How to Play With Your Newborn
Make faces at each other., Be proactive about playing with your newborn., Speak to your newborn., Read out loud to them as well., Sing to your baby., Incorporate hand signs and touching into your play time generally.
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Make faces at each other.
In terms of engagement and enjoyment, there’s nothing more enjoyable for your newborn than a good face-making session.
In fact, newborns even prefer faces to toys.
Further, your baby will be especially excited to observe wide-open eyes and genuine smiles.
Look your baby in the eye and respond to any actions the baby makes by changing your expression.
The sillier the better.Aside from the enjoyment your newborn will derive from making faces at one another, face-to-face interaction also helps lay the foundation for a bond that will help your relationship with your child in the years to come. -
Step 2: Be proactive about playing with your newborn.
Know that you’ll need to initiate almost all interactions with your newborns for the first few months of their life.
By three or fourth months old, however, your baby will begin expressing themselves with facial expressions, sounds, and movements.You’ll start by making dramatic facial expressions and noises, as these will be the first things your baby is able to recognize.
Progress into smiling and conveying verbal excitement when your baby begins to coo and gurgle in response to your expressions.
Soon, they’ll by squealing and laughing in response to most of your statement and behaviors. , Hold your face close to your newborn while speaking to them to get more face-to-face time together as well.
Extremely young newborn babies may prefer the silly noises often associated with speaking to babies, but you can also simply speak softly using an actual human language.
Not only will this be fun for your newborn, there are copious links between children’s language and intelligence development and the degree to which they were spoken to as a baby.Talk to your newborn while feeding, bathing, and changing them as well.
As your baby approaches three months of age, start describing the things around you as you carry them around.
At this point, they will be developing the ability to visually focus and will begin to understand the association between language and objects.
Though it sounds simple, this will be an immense source of enjoyment for your baby. , It’s never too early to read your baby.
You can even simply read whatever you’re reading out loud to them.
As they become more aware of their surroundings, read them books that feature pictures with highly contrasting colors and basic illustrations.Exposure to your voice, the rhythm with which you speak and structure sentences, and the vocabulary you use will all steadily increase your baby’s understand of verbal communication.
Make sure to eliminate extraneous noise when reading to your baby.
In particular, turn off any televisions or other devices emitting distracting audio. , Your baby will be especially interested in listening if you’re singing.
And even better: sing songs that incorporate a physically active component, and move their arms or playfully touch your newborn as you sing to them.
Incorporate singing with hand-motions into your baby’s daily routine.Start with the classics, as you may even already know them:
The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy-Bisty Spider, and If You’re Happy and You Know It are proven mainstays. , Moving your babies hands as you talk to them – or moving your own in front of or upon them – will encourage your newborn to develop both the physical skills necessary to move their arms, as well as the mental recognition that communication is occurring.One of the best ways to convey that you’re communicating with your baby is by imitating them.
Make similar sounds, expressions, and movements as they are, to emulate the process of interacting with someone else.
For more specific pointers, including training your baby to learn specific signs when they’re a bit older, see the LifeGuide Hub article on how to teach your baby sign language. -
Step 3: Speak to your newborn.
-
Step 4: Read out loud to them as well.
-
Step 5: Sing to your baby.
-
Step 6: Incorporate hand signs and touching into your play time generally.
Detailed Guide
In terms of engagement and enjoyment, there’s nothing more enjoyable for your newborn than a good face-making session.
In fact, newborns even prefer faces to toys.
Further, your baby will be especially excited to observe wide-open eyes and genuine smiles.
Look your baby in the eye and respond to any actions the baby makes by changing your expression.
The sillier the better.Aside from the enjoyment your newborn will derive from making faces at one another, face-to-face interaction also helps lay the foundation for a bond that will help your relationship with your child in the years to come.
Know that you’ll need to initiate almost all interactions with your newborns for the first few months of their life.
By three or fourth months old, however, your baby will begin expressing themselves with facial expressions, sounds, and movements.You’ll start by making dramatic facial expressions and noises, as these will be the first things your baby is able to recognize.
Progress into smiling and conveying verbal excitement when your baby begins to coo and gurgle in response to your expressions.
Soon, they’ll by squealing and laughing in response to most of your statement and behaviors. , Hold your face close to your newborn while speaking to them to get more face-to-face time together as well.
Extremely young newborn babies may prefer the silly noises often associated with speaking to babies, but you can also simply speak softly using an actual human language.
Not only will this be fun for your newborn, there are copious links between children’s language and intelligence development and the degree to which they were spoken to as a baby.Talk to your newborn while feeding, bathing, and changing them as well.
As your baby approaches three months of age, start describing the things around you as you carry them around.
At this point, they will be developing the ability to visually focus and will begin to understand the association between language and objects.
Though it sounds simple, this will be an immense source of enjoyment for your baby. , It’s never too early to read your baby.
You can even simply read whatever you’re reading out loud to them.
As they become more aware of their surroundings, read them books that feature pictures with highly contrasting colors and basic illustrations.Exposure to your voice, the rhythm with which you speak and structure sentences, and the vocabulary you use will all steadily increase your baby’s understand of verbal communication.
Make sure to eliminate extraneous noise when reading to your baby.
In particular, turn off any televisions or other devices emitting distracting audio. , Your baby will be especially interested in listening if you’re singing.
And even better: sing songs that incorporate a physically active component, and move their arms or playfully touch your newborn as you sing to them.
Incorporate singing with hand-motions into your baby’s daily routine.Start with the classics, as you may even already know them:
The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy-Bisty Spider, and If You’re Happy and You Know It are proven mainstays. , Moving your babies hands as you talk to them – or moving your own in front of or upon them – will encourage your newborn to develop both the physical skills necessary to move their arms, as well as the mental recognition that communication is occurring.One of the best ways to convey that you’re communicating with your baby is by imitating them.
Make similar sounds, expressions, and movements as they are, to emulate the process of interacting with someone else.
For more specific pointers, including training your baby to learn specific signs when they’re a bit older, see the LifeGuide Hub article on how to teach your baby sign language.
About the Author
Alexis Palmer
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow home improvement tutorials.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: