5 Games To Boost Your Baby's Development

Two essential skills parents must develop in their children as early as possible are executive function and self-regulation.

According to Harvard's Centre on the Developing Child, these are the skills that enable our kids to pay attention, plan, remember instructions, and multi-task.

“Children aren’t born with these skills - they are born with the potential to develop them.”

So how do we develop these skills in our babies? Simple. Play!

Here are some simple, everyday games that will help your baby’s development.

1. Peekaboo

Why do babies never get tired of peekaboo? Because up until about 8 months old, they have yet to grasp the idea of object permanence - that things continue to exist even if you can't see it.

Which is why it's weird they laugh instead of completely freaking out that Mum just stopped existing.

Simple enough to play, Peekaboo encourages social interaction and exercises their working memory. It challenges the baby to remember who is hiding and allows them to practice basic self-control as they wait for the adult to reveal them self.

2. Nursery Rhymes

Singing nursery rhymes should form part of your daily play. The repetition exercises your baby’s memory as he becomes familiar with them. Predictable rhymes that end with a stimulating yet expected surprise are well-loved. Try “Little Miss Muffet,” and “Pat-a-Cake.”

3. Hide Toys

If you haven’t tried it yet, hiding games are a great way to challenge your baby. Place a toy under a cloth and see if they can find it. Make more moves to increase the difficulty once it becomes easy. For instance, hide the toy, but before you ask your child to find it, move it again!

4. Copy Me

Babies love to copy adults. When they imitate, they have to keep track of your actions, remember them, wait their turn, and then recall what you did. In doing so, they practice attention, working memory, and self-control.

Show your child how to stack blocks on top of each other, how toy cars move and how a toy telephone is put to the ear. If you have mini figures, show her how horses gallop and dogs run around.

5. Finger Play

Songs or chants with simple hand motions are a lot of fun for infants and develop self-control and working memory as well as language.Examples include “Eensy Weensy Spider” and “Open Shut Them”.

Who said learning was no fun?!