Malia Jacobson
Smart Start: 10 brain-building games to play with baby Playing with your baby yields more than adorable smiles, squeals and coos. According to researchers and child development experts, simple everyday games boost baby’s brain development, fostering growth in language, science, math and organizational skills (called executive functions), along with social and emotional learning. Babies at play learn about themselves and their world, says Sarah R. Lytle, Ph.D. “Babies are natural scientists. They’re always playing games that are actually experiments. Every time a baby drops a spoon off their high chair, they’re figuring out their world and how it works.” Here’s how to encourage your little scientist with games that benefit cognitive development from birth through age one.
Baby Gym
Back and Forth
Bust a Move
Quality interactions with loving caregivers are vital to cognitive development in general—things like responding to babies’ coos and cries, gazing into their eyes and making silly faces. “In a high-quality interaction, you want to see a true back-and-forth exchange between a parent and a baby. When the baby babbles, the parent responds like they’re having a conversation,” says Lytle.
Exposing babies to music introduces the concept of rhythm, which benefits mathematical skills, says Lytle. Encourage this learning with mini dance sessions as early as the newborn stage (holding your baby, of course). Spend 5–10 minutes bouncing and swaying to the beat of songs you know and love.
Where’s the Cup? By four to seven months old, babies begin developing object permanence, or the knowledge that something still exists even when it’s not visible. Simple games like moving a cup just out of sight and asking “Where’s the cup?” help your baby toward this memory milestone.
28 • SanDiegofamily.com • Baby Guide 2020
No, there’s no need to take your baby to spin class. But physical activity— tummy time, crawling, scooting, walking practice or parent-child swim— can boost brain growth. Canadian researchers found that physical activity benefits cognitive development, especially executive functions and language skills, in children from birth through age 5.
Why, Thank You! When baby hands you a toy and looks at you expectantly, she is initiating a game that develops social and emotional intelligence, says Lytle. Play along by responding with delight (“Thank you so much!”), waiting a beat, then handing the toy back. Keep the back-and-forth going for as long as your baby stays interested.
Rhyme Time Read books filled with rhyming words, like The Cat in the Hat, to help babies develop phonological awareness, an important component of language and literacy, says Lytle. “Books work well for this because as parents we don’t normally speak in rhymes. And we tend to get into verbal ruts and use the same words over and over again. Books expose babies to words and rhymes you might not normally use.”
As baby develops and gets older, be sure to check out our latest recommendations for baby and toddler toys at www.sandiegofamily.com/ for-the-kids/kid-tested-toyproduct-review/toys.
