Playing is one of the best things you and your baby can do together. Play is how babies develop a sense of themselves and their place in the world.


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Play starts from birth. As your child grows and develops, play changes from you playing with your baby, to baby gradually learning how to play with objects and – eventually – other children.
Follow your baby’s instincts with play. If your baby is looking at an object or toy, you can label what she’s looking at. Show your baby what she can do with the object she’s interested in. Research tells us that this is important for language development.
Everything is new to babies – things we take for granted are a first time novelty for them. Let them discover and get bored at their own pace.
For example, your baby has just picked up a rattle in his tiny hand. He moves his arm. The rattle jerks and makes an interesting sound. Your baby moves his hand again. The rattle makes the sound. He moves his hand with great purpose. The rattle shakes noisily. Your baby has just made an exciting connection. He has discovered that when he shakes a rattle, he can produce a noise. He has learned that he can make something happen. He has control over some small part of his world.
Support this process by introducing toys slowly, one at a time, after your baby has tried to squeeze every use out of the one she is already playing with. This helps her develop her learning and attention skills.
Babies learn things automatically, like:
By Raising Children Network
Playing with babies helps them develop a sense of themselves and their place in the world. Playtime starts from birth, when everything is new.
Baby games
This article is an extract only. For more information visit raisingchildren.net.au/play__learning/babies_play_learning.html
Sourced from the Raising Children Network's comprehensive and quality-assured Australian parenting website www.raisingchildren.net.au.