![<i></i>](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/d/k/1/h/image.related.landscape.380x253.gqdk1c.png/1469446404745.jpg)
Top Resources
![Lucas signing "eat".](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/8/t/t/k/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.8ttj.gmxm73.png/1468321448708.jpg)
Teaching your baby sign language
By 10 to 14 months babies usually speak their first word, but they can learn to use sign language from a much younger age.
![Encourage reading with your baby](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/w/a/1/d/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.ggxcnp.gmxm73.png/1457054321943.jpg)
Encouraging baby's cognitive skills
A baby will develop their cognitive skills through a range of play activities. You can help encourage this learning through some of these play tips and ideas.
![<i></i>](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/y/w/s/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.gi711v.gmxm73.png/1457054321943.jpg)
![Letting your child move as much as possible in the early years will help them grow up healthier, smarter, calmer and ...](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/f/g/j/o/image.related.landscape.120x80.3fgji.gmxm73.png/1457054321943.jpg)
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![baby ipad](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/y/8/0/d/image.related.landscape.120x80.ghv6ki.gmxm73.png/1457054321943.jpg)
Latest
![The baby fell facedown before flipping onto her back.](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/p/u/3/b/image.related.landscape.300x200.goprsz.png/1462767985714.jpg)
Baby's water survival video divides viewers
Is it responsible parenting, or is this baby being subjected to unnecessary distress? That's the question dividing viewers of a video showing a six-month-old girlĀ fending for herself in a swimming pool after being enticed to fall into the water.
![Malo](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/4/a/7/d/s/image.related.landscape.300x200.gmogc9.png/1454905681720.jpg)
Baby's future imagined in cute photo series
A French dad has captured his 3-month-old daughter, June, in a series that shows her in outfits of different professions in order to show the possibilities ahead of her. The dad, Malo, says that he, his wife and a few friends work quickly to avoid tiring the baby out.
![Three-year-old Leo Colosimo having fun with some traditional toys as mum Kristy Biagini looks on.](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/n/4/m/m/image.related.landscape.300x200.gmnm1h.png/1454808738447.jpg)
Traditional toys beat gadgets in language development
Baby laptops and other talking, flashing toys that promise to improveĀ children's language skills may do the exact opposite.
![<i></i>](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/g/r/k/y/image.related.landscape.300x200.gmgre7.png/1454030104159.jpg)
The simple way you can help your baby's language development
The way parents respond to their child's babbling can shape how their infants communicate.
!["We try to do it everyday": Rebecca Armodoros reading to her son Noah, 4, who will begin school soon.](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/4/9/7/1/e/image.related.landscape.300x200.gm8bfx.png/1453097103650.jpg)
The activity to do with your baby that will help them succeed at school
One in five school kids is starting school unprepared.
![<i></i>](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/4/4/6/g/6/image.related.landscape.300x200.gk50sm.png/1444389131903.jpg)
How 'parentese' helps develop your baby's language skills
Baby talk does more than just entertain babies - it helps foster important language skills, too.
![It's never too early to read to your baby.](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/4/1/9/7/p/image.related.landscape.300x200.gj299h.png/1439937632107.jpg)
Do you read me, baby?
Is it too soon to be reading to my two-month-old son? If not, what should I read?
![<i></i>](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/4/0/6/5/x/image.related.landscape.300x200.ginm27.png/1464176538542.jpg)
How you talk to your baby now can impact social skills later
People used to think that social skills were something kids were born with, not taught.
![<i></i>](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/y/w/s/4/image.related.landscape.300x200.gi711v.png/1436250783087.jpg)
Entertaining your baby with play
It seems that by now that I would have a lot of things figured out. But figuring out how to play with an infant still remains a challenge.
![baby ipad](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/y/8/0/d/image.related.landscape.300x200.ghv6ki.png/1435024462167.jpg)
Babies 'benefit from iPads at a young age': study
More often than not, you'll read that screen time for children should be kept to a minimum - but some scientists are now challenging this way of thinking.
![Get down and play at their level](/web/20160806063234im_/http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/content/dam/images/3/x/5/s/9/image.related.landscape.300x200.ghgcjh.png/1434248529740.jpg)
How to play with your baby, from 4 to 12 months
Playing with your baby is a skill that some mums need to learn - it doesn't always come naturally.
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