Today’s article will divide the behavior of babies before the age of 2 into three stages, with specific game introductions for each stage. I believe it will be helpful for everyone.
Newborn to 6 months
The leap in development during this stage is simply astonishing—whether it’s lifting their head, grasping objects, or rolling over, every milestone brings us joy. Of course, this is also a perfect time to stimulate your baby’s potential and maximize brain development.
I’m sure many new moms, just like I was back then, are still overwhelmed with feeding, soothing to sleep, and changing diapers, feeling like there’s no time to rest, let alone play with the baby. But moms, don’t put too much pressure on yourselves—even just one minute of playtime with your baby is enough. You can play with them right after they’ve eaten or woken up, which is the best time for games. Of course, you can also use any other spare moment, like making silly faces at your baby while waiting in line at the store—this kind of stimulation also helps promote development.
Recommended games
1. Silly Face Game
Game props: Just your expressive face
Babies can imitate facial expressions from birth, so you can stare at them and make silly faces from about 20–25 cm away—the optimal distance for clear visibility.
Stick out your tongue, open your mouth wide, squeeze your eyes shut—do it slowly, do it exaggeratedly, the more exaggerated the better. This gives your baby plenty of time to respond.
By six months, your baby will be able to skillfully imitate your facial expressions. Spend some time smiling at your baby, and slowly they’ll respond with their angelic, heartwarming smile. One thing to note: at this stage, babies like bright and black-and-white objects, so avoid wearing black-and-white clothes or sitting in bright areas while playing, as this may distract them.
Advantages of this game
√ Promotes parent-child bonding. Making silly faces isn’t just a great way to bond with your baby, and when your tiny tot responds to you, the feeling of delight is like having magic powers.
√ Helps your baby focus attention while practicing their vision. Every small movement they make while concentrating on you strengthens their eye muscles.
√ Encourages communication. When your baby looks at your face and imitates your expressions, it shows they’re learning social interaction and becoming more sensitive to social cues. The more expressive we are, the more facial changes they observe. By closely watching our facial expressions and ways of communicating, they help themselves learn language.
2. Free Touching
Game props: A variety of fabric scraps, touch-and-feel books for babies, clothes made of different materials
Babies are born with excellent tactile senses, so parents should definitely take full advantage of this gift—gather a variety of different fabrics such as satin, velvet, cotton, gauze, wool, faux fur, leather, etc. (scraps are fine, no need for large pieces). Gently touch your baby’s little hands and cheeks with these fabrics, or let them grab them. As your baby grows, they’ll be able to grab the fabrics themselves and might even put them in their mouths, so prepare safe and washable materials.
Advantages
√ Encourages exploration of the world. The part of the brain called the parietal lobe controls people’s sense of touch, taste, and ability to recognize objects. Typically, babies aren’t ready to try different tastes until around 6 months, but letting them touch various textures is a great way to boost the development of the parietal lobe at this stage.
√ Increases hand sensitivity. They’ll learn to distinguish the feel of different fabrics and gradually tell apart soft vs. hard, smooth vs. rough.
√ Enhances hand-eye coordination. Babies need quite a few skills to judge distances and accurately reach for their target objects.
3. Lifting Baby High
Game props: Dad
Starting around 4 months, as long as it’s safe, you can help your baby do some vigorous lifting or tumbling movements—and that’s when Dad’s role in playtime officially begins. Your baby has done a lot of head-lifting practice during Tummy Time, and once their head control is good, you can let them bounce on your knees, toss them in the air, hold them over the fridge, or even sing the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…” and then suddenly lower them as if they’ve taken a big tumble.
The last time I visited my friend’s house, I saw her husband playing airplane with their baby. “Pilot ready”—baby stands up straight; “Landing gear ready”—Dad bends his knees, placing his feet against the baby’s hips; “The plane is taking off”—Dad extends his arms to support the baby’s shoulders; and he even vividly adds “turbulence”—gently rocking the baby side to side. The baby laughed so hard drool landed all over Dad’s face.
Advantages
√ Supports social development. From a very young age, babies can notice the difference in how Mom and Dad interact with them. Dad’s play style tends to be more physical and energetic, while Mom’s is quieter and gentler, helping babies recognize the differences between men and women.
√ Enhances parent-child bonding and cooperation. The games involve lots of physical contact, bringing more joy to both parents and baby.
√ Helps develop the vestibular system. The vestibular system is the part of the brain that controls balance. Once it is fully developed, we can jump up and down and know that it is us who is moving, not the surrounding environment. Babies love swinging and swaying back and forth, and some experts point out that this is a natural way to help develop the vestibular system.
How can you tell if your baby enjoys this game?
Just a few weeks after birth, babies can open their eyes wide or kick their legs to show their joy. After six weeks, babies begin to smile, and when they stare at you and smile, you can be sure they enjoy playing with you. If they turn their head away or avoid eye contact, it means they are tired or the playtime is too long. Signals that a baby wants to stop playing are more obvious, such as crying or yawning. When we see these signs, we should stop the game immediately. If a baby pouts or their lips tremble, it indicates they are scared and may start crying soon, which is another sign to stop playing.
For babies around 6 to 12 months oldBabies who are already six months old can laugh and grab toys, and there is also a significant leap in head control. They will soon be able to sit up, and as their field of vision expands, they will become increasingly curious about the world.
Babies at this stage have two main characteristics:
Once they discover they can move, they start moving by rolling over and gradually learn to crawl, so moms should choose some games that encourage the baby to move more and build up strength for real mobility.
They will sleep less than before and prefer to play, but it is recommended that moms let them be natural. If the baby seems fussy due to physical discomfort like teething, we can hold them more, keep them company, or choose quieter and gentler games.
Because they are developing at an incredible speed, our choice of games should also gradually shift from simple verbal interaction and tummy time practice to games like peek-a-boo or roly-poly that match the baby’s developmental needs.
Recommended Games
1. Let’s Play the Roly-Poly Game
Game props: Soft-surfaced objects; several toys
“As the saying goes, 'Three rolls, six sits, seven crawls.'” At six months old, babies can gradually start practicing sitting. At this time, we can play the roly-poly game with them. They might sit up and curl into a little ball, or they might roll to one side while sitting. Even if they roll from side to side, there’s no need to worry—just stay with them. Of course, rolling around with your baby is also a lot of fun. This game gets the baby moving, especially when they start to learn how to control direction. Parents can also encourage rolling by waving a toy in the direction the baby is leaning, or to motivate them to sit up and reach for it.
Benefits
√ Learn weight shifting. The baby can learn to shift their weight from one side to the other, a skill also essential for learning to crawl.
√ Help strengthen muscle power. Sitting up or rolling requires the use of abdominal muscles, neck muscles, and arm muscles, and strengthening these also aids crawling.
√ Increase entertainment. The baby will have fun from the game. The sensation of moving their whole body by themselves is exciting, and seeing the world from a different angle makes everything more playful and fun.
2. Let’s Roll the Ball
Game toys: Soft beach balls, newspaper balls, etc.
Around six months of age, babies can grab moving objects because they already have the ability to judge the speed and direction of movement. Once they can sit up on their own (usually starting at seven or eight months), they can play games while sitting. In this position, the baby can easily roll the ball to you. They can also pat the ball and control its rolling direction. As they gradually learn to crawl, they will enjoy chasing the ball even more.
Benefits
√ Improve hand-eye coordination. At six months, babies move more skillfully, and hitting a moving ball requires fairly precise hand-eye coordination.
√ Teach the baby the ability to anticipate. As they learn to move, they can accurately judge when the ball will arrive. When they know you are going to roll the ball to them, they get very excited and also learn to anticipate what will happen.
√ Improve balance. When the baby can sit, they will twist to catch the ball, which helps develop their sense of balance. Additionally, when they reach out their hands to catch the ball, it shows their balancing ability well because they can’t use their hands to support themselves—it's an important milestone in a baby’s development to be able to sit firmly on the floor without using their hands.
√ Help with crawling and encourage movement.
3. Toy Storage Box
Game toys: A medium-sized hard box, various safe toys or household items
Starting around nine months, babies love putting objects into boxes and then taking them out. At this time, they are still in the oral stage and their fine motor skills in their hands also need exercise. You can give them a box filled with all kinds of safe household items they can put in their mouth for free exploration. Talk to them about all the different items in the box, encourage them to explore, and let them set their own pace. Parents don’t need to constantly help the baby explore the box of items—it’s best to let them play alone.
Benefits
√ Promote language development. As they explore, they will hear you name various items and enhance their understanding.
√ Increases flexibility. For babies, putting items in or taking them out requires certain skills, combining fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
√ Encouraging your baby to explore and investigate the world helps develop their curiosity.
√ Enhances independence. It's very important for a baby to learn how to play alone, as this helps them become more independent in the future.
12–24 months: Toddlers learning to walkBabies aged 1–2 will reach milestones such as walking and talking. I’ve specially selected some fun games for moms to help improve your baby’s vocabulary, teach them to better control their lips, tongue, and soft palate, and also include games that let them practice standing and walking through exploration.
Recommended Games
1. Blowing Bubbles
Materials: A bowl of bubble solution, a wire loop
Parents can blow bubbles using a straw—the slower and steadier you blow, the bigger the bubbles. When it’s the baby’s turn, teach them to blow slowly to make larger bubbles. You can also use a wire hanger to create even bigger bubbles.
TipsHow to Make Homemade Bubble Solution
2 tablespoons concentrated hand soap + 1 cup water + 1 tablespoon glycerin
(Makes bubbles more stable and longer-lasting)
2 tablespoons concentrated hand soap + 1 cup water + 1.5 tablespoons glycerin
(Produces even bigger bubbles)
For better results, let the bubble solution sit overnight to mix thoroughly (remember to cover it!)
Benefits
√ Helps develop muscle control needed for speech. Blowing bubbles aids in lip control and teaches babies how to pout their lips. Sounds like “u” and “sh” require puckering the lips just like when blowing bubbles. Babies may initially blow hard, but successfully creating bubbles requires gentle blowing and stronger muscle control.
√ Has a soothing effect. Blowing bubbles can quickly calm a tantrum-throwing toddler. The act of blowing is essentially a deep breath, which helps regulate emotions.
√ Helps expand vocabulary and improve math skills. You can count bubbles with your baby, talk about high and low bubbles, big and small bubbles, rising and falling bubbles. This introduces math and science concepts in a fun way—gravity, comparing sizes, and object positions.
√ Sparks a sense of humor. If you try to catch a bubble and pretend to be sad when it pops (with dramatic, suggestive crying), your baby will find it funny. This teaches them to laugh even when things don’t go as planned, preparing them for life ahead.
2. Lipstick Art
Materials: A tube of lipstick, colored paper
Apply safe, plant-based lipstick on your baby’s lips—start by practicing on scrap paper. Put lipstick on your own lips, then press them onto the paper to make a print, then let your baby do the same. Teach them to create different mouth shapes: the lips for saying “oh,” “ee,” or even closed lips for “ma.” Once they understand the prints, let them kiss bright-colored paper for free creative expression. You can also vary the game by kissing steamy mirrors or windows—or teach them to finger-paint on glass. Gradually, they’ll take great interest in doodling and making imprints.
Benefits
√ Controls drooling. Good lip control helps babies manage drool. Don’t worry if your baby drools a lot—it just means they have active saliva production.
√ Supports language development. Encouraging your baby to kiss teaches them to pout their lips forward. Making different lip-print shapes on cards helps babies move and control their lips quickly, which is crucial for language growth.
√ Sparks creativity. Before age two, babies aren’t yet able to draw recognizable pictures or control pencils and brushes well—but they can control their lips to make drawings, which gives them a sense of achievement and boosts their creativity.
3. Obstacle Course Crawl
Materials: A sofa, some fruit
The average age for babies to start walking is around 15 months. But before they walk, they’ll spend a lot of time crawling around—often sideways, holding onto furniture to keep balance. This is an important stage in preparing for walking, and you can encourage them to stand and walk by setting up a crawling obstacle course. Place non-breakable fruits like lemons or oranges on the sofa—their bright colors will attract the baby. In fact, you can place all sorts of interesting objects along the edge of chairs for your baby to explore and discover.
Advantages
√ Prepares babies for walking. Wandering helps babies maintain balance, which is an essential step in learning to walk. It also enhances the development of hip muscles that support walking on their own two feet. This gives them strength and confidence, eventually allowing them to walk independently without needing a chair.
√ Encourages independence. Obstacle course wandering can motivate babies to practice walking skills on their own.
√ Sparks curiosity and exploration. Stimulating a baby’s curiosity is also an important step in helping them understand the world.
Additionally, at this stage, babies begin to enjoy imitating their parents’ daily routines or mimicking scenarios they commonly observe. Therefore, playing role-playing or pretend games—whether for boys or girls—is something they’ll really enjoy.
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In summary:
Babies aged 0–2 still prefer playing with their parents compared to other age groups, as they are too young to fully engage in social interactive play. So as always, for children, perhaps it's not so much about what they’re playing, but who they’re playing with.