The advances that a baby experiences in its development the first year of life are amazing. In these, the game It has a lot to do, since it is the best way of learning and development. The game is essential for adults and children, even for the very young.
It is important that moms and dads play with the baby, because they learn a lot (mutually) and enjoy those first games that for children are a great novelty.
We are not talking about placing them in front of screens or supposedly educational toys in which babies are more or less passive spectators. There is nothing that attracts the baby more than interacting with people, especially those with whom he has such a special bond, with mom and dad: we are his most precious toy.
These games with the baby will help strengthen the bond and develop intellectually, emotionally and physically, since we will be stimulating all those interrelated facets. What do parents have to know about this to become the perfect playmates?
Playing with the baby, a simple task
It is essential that the stimuli that we transmit to the baby through play are varied, rich in contrasts, gradual and frequent. Repetition is essential, and you will see that the baby does not get tired of participating in the same game as many times as necessary.
But there is no need to study for this "task" of playing with the baby: simply by letting ourselves be carried away by the child, the game, the songs, the laughs, the massages ... arise automatically.
We must bear in mind that the baby goes from a cozy environment and soft and limited stimuli such as the mother's womb, to a world of shocking sounds, lights, colors, textures ... Everything makes the baby's senses receive a lot of new information that It keeps you attentive and that virtually any activity becomes a game.
So we have to take advantage of this receptivity and play with them since childhood, and although at first we do not get an obvious answer, the baby's first smiles will arrive soon. It is also important to respond to the baby's first games, from answering his gurgling to returning the objects he is throwing to the ground.
The baby of a few months is aware of the "power" of manipulating his environment and interacting with him and getting answers from other people, so he is most likely doing these acts so that we can play with them. Gradually, the games are becoming more complex, but as we have said, any parent is perfectly capable of adapting to what the baby needs at each stage.
The game with the baby during the first year of life
Although in the coming days we will give you all the keys to play with the baby and the child at each stage, this section serves as an introduction to the play with the baby until twelve months. What does it consist of? How should it be done?
Let's start by saying that playing with the baby should not be seen as an obligation but should be done when we are willing to do so and have enough time. We must also take into account the baby's mood. However, in general, both of us will want to have a good time together.
The first four months, when the baby has poor mobility, games can be performed with the baby lying on his back or sitting in the cart. The grip to move your body, massage, put at your fingertips toys, rattles, songs, voices, hide and appear, palms ... are your favorite games during the first four months.
From the fourth month, the baby acquires more strength and mobility, and in a couple of months will remain seated. He still likes the previous games, and also his linguistic ability is expanded and with them the possibilities of playing with sounds.
Let us recover at this point that the game is also important for the language of our children, because they are developing their linguistic capacity when listening to new words, when emitting new sounds, gurgling, the first syllables and words ...
It is at this stage when the baby has perfected the grip and is able to manipulate the objects, so the game can be based on offering or hiding toys (remember that any non-dangerous object can become a toy), that throws them, to look for them ...
With the crawling, the playing field expands, and we can do races, circuits, play "pilla-pilla" ... Better play on a blanket, on the floor, than sitting so you have more freedom of movement. The songs, rhymes, poems ... attract them more and more and will be encouraged to participate in the game.
In addition, movement games with mom and dad are like his favorites, such as the horse or the train, in which the baby sits on the elders and sings and swings or goes on his shoulders ...
Until twelve months, dad and mom are still the children's favorites to play. They already sit safely and can take their first steps, which expands the playground. Noises, music, movements ... are still good games. Drag toys, theater with dolls, gesture and imitation games, the first books ... they are passionate.
Have fun, experiment, get pleasure with the game, are the raison d'être of the games. Learning and development come with it, but we must not focus on it, but on fun, in mutual knowledge, in the time we spend with our children and that does so much good to ourselves.
Increasingly there is awareness of the important role of the game in the healthy development of children, since they are babies. That's why moms and dads we have to put the batteries and not forget how fundamental it is to play with our children and how simple it is be the perfect playmate for the baby.
