Play ideas for your 6 month old

Your 6 month old may well now be showing developments in these areas:

Physical
Able to sit up with only a little support 

Cognitive
Starting to look around for a toy or cup they drop

Social and emotional
They will love interacting with you such as playing peek-a-boo or pat-a-cake

With this in mind you may also notice your little one can bang a toy and shout at the same time and they are participating in activities around them.

Games and toys that will help them learn even more:

Reaction toys

Noisy, light up toys will be a winner with your baby now. Show your little one some of the toy's features, like which button to press to get the toy to light up.

As you and your baby play, encourage them to do it themselves like how to make the music start. They will have great fun doing it over and over.

Stacking toys

Talk to your little one explaining as you show them what to do. Show and tell them as you demonstrate how to use the stacking toys. This is a great opportunity to introduce new words and descriptions, like big and small, or red and green. It can help to reinforce understanding of cause and effect such as what colour? Help your little one make connections between words and concepts by talking about colours: “That's the small red cup.”

Toys to help crawling

Active games help to encourage the gross motor skills. It’s natural for a baby when they press their feet on a solid surface, they stretch their legs, known as a “walking reflex,” and you can play this with your baby to encourage crawling.

What you need to do:

• Place your baby on their tummy
• Place an eye-catching toy a few inches from their head and make them aware of it
• Press your legs or hands pressed against your baby’s feet
• Let them push against the pressure, which will help them move forward
• After a bit move the toy further and push against their feet until they move again
• Roll or slide a toy back and forth across the floor to each other. Great for baby's eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity.

Introduction to early role play

Introduce your baby to different sounds, for example call the phone or ring the doorbell. Talk to your baby about what each sound means, for example, “There’s someone at the door.”

To help them become aware of cause-and-effect let your little one turn on the tap for example and then off again so they learn how they can make water run and how to make it stop.