Games Babies Play

How a Little Fun Can Go a Long Way

By Lyn Mettler

Monopoly, checkers, Trivial Pursuit ... not quite fodder for Baby's mind, right? But experts say there's a world of games and fun activities that you and your baby can do that helps him learn, helps the two of you bond and best of all: lets you have fun together. And you'll likely be surprised how much your baby is capable of doing.

Linda Acredolo, the co-author of Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love (Bantam Doubleday Dell, 2000) and Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk (McGraw Hill, 1996), says new parents often don't realize how much babies have going on "upstairs." "They're cute, but they don't look smart," she says. "Babies want to be challenged. They come into this world not just able to learn, but eager to learn."

In fact, babies are born with all the brain cells they'll ever have, says Tammy Morey, the creator of a combination infant development/postnatal fitness class for new moms called WeeFit. Your job is to "hardwire" their brain, helping those cells develop the circuits and connections that will help them learn throughout their life.

According to Morey, who is also the mother of two, all this "hardwiring" takes place in the first three years of life. "You only have such a short period with your child to make such a large impact in their life," she says.

Every time you smile at your baby, show him something new, sing a song or talk to him, neurons are firing messages between one another in his brain helping make those all-important connections.

Want to see more?

• Talk about it!
• The Mind of the Baby: Unleashing Your Child's Potential
• Make Learning Fun: Developmental Games for Baby
• Brain Builders: An Introduction