Games to play with your baby (under 12 months)

Your baby will develop at an amazing rate in her first year. She'll seem to acquire new skills overnight.

It won't be long before your wriggling, helpless baby works out how to roll over, sit, crawl, stand and walk.

The games below will help you to encourage your baby to make the most of her new abilities as she discovers them. You should both have a lot of fun along the way.

Which games are best for babies under three months?

Copycat
Your baby loves having the chance to watch your face and this game will help sharpen her visual skills, too. Hold your baby close, she can focus best at around 20cm to 35 cm. When she is gazing into your eyes, slowly poke your tongue out. Do this every 20 seconds or so.

It may take about a minute but you will soon notice she's sticking her tiny tongue back out at you. She'll try to imitate other facial expressions too, such as a big smile or wide open mouth.

Tickle songs
Once your baby is a little older, try playing 'Akkad bakkad', 'This little piggy' or 'Round and round the garden' with her feet or hands. Hold her close on your lap and gently uncurl her toes or fingers as you sing. Repeat the song a couple of times until she starts to giggle in excited anticipation of the tickle at the end.

Simple, repetitive rhymes and songs like these are great for improving your baby's memory skills.

Roll and stretch
Your developing baby will soon be able to raise her head up for a second or two when lying on her tummy. If she's happy in this position, roll a brightly coloured ball across her line of vision about 60cm from her body.

To begin with, she'll concentrate on watching the ball but soon she'll try to stretch towards it. This will help strengthen her neck, arm and leg muscles. Always give her lots of praise and finish the game as soon she starts to get frustrated.

Baby cycling
Lay your baby on her back on the floor, bed, sofa, or changing table. Gently hold each ankle and move your baby's legs in circles as if she's riding a bike. Bring your baby's knees close to her chest and stretch out one leg as you bring the other leg in. As you move your baby's legs, talk to her about what you're doing. Vary the speed, going a bit faster and then slowing down. You can also reverse directions.

This is a good game for babies because it really helps develop their muscle tone and their motor skills in their lower extremities, which then they'll need as they're starting to crawl and starting to pull to stand and starting to walk and cruise.

The diva within
You may think you have a terrible voice – but your baby doesn't! Your baby may like absolutely anything you sing. Now's the time to sing loud and enjoy with your baby.

Try singing a song in a low growly voice and then in a high squeaky voice, to see which gets the most reaction. Try singing the song breathily into your baby's ear, or use a hand puppet (or a napkin or sock willing to play the part of a hand puppet). And get used to singing, because this could become a much loved bonding game not just now but as your baby grows!

Which games are best for babies between three and six months?

Catch me
Attach a small soft toy to a brightly-coloured ribbon. Dangle it in front of your baby and make it sway. When she reaches out to try and touch or grab it, give her lots of praise.

Choosing a squeaky toy may give your baby an extra reason to grab at it. Or, hold a small rattle in front of her face and shake it gently. Move the rattle to one side of her face and shake it again, then to the other side of her face and shake it. This will help her practise her hand-eye coordination. Remember, never leave your baby alone or unsupervised with strings or ribbons that could encircle her neck or get into her mouth or choke her.

Chatterbox
Have a conversation together! Your baby loves interacting with you and as she becomes more vocal. Responding to her coos, gurgles and grunts will also help encourage her to understand and try to form words.

Sit her facing you and when she says 'aahh' say 'aahh' in return. Encourage her to mimic you, too. Try, for example, stretching the sounds out: instead of 'bah' say 'baaaaaah'. Or even add a new sound to a familiar one: 'ooh-baaaah.'

Bubble magic
Most babies are fascinated by bubbles. Sit her in her bouncy chair, pram or car seat and using a simple bubble-blowing toy, blow bubbles around her. See how she follows the bubbles with her eyes as they float down.

Blow bubbles when she's outside in her pram or buggy too. If she catches one she'll learn about cause and effect, touch a bubble and watch it go pop! Remember to clean her hands afterwards so she doesn't get soapy water in her eyes.

You can also blow bubbles in the bathtub or when your baby is cranky or fussy. Bubbles are unbelievably cheap, easily transportable, and endlessly fascinating for babies.

So many variations on peek-a-boo
The classic: Hold up a towel between your face and your baby's and ask, "Where's baby? There's Baby!" over and over again. You can vary this game in a million ways. Hide behind a door and peep in. Hide behind a chair and pop out first from above then from the sides. Go behind a corner with another person and alternate who jumps out and yells "Boo!"

I'm gonna get you!
By now your baby's sense of anticipation is developing. And no baby can resist your coming at him mock-menacingly with a threat of hugs, kisses, or tickles. Here's what you could say: "Hey, baby! I see you over there! Well, I'm going to come over there soon! I'm going to get you! I'm coming closer! I... gotcha!" Then cover your baby in kisses, hugs or tickles.

When your baby's older you can modify this game to include a chase around the house – this works wonderfully as a way to get your child out the door when you're in a rush.

Which games are best for babies between six and nine months?

Puppet show
Make some simple finger puppets from cut-off gloves or socks. Give them ears, eyes and a mouth with pieces of paper or glued-on felt. You can also use colourful markers to make faces.

Show your baby how you can make them sing, dance, tickle and kiss! She'll love watching them come alive. Pretending that the puppets are real will also help develop her imagination.

In and out
Your baby loves emptying everything including drawers, your purse, boxes of tissues, bags. Turn this into a game you can both play.

Fill a large plastic container or plastic tub with safe, interesting objects, such as blocks, small soft toys, rattles or measuring cups. Help your baby pick up the container and turn it upside down, then together fill the container up again.

Handling different objects will help her learn about size, shape and weight as well as introducing early mathematical concepts such as big and small, empty and full.

Bear in mind that everything still finds its way to a child's mouth, so avoid objects with small parts, rough, sharp, pointed edges, strings and wires and always stay close at hand.

Adventure playground
If your baby is becoming mobile, build a miniature obstacle course out of cushions. Stay at ground level and peep out from behind them, or use a toy to encourage her to climb over them. This fun game will help develop her body strength, balance and co-ordination.

Fly, baby, fly!
Now that your baby can hold her head up, it's time to hoist her gently into the air.

You can play that she's a rocket ship, flying her over you and making realistic rocket noises. You can play that your baby is in an elevator, which advances up floor by floor before sinking quickly to the bottom. Or pretend that your baby's a superhero whizzing past the bedroom.

You can also lie down on the bed, hold her up and gently sway her from side to side, before bringing her down for a soft landing and plenty of cuddles.

Remember to always keep the game slow and gentle. Never include throwing a child or baby into the air as it can be dangerous and could result in a dangerous fall, head or neck injury.

Touch it, hold it, bang it
If your baby has one object, she'll bang it on the table. If she has two objects, she'll bang them together, hold them up to the light, squint at them, bang them separately on the table, hit the table with both at the same time, see if the object sounds different when hit using the left hand rather than the right hand, and on and on.

Help her out by handing over objects that make interesting sounds: hollow containers, metal spoons, bells. Pay attention to tactile sensations as well: Your baby will be fascinated by 'touch and feel books' or rustling, crushed paper or the smooth surface of a spoon. Later, introduce play with sand, clay or water too.

Learn more about how you can use touch to stimulate your baby's senses.

Which games are best for babies between nine and 12 months?

Kick ball
Your baby doesn't need to be walking to have fun playing football. Place a lightweight, medium-sized ball in front of you and hold her firmly under the arms. Pick her up and swing her forward so her legs make contact with the ball. By doing this you can help her kick it across the floor.

Swinging her legs helps your baby strengthen her tummy and leg muscles and prepare her for playing football for real when she's older!

Tower power
Gather together a collection of old cereal boxes, lightweight books, plastic bowls or containers and baby blocks. Then work together to build a tower. Once it's up and ready, take it in turns to knock it down. Your baby will love watching it tumble. At the same time, she's learning about sizes and shapes.

Bath fun
No longer is your baby content to sit in the tub and be washed. Older babies want to stand up, splash, grab your hair, pat and pour. (Note: Never leave a baby unattended in the bath, not even for a minute. Learn more about bathtime safety.)

Encourage the fun by adding lots of toys to the tub. Plenty of stuff around the house can be endlessly filled, drained, poured from or into, and floated. Pile up some plastic cups, curd containers, funnels, and squeeze bottles, and bring them into the bath along with any of your baby's plastic toys.

Poke holes in the top of a plastic bottle with a flat cap to make a homemade watering can. Let your baby feel the sensation of the water dripping onto her and show her how to cut off the flow by blocking it with his hand. Use your homemade toy watering can to give her rubber ducky a shower.

Watch me!
Your baby loves imitating you. If she sees you busy brushing your hair or wiping your face she'll try to copy what you're doing. Turn this instinct into a fun game by doing things like clapping your hands, putting your hands on your head, blowing out your cheeks or waving your hands.

Invent a silly song to go with your actions and she'll learn new words too. Learning to imitate is one of the first steps towards imaginative play.

We've also got two great, age-specific games for you and your baby to play each week. Take a look at our Games to play with your baby week by week section for more!

Playtime tips for a baby-entertainer

To keep your child safe while enjoying play time, you'll need to keep a few things in mind. It's also a good idea to share these tips with anyone who plays with your baby, be it your husband, your child’s grandparents or anyone caring for your child.

• Always choose a safe, babyproofed place for any activity with your baby.
• Make sure you only pick age-specific games and never leave your baby unattended or unsupervised. If you want her to try new things by herself, watch from a distance but stay close by so you can step in if the need arises.
• It's best to stay in the same room when older siblings and your new baby are together. Even though older siblings may mean well, they may not have full control of how they play and could end up hurting themselves or the little one.
• Never swing your child by her arms or play rough games with your baby. It may seem like harmless fun to you, but it's not uncommon for children to suffer from injuries such as dislocated shoulders or elbows from this.
• Many games won't work the first time you play them. Repetition is important.
• Your baby's attention span will vary a lot, depending on her age, her temperament, and her mood. Sometimes she'll enjoy a game for as long as 20 minutes, but more often you'll need to modify the game every five minutes or so.
• You'll know your baby's loving your antics when she's turning toward you, smiling, or laughing. But if she appears bored, squirms away from you, looks away, or cries, it's time to change the activity.
• Talking to your baby during the game is really important. She'll love hearing your voice and it really promotes language development and her understanding of words and concepts.
• As far as possible, don't let your baby play with your phone or tablet, or watch TV. Most experts around the world discourage screen time for children under the age of two. This can seem challenging at first and everyone in the family will need to make some adjustments, but in the long run it’s the best decision for your child.

Keep in mind that not every baby will catch on to or enjoy every game. Don't allow this to worry you, but of course if you have concerns about a possible developmental delay, you should talk to your baby's doctor.

Find out more about:

• Is it safe for my husband and baby to play rough and tumble games together?
• Which is better for my baby: structured activities or playing on her own
• 15 toys your baby will love: photos