense of the sequence of actions and sounds.
Begin to push a car, roll or throw a ball, sharing with the babies the pushing, rolling and throwing.
Introduce variations to games, for example, roll a ball to a doll or another child instead of to the baby.
Stay close to babies as they play. This gives them the opportunity to explore things for themselves but means you can also show them different ways of playing with a toy.
Give opportunities for babies to play on their own and to work things out for themselves.
Continue to use rhymes and songs. Use simple, familiar tunes and words relating to people, objects and actions with which a baby is familiar. Make rhymes and songs more interesting to listen to by using a strong beat, rhythm and lots of repetition.
Designing and Making
Talk about the way things balance or what happens when a structure falls down.
ICT
Share observations with parents so that you can compare notes.
Time
Spend time looking at and talking about pictures of babies eating, sleeping, bathing and playing.
Place
Draw attention to things in different areas that stimulate interest, such as a patterned surface.
Communities
Nurture babies' sense of themselves, while also helping them to feel that they belong to the group, for example, saying "This is Max's cup and there is a cup for Earl, Frankie and Lacey too".
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
00012-2007CDO-EN