Babies from 6 to 12 months are in the process of development , and we know that at this age they are actively developing their executive functions and self-regulation.
As fathers and mothers, we can favor this process and accompany them through our interaction with them and various games and activities.
The activities that we propose in this article stimulate babies to develop different skills, such as:
- focus attention
- Use working memory
- Practice basic self-control skills
Games and activities to stimulate the development of babies from 6 to 12 months
Before getting into the matter, we make a brief tour of the baby’s development between 6 and 12 months. At this age, babies are already exploring more , investigating and trying to get to know the environment around them through their senses.
They look at and recognize their hands and feet , they put them in their mouths… Other actions they do are to get objects that are close to them or hidden in boxes. They are also capable of picking up objects that have been dropped.
As we can see, its development is very rapid in the first months of life. However, we can continue promoting this development, accompanying our baby while he grows, learns and enjoys. The activities that we propose are:
hand games
This game is all about singing while doing simple hand movements. To do this, we can place the baby on top of us, with the legs slightly open on our belly (we lying down looking at the baby).
We will take his little hands and sing a song while we move them to the rhythm of the music, clapping from time to time.
Babies can learn to copy the movements of the song and even remember the sequence with practice.
lace games
We are talking about boxes with holes to insert different elements or pieces , and that fascinates babies.
We find a wide variety of them in terms of sizes, material, colors, shapes, number of holes… and they are ideal for stimulating their fine motor skills.
manipulative books
Manipulative books for babies are also an option to promote their sensorimotor development ; they can be soft, textured, interactive (that emit sounds and lights), etc.
In addition, in some they will be able to hook and unhook different elements through the velcro, which favors their fine motor skills. These types of books can be entertaining and very stimulating.
Sensory and/or interactive toys
Related to the previous suggestion of books, we give you ideas about ideal games for babies over six months old who are beginning to want to explore everything and experiment. Thus, we can choose toys such as:
- Push button toys.
- Stacking cubes.
- Simple snap-on toys or soft blocks.
- Toy phones.
- Toys that stimulate crawling.
- Musical toys or toys that make noise when thrown on the floor
- Toys that roll (for example, squishy balls).
the game of hide and seek
This type of game is ideal for working on working memory, the type of memory that allows children to retain the information they need in their heads and manipulate it to solve tasks.
It is about hiding a toy under a cloth and encouraging the baby to look for it. Once the baby finds it, move it, first in front of him and then, to increase the difficulty, when he is not looking. You can hide it behind the cloth, behind a piece of furniture or another object…
And it is that, as the baby remembers what was there and mentally tracks the movement, it is working its working memory.
Cuckoo-after
A game similar to the previous one, because there is “something” that is hiding, is the “cucú-tras”, also known as Peekaboo , in English. It consists of hiding our face with our hands while we say “cuckoo…” and suddenly uncovering it at the voice of “after!”. This simple surprise action usually generates a lot of laughter in babies.
conversations
This activity consists of simply talking with our baby, in our own way. We can develop a particular language with it, and it is also a good way to work on skills such as attention , working memory and listening.
With younger babies, we recommend starting by following his attention and naming the things he focuses on out loud. It is about being able to increase the focus time on each of them, thus keeping your attention actively.
the mirror game
In this game, designed to stimulate motor and sensory development , we will place a mirror in front of the baby, when he is awake, so that he can see his reflection. The normal thing is that the baby wants to get close to him.
The best thing is that we put the baby on a carpet or on the bed , always under supervision.
And it is that playing in front of a mirror or seeing your image reflected in it is highly beneficial for the baby’s development at a motor and emotional level.
Although at first the baby may not identify that the reflection he/she sees is himself/herself, little by little he/she will become aware of and become interested in what is happening around him/her through the image returned by the mirror.
the imitation
We know that babies love to copy adults. Also, when they mimic, they keep track of your actions , remember them, and wait their turn to reproduce them. Thus, although it may not seem like it, many things are working at the same time with this “simple” action.
We can choose different forms of this game, such as; take turns making simple gestures (like waving), first us and then them.
Sensory mats or panels
Another activity that we propose are sensory panels or rugs with different textures, with velcro closures, with buttons to press, figures, colors…
They are ideal for stimulating the different senses through touch, hearing…
You can buy these panels or create them yourself; yes, be careful that they do not have small objects that can be swallowed.
toys around
Between 6 and 9 months of your baby you can try this game; Lying on his stomach, he places toys around him so that he tries to reach them, and changes his location. Some toys that can help you are balls with lights and sounds.
A toy on the table
You can do this activity between 9 and 12 months of the baby; It involves placing a toy on a low table so that the baby tries to stand up and pick it up.
If he is already standing, help him try to reach him by taking his first steps.
following the sound
This activity is also ideal to do between 9 and 12 months. It is about hiding musical toys in different places and making sure that the baby can find them guided by their sound . Ideal for promoting cognitive development.
“The wonderful thing about childhood is that everything is wonderful in it.”
-G.K. Chesterton-
Photos | Cover (freepik), Image 1 (pexels), Image 2 (pexels), Image 3 (pexels)
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