first steps

and words

As your baby’s first birthday approaches,
you’ll start to see some major developmental
milestones. Here’s how play can help to
encourage those first steps and words
As your baby builds up to saying
her first words, encourage her
by talking to her constantly. The
name game, where you
repeatedly point at something
and say its name, is good for
developing her verbal skills.
Your baby loves playing with you,
and you’re her favourite person to
copy. Just as you read to her and
point out things in books, she’ll
enjoy doing the same for you. So
sit down regularly for baby story
time – with her as the narrator. It
all helps her build confidence
and learn to form words.
Baby and toddler groups
are a great way to build up
your little one’s social
skills. Her emotions are
developing, so it’s never
too early to get her used to
playing with other children!
As your baby’s fine motor skills
develop and she gets to grips
with holding things, she’ll also
start to explore the opposite –
dropping, and even throwing.
Turn it into a game with some
soft balls or cubes.
Water will be a source of
endless fascination for your
little one, and pouring helps to
develop her understanding of
cause and effect. Give her
plenty of toys to play with in the
bath – cups, sponges and
boats with holes for sprinkling.
Your baby may now be making
‘ma-ma’ and ‘da-da’ sounds –
and you can encourage her
language development by
talking to her whenever you
make eye contact. Engage with
your baby at every opportunity –
as well as helping you bond, it
encourages early talking skills.

Sunshine Garden
Alphabet Cubes
Your little one will be learning to
crawl forwards and backwards,
as well as turning around while
seated and getting up into a
sitting position from lying down.
Physical play is a great way to
encourage her to move, and build
strength and confidence – so get
down on the floor with her and
enjoy yourselves!
This is the age where
babies do lots of crawling –
and you’ll be amazed how
quickly she can move!
She’ll be pulling herself up
to stand soon, so
encourage her with an
activity centre.
Babies love to see things built
up and knocked down, so
invest in a set of stacking
cups, blocks or rings – they’ll
help her to learn about differ-
ent sizes, too.

ELC activity
triangle

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