Games for your baby’s senses

You experience things with all your senses, and that is why it is also important for your baby to use all their senses when they are playing. Touching and feeling are essential to their development. Things like learning to recognize materials, understanding that something slimy slips out of your hand, the feeling that something is sticky. All these things generate extra brainpower. With every experience, your baby makes more and more brain connections.

Examples of games for the senses.

Baby 0-6 months

Shadow games with a torch
Feeling wet grass
‘Touch and feel’ books
Listening to the bell
Smell this… (Nice and horrible things! Clearly show your child your facial expression when you smell something nice or horrible!)

Baby 6–12 months

‘Touch and feel’ box
Sand pit
Playing with your hands in dirt
Making soapy bubbles and playing in the bath
Feeling different materials, from sticky to sandpaper

Pre-toddler: from 12 months

Regularly put on songs that your child will eventually be able to sing along to
Make ‘music’ in the house, for example by hitting pans with a spoon
Box of blocks!
Water & sand (make clay!)

A few extra tips for you as parent:

o Try to keep in mind what your child likes and enjoys. One child will like cuddling and lap games, while others prefer to be very active
o Alternate regularly. Babies can also quickly get bored …
o Let your child set the pace. And… no less important: be patient if your child doesn’t react as quickly as you expected
o Keep an eye on your child’s mood. Are they happy and active or tired and in a cuddly mood? Try to keep this in mind when you want to play a game.

Making a mess is part of it
Do not worry about mess or about things that “shouldn’t be done like that.” As your little one starts discovering the world, they will get dirty. And your house will sometimes get dirty too. That’s what vacuum cleaners are for so do not let a bit of mess inhibit you (and your baby).