Learning and Development

Brain Games for Babies: 10 Simple Ideas to Boost Learning

10-simple-ideas-to-train-your-babys-brain

Play these games with your baby to help them learn and grow. These 10 simple brain games use everyday objects to stimulate your baby's senses, memory and understanding while you have fun together.

Baby Show and Tell to build object recognition.
Texture Play to learn through touch.
Sniff a Whiff to develop their sense of smell.
Where's Baby's Body? to learn body parts.
Hiding Hands and Peek-a-Blue for object permanence and colours.
Simple Directions, Memory Games, Hide-and-Seek Shapes and Quiet Time.

1. Baby Show and Tell

Everything is fascinating to your baby, so introduce them to their world with this simple activity. Hold up an object and describe it, adding descriptive adjectives. You could say, "This is an apple. It is red and round." Use fruit, kitchenware or anything around the house, and you'll be surprised how quickly your little one begins to recognise objects.

2. Texture Play

Let your baby learn through their sense of touch. Gather objects with different textures, such as a rubber duck, a stuffed animal, a plastic place mat, a piece of satin and a clean piece of fine sandpaper. Make sure none have sharp edges, are too cold or hot, or have loose strings. Place them on the play mat and describe each texture using words such as sticky, cool, soft, slippery, smooth or rough.

3. Sniff a Whiff

For the first few months most of your baby's stimulation is visual, but from 4-6 months their sense of smell starts to develop. Select several items, such as an apple, a bar of soap, your favourite perfume and Daddy's shaving cream. Place each under your baby's nose while saying, "Smell the apple. What does the soap smell like?" If your baby makes an offended face, don't offer that scent again for a while.

4. Where's Baby's Body?

This twist on classic peek-a-boo helps your baby learn body parts and develop greater body awareness. Using a small colourful cloth, cover your baby's head and say, "Where's baby's head?" After a few seconds, lift the cloth and say, "There it is!" Repeat with different parts, working down to the feet, then test your child by asking where a body part is.

5. Hiding Hands

Help your baby reinforce that things exist even when they can't see them. Show your baby you're hiding a small toy in your hand, hold both hands closed and ask them to guess which hand it's in. You may need to guide your baby at first or demonstrate with an older sibling. Express excitement whether they get it right or wrong.

6. Peek-a-Blue

Another game for when your baby starts to understand object permanence, this one also helps them learn colours. Tape brightly coloured construction paper to white pieces of paper. Present the white side first, then turn it around to reveal the colour while saying, "Peek-a-blue!" (or red, green or yellow).

7. Simple Directions

Practising simple directions will help your baby develop their cognitive thinking. Place three very different toys on the play mat. Say, "I am going to pick up the ball," then do it, and ask, "Can you pick up the ball?" Try a range of directions, always demonstrating first, repeating each 2-3 times and giving lots of praise.

8. Memory Games

Help your child develop their memory with these little games. Place 3-4 objects in front of them and give them a few minutes to memorise them. Ask them to close their eyes, remove one object and get them to tell you which is missing. You can also rearrange the order and ask them to put the objects back, varying the colours and shapes each day.

9. Hide-and-Seek Shapes

Make learning shapes and colours fun with a special version of hide and seek. Cut out basic shapes (triangles, squares, circles and rectangles) in different colours, or use plastic toy shapes. Hide them in easy-to-find spots and ask your child to find one at a time, prompting with questions like, "Is the red triangle under the bed?" to reinforce colours, shapes and the words on, off, over and under.

10. Quiet Time

Children are bombarded with stimulation, but they need quiet time to think and learn, and to learn how to sit quietly. Set aside 15 to 30 minutes for your child to just be quiet. Read a favourite book in a rocking chair, play soft songs, or lie on a blanket and watch the ceiling fan together. Keep talking and singing minimal; the key is to hear the quiet.

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FAQs on 10 simple ideas to train your babys brain

Try Baby Show and Tell, Texture Play, Sniff a Whiff, Where's Baby's Body?, Hiding Hands, Peek-a-Blue, Simple Directions, Memory Games, Hide-and-Seek Shapes and Quiet Time. They use everyday objects to stimulate your baby's senses, memory and understanding.

Play Texture Play. Gather safe objects with different textures, such as a rubber duck, a stuffed animal, a place mat, satin and fine sandpaper, then describe each texture using words like sticky, cool, soft, slippery, smooth or rough as your baby explores them.

From around 4 to 6 months. Before that most stimulation is visual. You can introduce different smells like an apple, soap or perfume by placing each item under your baby's nose, but stop offering a scent if your baby makes an offended face.

Hiding Hands and Peek-a-Blue both reinforce object permanence. Hiding Hands has your baby guess which hand holds a toy, while Peek-a-Blue reveals a hidden colour, which also helps your baby learn their colours.

Play Memory Games. Place 3-4 objects in front of your child, let them memorise the objects, then remove one and ask which is missing. You can also rearrange the objects and ask them to restore the original order, varying colours and shapes each day.

Children are constantly bombarded with stimulation and need quiet time to think, learn and practise sitting quietly. Set aside 15 to 30 minutes of calm activities like reading, soft music or lying together, keeping talking and singing minimal so they can hear the quiet.