By the age of six months babies may be able to sit unassisted, as coordination skills grow in leaps and bounds, with the ability to crawl, stand, and walk. Six to twelve months is a fun time for parents and babies and engaging in a variety of games with little ones. Watching babies quickly master new skills, like language skills, and fine and gross motor development becomes fascinating.

Between 6 and 9 months babies love experimenting with simple cause and effect relationships such as pressing a button to play a song. They also love to explore sounds by banging spoons and toys together or on the table at this age. When babies are given an assortment of pots, coffee cans, and containers along with wooden spoons and metal spoons it encourages them to play imitate drumming sounds to sing along to. Several branded great toys satisfy these banging urges. They can also offer a number of educational benefits, like colour and letter recognition, and provides opportunities for babies to explore cause and effect.

Games with balls are a lot of fun for babies at this age. Use soft, squishy balls to roll back and forth across the floor. Try dropping bean bags into a wide, open container. Babies that fall between six to nine months will love taking them out just as much as watching you toss them in. Once babies starts to crawl, set up an obstacle course to help with crawling skills. Pillows, large stuffed animals, and piles of soft cloth scraps make perfect climbing obstacles to boost these skills and strengthen the muscles that enable walking.

Sometime between 9 months old and the first birthday, most babies will begin to walk, some earlier and some later. During this age, babies will be developing a number of new large muscles as well as fine motor skills. They will know how to hold toys and can probably throw them. These soon-to-be toddlers also love to imitate and copy the things they see.

Play sound games with babies with unusual noise and encourage them to copy it. Try this with funny faces and movements for even more fun. Stacking and arranging blocks, cups, or other toys is also a fun game to enhance fine motor development. Give a baby an assortment of toys and a big box and watch her meticulously put them in and then dump them again all over the floor.

Sing lots of silly songs with your baby and read everyday because language skills become strong during this stage and the vocabulary to understand words rapidly grows. Repetition of your baby’s favourite story books, nursery rhymes, and songs can give her an even better understanding of the common patterns of spoken language. Songs with movements, like the Itsy Bitsy Spider, are favourites at this age.

As babies begin to cruise around the house, typically using furniture to aid balance, walking games can be an ideal form of play. An example can be holding a teddy bear or another cherished toy a few steps away and encourage your little one to walk to you to get it. Remember to praise every efforts and not to make too big of a deal when she stumbles or falls. Once your baby becomes a confident toddler, there are tons of new games to enjoy together!