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Make Learning Fun
Developmental Games for Baby
By Megan L. Fowler
At 15 your child is spending most of his time hanging out with his buddies, pining over his driver's permit and deliberating how to ask the new girl in class to the local paint ball course. When he's 10, dirt bike posters and adventure books cover his walls, while saving his allowance for a pair of those "cool" jeans is top priority. At 5, the baby yellow paint is still up in his bedroom, his kindergarten class picture is hung in a silver frame above the window, and coloring books, toy trucks and Lego cities are strewn across the soft carpet floor.
But today he's only 11 months old, and the years ahead will be full of adventure, excitement and inevitably some tears. So what can you do to prepare for the days ahead? How can you make sure he develops enough socially to interact with the kids in preschool while at the same time climb trees and run the diamond during his kickball tournament?
We know what you're thinking: "There's still plenty of time for all of that, and he's only just beginning to walk." But now is the time to get his not-so-little-anymore body moving, to widen his eyes to the world around him and to turn those little words like "truck" and "ma-ma" into more.
"At 11 months your child is cruising," says Kathy Erle, director of program development for Gymboree Play & Music on the West Coast. "They are pulling themselves up and getting ready to walk and toddle around. Cognitively they understand words and are able to express themselves through simple words and gesturing." Incorporating simple games into everyday activities are important at this stage and can significantly increase motor and social development.
"We are in [an era] of studying a 'whole child approach,'" says Susan Goodwyn, co-author of Baby Signs and Baby Minds
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