Bedtime story (language
skills, 9-12 months)
* Make up bedtime stories to tell your
baby that uses his name.
* Ideally, the story should describe things that he does during the
day.
* Here is an example:
Once upon a time, there was a sweet little boy whose name was (your
baby’s name). He played with his toys at home while his mummy was busy
with the house work. Sometimes, his mummy would take him outside to see
the birds and butterflies. He loved sitting on the grass.
He was such a good boy that he finished his milk and dinner. Every
night, before going to bed, his mummy gave him a nice bath. His daddy
will then read stories to him and both of them gave him lots of kisses.
After his mummy and daddy laid him in his crib, he closed his eyes and
went to sleep.
(Use your baby’s name as often as possible in the story).
It’s cold (language skills, 9-12 months)
* Taking your baby to the supermarket can
be a wonderful learning experience for him.
* Each time you pick up a cold item, show it to him and let him feel it
while you say “cold”.
* When you get home, open the refrigerator and let him feel the inside.
Emphasize to him again that it’s “cold”.
* Give him cold items that he can hold and ask him to put them in the
refrigerator. As he does so, say “thank you (baby’s name) for keeping
the cold (name the item) in the refrigerator”. Name each item and use
the word “cold” each time you hand him a new item.
Washing myself (language skills, 9-12 months)
* This is best played during bath time.
Wring dry a washcloth and give it to your baby.
* Ask him “can you wash your face?” Take his hand and rub the washcloth
gently on his face and say “yes I can, yes I can”.
* Continue playing as you name other parts of his body, for example,
hands, feet, tummy, cheek, ears, arms, hair and so on.
* Next, let him try himself.
* You can continue to play this game while drying him using a dry
towel. Ask him “can you dry your face?” and take his hand and dry his
face then say “yes I can, yes I can”.
* Soon, he will learn all his body parts in the most fun manner.
Street crossing (language skills, 9-12 months)
* Play this when you cross the street
with your baby.
* Say to him “now we are crossing the street. Let’s make sure that no
cars are coming. Look to the left, then right, and left again. No cars,
good. It’s alright to cross the street now”
* This game not only teaches the baby about left and right but also
about traffic safety.
Treasure hunt (language skills, 9-12 months)
* The outdoors is a wonderful place for
babies to explore.
* Take with you a small bucket outside. Help you baby to collect rocks,
leaves, branches and twigs to put into it.
* Let him hold and play with the collected ‘treasures’ while you tell
him the name of each.
* Your baby will enjoy putting them back and dumping them out again.
* You can also ask him to give you a ‘leaf’ or a ‘twig’ after a while.
You will be surprise that baby can learn so fast.
Snow fun (language skills, 9-12 months)
* Go outside with your baby on a day when
there is snow on the ground.
* Show your baby how to draw shapes and lines or even numbers in the
snow with his mittens. You can also use a stick as a drawing tool.
* If you do not live in a snowy area, you can play this game with sand.
You can even change this into ‘summer fun’ by playing it on the beach
on a sunny summer day.
* This is a highly creative game that babies adore and it makes
learning fun and interesting.
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