Games to Play With Babies

All those silly little games that mothers and fathers play with their babies involve face-to-face contact, and this is what lays the foundation for healthy attachment. Responsive reactions towards babies build their self-confidence and happiness, and contribute to their social and cognitive development. Laughing, much like crying, helps release tension from the body.

Laughing helps discharge mild fears and worries. Once your baby is able to touch your face, they are ready to grasp cause and effect. When your baby touches your nose you can say "beep", and if they touch it again you can make the same sound. This is how they learn to repeat an action. You can also imitate your baby's movements and the sounds they make. Because your reaction depends on their behaviour, you can help build their sense of competence in a world that is full of uncertainty for them.

Peekaboo (Cee-ee)

This game helps babies overcome their separation anxiety and build a healthy relationship. In this game there is a break in visual contact. You cover your face, or hide behind something, and then reappear saying "peekaboo". This game allows separation anxiety, and even birth trauma, to be worked through. (The breaking and re-establishing of eye contact between baby and mother represents the experience of birth, when the baby opens their eyes for the first time.) Babies enjoy this game as long as they realise you have not truly disappeared; if you stay hidden too long, they may start to cry.

Between 6 and 18 months, babies form a strong bond with their caregivers, and separation anxiety rises during this period. At this age, this is one of the games that makes babies laugh the most. They are most likely easing their anxiety through laughter. Babies living in orphanages have been found not to respond to this game. The reason is that babies in orphanages have not developed a strong bond with anyone, and so do not experience separation anxiety. You can play a version of this game with a crawling baby by covering them with a sheet and touching them with your hand while pretending you cannot find them. Then you can turn the sheet into a tunnel and let them crawl through to reach you. This becomes a game that represents the experience of birth, and it can help heal birth trauma. In the same way, with babies born by caesarean section, you can cover them with light cushions and let them burst out from underneath.

Hide and seek (Saklambaç)

This is a game about separation. You can play it once your baby has started walking. At first they will hide somewhere completely in plain sight. They will love it when you pretend you cannot find them. This game helps babies cope with the fear of death or separation, and they also begin to learn the skill of seeing the world through someone else's eyes.