Games for Infants

Making Sounds

A caregiver can encourage a baby to imitate and respond to sounds and vocalizations.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby down on a padded flat surface with good support. As you lean over your baby, make eye contact and say something in an encouraging tone. Listen to your baby. Your baby will then respond with sounds. Imitate the sounds your baby makes. Your baby may smile so make sure you smile back and continue vocalizing.

Rattle Time

Encourage your baby to vocalize and listen by calling his attention to a toy, object, or your talking or singing voice.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby down on a flat surface such as a bed or padded floor. Simply gather some toys or objects that make calming sounds such as a rattle, soft bells, music box, or a cup with a spoon. Hold the object in front of your baby about eight to ten inches from his eyes. Shake the object (rattle) gently and move it in and out of your baby's sight. Smile and imitate any sounds (cooing or gurgling) your baby makes while you play the game together.

Gentle Voices

Your baby will love the sound of your sweet tender voice.

Playing the Activity: Hold your baby in your arms while making good eye contact. Begin to talk to your baby using a warm and tender gentle voice. You can talk about your baby's cute little face, body parts, or favorite little toys. As you talk, you may hear vowel-like, cooing, or gurgling sounds. Go ahead and repeat any vocalizations you hear.

Musical Sing-a-Long

Babies love listening to the gentle sounds of lullabies or nursery rhymes.

Playing the Activity: Hold your baby in front of you or on your lap. Look at your baby, face to face, as you sing or play a favorite lullaby such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" or "Rock-a-Bye Baby." Make good eye contact with your baby. When your baby vocalizes or coos, repeat any of the sounds your baby makes during your musical sing-a-long. Continue singing to your baby.

Lots of Sounds

Your baby will hear you make all kinds of different sounds and enjoy repeating them back to you.

Playing the Activity: While holding your baby make good eye contact. As you look and talk to your baby, begin to laugh, whistle, or make non-speech sounds like humming or gurgling. If your baby repeats any of the sounds, talk about them. You can say, "You're gurgling little Lou Lou. I like the sounds you're making." Your baby may smile back at you, so remember to keep on making lots of sounds and vocalizations.

Pat-a-Cake

Infants enjoy this playful game because of the rhythmic sounds and simple rhymes.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby on your lap or in an infant seat. Take your baby's hands and clap them together as you say the "Pat-a-Cake" rhyme. Continue making the hand motions along with the rhymes. Be prepared to repeat the game several times.

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man, (clap baby's hands together) Bake me a cake as fast as you can; Pat it and roll it (roll baby's hands) And mark it with a "B," (make initial on baby's tummy) And put it in the oven for baby (or say baby's first name) and me!

Tender Tickles

Your baby will enjoy the warm feeling of your tender touch.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby on a flat surface such as a bed or padded floor. Gently touch your baby's body parts such as the belly, arms, or legs in a circular motion with your fingertips. As you touch your baby's body parts name them. You can use different objects to touch your baby including a soft cloth, silky string, feather, or lace. Make good eye contact. If you hear any sounds, repeat them back to your baby.

Playful Reading

Reading is a fun way to "talk" with your baby. Your baby will not only listen to all sorts of different sounds, words, and rhythmic patterns, but will see all kinds of pictures too.

Playing the Activity: Hold your baby close to you while sitting comfortably on your lap. Select a book with simple colorful pictures and begin to point to them. As you point to the pictures, begin to name them and describe the pictures with a few words or phrases. Help your baby touch the pictures. If you hear any sounds or vocalizations from your baby, imitate them and smile back at your baby.

Merry Melodies

Babies love to hear you sing as you feed, change, play, or bathe them. As you sing simple lullabies, you will establish a special closeness and bond with your baby.

Playing the Activity: Hold your baby close to you while you look and smile back. Begin to sing a lullaby.

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Your baby may smile back at you or try to sing along. Repeat any vocalizations or sounds your baby makes.

Peek-a-Boo

Babies love to participate in games where they learn to listen, take turns, and look at the people playing with them.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby on a padded flat surface or in an infant seat. Move your face in and out of your baby's visual range. Hide your face in back of your hands or in a blanket while suddenly showing your face to your baby and say, "Peek-a-boo, I see you!" Your baby will laugh and smile when looking at your face. Smile back and repeat the game.

Just Talk

Encourage your baby to talk while making random movements during daily routines.

Playing the Activity: As your baby is chewing on a squeeze toy, say, "mmm, mmm, mmm!" If your baby is bouncing in a swing, say, "Bounce, bounce, and bounce!" If your baby is drinking milk from a bottle, say, "M-m-m-milk." If your baby is playing with a rattle, say, "Shake, shake, and shake." Listen and imitate any sounds your baby makes.

Tubby Time

Bath time is a perfect time to name your baby's body parts and reinforce sounds and smiles that your baby makes as you gently splash the water together.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby in an upright position in the bathtub. While washing your baby, name some body parts. You can say in a sing-song tone, "This is the way we wash your tummy, wash your tummy, and wash your tummy." Continue washing other body parts while naming them and singing about them to your baby. Be sure to imitate any sounds your baby makes while playing "Tubby Time!"

So Big

Your baby will enjoy imitating you as you play interactive games.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby on a flat surface or in a supported high chair facing you. Begin showing your baby how to play "So Big" by placing your arms up in the air. Ask, "How big is Charlie?" Use your baby's name. Your baby may raise his hands and gesture "so big." If he needs help, raise his hands and arms up high and say, "so big." If he makes any sounds, imitate them.

You can say and add more sounds to the game like "baba, bobo" or "goo-goo, ga ga." Your baby may imitate your sounds. Remember to repeat them back. Make good eye contact with your baby. Enjoy playing the game. You will have so much fun watching your baby move his hands and arms up in the air while you're playing the game together. If you hear any sounds, imitate them and praise your baby for good talking!

What is It?

Your baby can learn about objects and their actions by exploring.

Playing the Activity: Place or sit your baby in a high chair and put some objects like a ball, teddy bear, or train in front of her. Pick up the ball. Roll it to your baby and say, "Sophie, here's the ball." Say, "Your turn." Help her pick up the ball and roll it. While rolling the ball, say, "baba ball. Here's the ball." Eventually your baby will try to repeat the sounds and associate the words with the objects.

Repeat this activity with the teddy bear and train. Pick up the train and as you push it, say, "Here's the choo-choo." If your baby makes any sounds like "oo-oo" or "ah- ah," say, "Yes, it is a choo-choo. A train says choo-choo!" Repeat any sounds your baby makes.

Music Time

Music is a great way to encourage communication. You and your baby can sing along, listen, or dance.

Playing the Activity: Turn on a lullaby song on your CD player or just listen to some songs on the radio. Sing along while gently dancing with your baby. If your baby makes sounds, repeat them in a sing-song type voice.

For more fun, clap your baby's hands together to the beat of the music. Keep on singing those songs and repeating the sounds you hear from your baby!

Pretend Phone Talk

Your baby will love to play with a toy telephone and talk into it. You may even begin to hear your baby making and imitating babbling sounds as you play.

Playing the Activity: Place or sit your baby on your lap or on a flat surface. Hold the toy phone to your ear and say "Hello, hello. Is (say baby's name) there?" Next, place the toy phone to your baby's ear and say, "Hello, hello (baby's name)." Repeat this a few times.

Take the phone and pretend to have a simple conversation while using your baby's name in a few short phrases. Finally, let your baby hold the phone and place the toy phone to your baby's ear. Your baby may begin to talk into the phone. You may hear consonant-vowel combinations like "mama" or "dada" or other babbling sounds. Praise your baby by saying, "Good talking!"

Sit 'n Splash

Your baby will make and imitate babbling sounds as he splashes in the water and plays with bath toys.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby in a baby bin, bathtub, or small baby pool. Make sure he is sitting in a secure upright position. Gather some bath toys such as squishy ocean animals, plastic boats, and pouring cups. Place a few toys in front of your baby and say, "Jeremy, here's the boat." Push the boat and say, "The boat goes vroom-vroom!" Help your baby hold the boat and show him how it moves in the water. Make sounds like "papapa" or "vrvrvr."

Next, take a duck and hand it to your baby. Say, "Look Jeremy, a duck. Put it in the water. Now the duck is floating." Help him make little waves with his hands so the duck floats up and down. Make sounds like "dadada" or "papapa" as your baby plays with the duck in the water. Help your baby pour water over the duck with the cup. Say, "Look Jeremy! The duck is all wet." Make the "kakaka" or "wawawa" sound as he pours water from the cup.

Remember to repeat any sounds your baby makes. You can even add more sounds and soon you will be hearing your baby babble more and more on his own. Have fun splashing in the water.

Pop the Bubble

Popping bubbles will excite your baby. Your baby will love watching the bubbles as they float in the air and hearing the gentle popping sounds they make.

Playing the Activity: Place your baby near to you. As you start blowing bubbles from a bubble wand, say, "Look Gracie." As she looks, point to the bubbles floating around her. Say, "Bubbles. Pop the bubbles." Help her pop a bubble and say, "Pop, pop, and pop." Repeat any sounds your baby makes and add more sounds. She may say "papa" as she tries to pop the bubble. Just add more sounds like "papababa" or "babapapa" to her responses.

She is trying to talk and soon you will hear true words. After you pop a bubble, ask, "Where did the bubble go?" You may hear your baby say "baba." Say, "Yes, baba bubbles." You can gesture with your hands up and say, "Bubbles are all gone. Bubbles popped." Have fun popping bubbles and imitate any babbling sounds you hear your baby make.

Five Little Monkeys

This is an exciting fingerplay song with entertaining beats and hand movements that you and your baby can enjoy together.

Playing the Activity: Place or sit your baby next to you on a flat surface or seated next to you on a couch or chair. Sing the "Five Little Monkeys" song to your baby while helping your baby with hand movements. Below are the words to the song and the actions in parentheses.

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed (Move five fingers in a bouncing position on baby's other hand) One fell off and bumped his head. (Turn one finger down and then bump fist to head) Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, (Pretend to dial a telephone) No more monkeys jumping on the bed. (Use pointing finger as if to punish)

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed (Move four fingers in a bouncing position on baby's other hand)

One fell off and bumped his head. (Turn one finger down and then bump fist to head)

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, (Pretend to dial a telephone)

No more monkeys jumping on the bed. (Use pointing finger as if to punish)

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed (Move three fingers in a bouncing position on baby's other hand)

One fell off and bumped his head. (Turn one finger down and then bump fist to head)

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, (Pretend to dial a telephone)

No more monkeys jumping on the bed. (Use pointing finger as if to punish)

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed (Move two fingers in a bouncing position on baby's other hand)

One fell off and bumped his head. (Turn one finger down and then bump fist to head)

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, (Pretend to dial a telephone)

No more monkeys jumping on the bed. (Use pointing finger as if to punish)

One little monkey jumping on the bed (Move one finger in a bouncing position on baby's other hand)

One fell off and bumped his head. (Turn one finger down and then bump fist to head)

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, (Pretend to dial a telephone)

No more monkeys jumping on the bed. (Use pointing finger as if to punish)

Looking at Pictures

Your baby can learn so many new things as you point to brightly colored objects and toys in picture books.

Playing the Activity: Place or sit your baby on your lap as you read together. As you point to a picture of an object or toy, talk about what we do with it. Say, "Here is a telephone (point to the telephone). The telephone goes ring, ring! There is a red car Lucas (point to the car). It goes vroom, vroom."

Continue looking at pictures together. "Look Lucas. See the train (point to the train)? It goes choo-choo." Imitate any sounds your baby makes. Praise your baby for the sounds you hear.

Finding Body Parts

Your baby will enjoy talking and learning about different body parts.

Playing the Activity: Place or sit your baby on a flat surface so your baby can look directly at you. Put your hands on your head and say, "Touch your head!" Gently help your baby do the same action. Continue placing your hands on different body parts. Help your baby find the same body parts as you including tummy, legs, arms, nose, eyes, and feet.

Encourage your baby to vocalize. Keep on talking to your baby while you both find body parts and perform the actions together. Imitate any babbling sounds your baby makes.

Talking Time

Rocking or sitting in a chair as you hold your baby on your lap is a great way for you to talk and listen to your little one. Don't be surprised if you hear some sounds or words. Babies love to talk!

Playing the Activity: Place your baby on your lap as you sit down on a chair or rocking chair. As you begin to talk, use a soft and friendly voice. Look and smile at your baby and she will look back at you. You may begin to hear many different sounds, syllables, or words.

As you listen, repeat anything you hear your baby say as if you are having a conversation. Pause for a moment to let her vocalize. You may hear something like "baba" or "dada." If your baby says sounds like "baba" repeat the sounds she makes. Say, "babababa," and "Yes, Chloe, baba, baby."

Be creative and repeat babbling sounds back to your baby as if they were true words. Have fun and keep on talking!

Where Did It Go?

Your baby will soon begin to understand that objects exist even when the objects are out of sight.

Playing the Activity: Place or sit your baby on the floor and show him some toys such as a ball, a car, a teddy bear, or a train. Prompt your baby to pick up one toy and play with it for a few minutes. Let him know that you want a turn by saying, "It's my turn." Next, pick up a toy and hide it with a cloth. Help Johnny find the toy by asking, "Where's the ball?" Praise him if he finds the ball and repeat the game with another favorite toy.

Your baby will probably get excited and make sounds. You may even begin to hear word approximations or even a true word here or there. Remember to repeat and expand on your baby's sounds or words as you play together.