Wiggle Little Fingers
At this stage of life, your baby is discovering his fingers and hands. His hand-eye coordination is becoming accurate, and his grip is improving. Your baby is interested in his fingers and hands and enjoys looking at them.
A way to stimulate your baby’s fingers and palms is with finger games. The finger game below is a perfect activity. It combines two skills—movement and speech—in an entertaining way.
“Wiggle Fingers”
Wiggle fingers,
Wiggle so,
Wiggle high,
Wiggle low.
Wiggle left,
Wiggle right.
Wiggle fingers out of sight!
Peek-a-Boo Games
Did you know that playing the game peek-a-boo is a fun way to contribute to the process of your baby’s development? Does your baby giggle and find it amusing when he sees quick appearances and disappearances? That’s because by the time your baby reaches the six-month mark, he is learning the concept of object permanence. Object permanence means that something still exists even if it can’t be seen. Hiding behind your hands or underneath a blanket helps your baby realize that you really are there–even when he can’t see you. This is a significant milestone in your baby’s development. Below are three different peek-a-boo games you can play with your baby.
- Find a comfortable space for you and your baby to sit down. Place your hands over both your eyes. Slowly start taking your hands away and then let them fly off. Smile and say, “Peek-a-boo!” or “Boo!” in a playful voice. Repeat these steps again and again. Then teach your baby to play!
- With your baby sitting or lying down, take a small blanket or a towel and place it lightly in front of your baby’s face. Gently remove it and say, “peek-a-boo” or “boo.” Now it is your turn. Place the small blanket or towel in front of your face and pull it away and say, “peek-a-boo” or “boo.”
- You can even play peek-a-boo with your baby’s favorite toy. Hide the toy underneath a blanket or towel. Quickly pull it off and say, “peek-a-boo” or “boo.” After playing this several times, your baby will start trying to lift the blanket on his own to see if it is still there!