Baby Play

As I advance into the joyous challenges of grandparenthood, I find myself evermore intrigued by questions like: "Does anyone know any good games to play with a six-month old baby?"

This very question was asked in the discussion section of one of my favorite weblogs, Metafilter - a "community weblog" listed in my blogroll with contributions by just about anybody with something to say, and one of the most successful examples of what some call "Participatory Journalism."

I was delighted to discover how many intelligent, practical responses that question elicited. A clear favorite response came from someone called "Raedyn." Here it is in its entirety:

"Imitate him. The faces he is making to you - make them back at him. If he is holding a block and bangs it on the floor, bang your block on the floor, too. Then try leading instead of following. Try banging on the floor twice instead of only once. This can encourage him to start imitating more. It'll surprise you how young he is when he bangs the block twice after you model it.

"Blow bubbles so he can watch them.

"Make sure when you interact with him, that you are at his level. Put him in a seat on the kitchen table with you sitting at a chair so you are face to face, or lay on your tummy on the floor beside him.

"Put on a puppet show for him. (use you socks or his teddy bears, or make paper bag puppets)

"Let him experience different textures. Take him to a park and sit in the grass with him. Go to a play ground and dig in the sand together. Go for walks outside together (him in the stroller or a snugli), tell him about everything you're seeing. Tell him the names of things, describe the colours, explain why things are like they are. Tell him about your memories.

"Take him places he's never been before. That's almost everywhere! Take him to a music festival and dance together. Go to the mall and go people watching. To a petting zoo and help him pet the animals.

"Grab one of your baby's toys that squeak. Hide it under a blanket while he's watching. Encourage your baby to find the toy. You can give the toy a squeak under the blanket to help him find it."

Several helpful posts mentioned using "Baby Signing." My granddaughter Lily knows how. Only she's three now. Luckily, further research opportunities abound. Grandson Zev is six months now. A good candidate. I'll be having another grandbaby to test it on in about 8-and-a-half months. And so it goes. And so do I.