Games for babies aged 16 to 18 months

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We’re nearing a year and a half of life and your child is getting more and more independent. They start wanting to do things for themselves, such as getting dressed or eating, even if they don't yet have the skills to do so. They want to do things like mummy and daddy and they will imitate you as a way of learning. They will use more and more words but they are still not able to construct full sentences, although they can understand simple instructions. Below are some suggestions for a few fun games that you can play with them. Remember that their attention span is very short and they will soon want to do something different. However, you only need to play for a short time each day to improve their attention span and ability to concentrate.

Muñeco bebé de tela

PLAYING WITH DOLLS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS

What do you need?  A doll with well-defined body parts like MY FIRST BABYBEBÉ.

Playing with dolls for boys and girls is how they begin to play games of “what if…”. Start to play with your baby as if you were feeding them with a plate and spoon. They may begin to do it themselves and then feed their doll. You can also pretend to bathe them or take them to the doctor. Another way to have fun playing with dolls with your kids is to name the parts of the body: “Maria, where’s dolly’s nose?” “Very good! And where’s your nose?” “Now show me where her tummy is” and so on until your child learns the parts of the body and can name them (in their own way) on their own body and others.

FIRST COMPOSITIONS

What do you need? A set of pegs to insert like Fantacolor KicoNico.

Place the board on a flat surface (when they are a little older you can use an easel), take out all the pieces and tell your little one how to press them in so they click into place. Although it may be a few more months until the baby can recognise colours, say the name of the colour of each piece so they begin to learn them. Focus on one colour each day to make it easier. “Look Valerie, this piece is red, just like this flower” or “Look at this heart; it’s red so we’ll put in a red piece”. At first don’t put a template on the board so they can put the pegs wherever they want. Then later you can use templates so they can make different figures.

Bebé bailando

A PERFECT DAY

What do you need?  A song that includes actions to perform while you sing.

Now your baby can stand up and react when they hear music, so choose a song with words and actions and sing it while you dance and perform the actions. Your baby will probably clap their hands and move around to the sound of the music. Make exaggerated gestures so they will see them clearly and copy them. You’ll notice that after a while, simply by listening to the music, they will begin to recognise it and perform the actions by themselves. Dancing for a few minutes every day helps put them in a good mood and these special shared moments will become the best time of the day for the whole family.

Juego para el baño del bebé

FILL, EMPTY AND TRANSFER

What do you need? Some different-sized containers that can go in water like those in Flow N Fill Spout.

This is a game for playing at one of their favourite moments: bath time. Show them how to fill the containers with water, how to empty them and how to transfer the liquid from one container to another. Then give them the containers so they can experiment with water and discover that the contents of the big container will not fit in the smaller one, and that this is not the case the other way round, and they will improve their manual dexterity by transferring the contents from one to the other. They’ll love it!