| By six months of age your baby may be sitting | | | | and some later. During this age, your baby will be |
| unassisted, her coordination skills are growing in leaps | | | | developing a number of new large muscles as well as |
| and bounds, and she will soon be crawling, standing, | | | | her fine motor skills. She will know how to hold her |
| and then walking. Six to twelve months is a fun time | | | | toys and can probably throw them. These |
| for parents and babies. Play a variety of games with | | | | soon-to-be toddlers also love to imitate and copy the |
| your little one and watch her quickly master new | | | | things they see. |
| skills, like language skills and fine and gross motor | | | | Play sound games with your baby. Make a sound or |
| development. | | | | unusual noise and encourage your baby to copy it. |
| Between 6 and 9 months your baby will love to | | | | Try this with funny faces and movements for even |
| experiment with simple cause and effect relationships | | | | more fun. Stacking and arranging blocks, cups, or |
| like pressing a button to play a song. Little ones also | | | | other toys is also a fun game to enhance fine motor |
| love to explore sounds by banging spoons and toys | | | | development. Give your baby an assortment of toys |
| together or on the table at this age. Give your baby | | | | and a big box and watch her meticulously put them in |
| an assortment of pots, coffee cans, and containers | | | | and then dump them again all over the floor. |
| along with wooden spoons and metal spoons. | | | | Sing lots of silly songs with your child and read |
| Encourage her to play the drums as you sing along. | | | | everyday. Language skills are becoming quite strong |
| The Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Toy Bench is a | | | | during this stage and her vocabulary of understood |
| great toy to satisfy those banging urges. It also | | | | words is growing rapidly. Repetition of her favorite |
| offers a number of educational benefits, like color | | | | story books, nursery rhymes, and songs can give her |
| and letter recognition, and provides opportunities for | | | | an even better understanding of the common |
| your baby to explore cause and effect. | | | | patterns of spoken language. Songs with |
| Games with balls are a lot of fun at this age. Use | | | | movements, like the Itsy Bitsy Spider, are favorites |
| soft, squishy balls to roll back and forth across the | | | | at this age. |
| floor with your baby. Try dropping beanbags into a | | | | As your baby begins to cruise around the house, |
| wide, open container. Your little one will love taking | | | | typically using furniture to aid her balance, play |
| them out just as much as watching you toss them in. | | | | walking games. Hold her teddy bear or another |
| Once your baby starts to crawl, set up an obstacle | | | | cherished toy a few steps away and encourage your |
| course for her to crawl over. Pillows, large stuffed | | | | little one to walk to you to get it. Remember to |
| animals, and piles of soft cloth scraps make perfect | | | | praise her efforts and not to make too big of a deal |
| climbing obstacles to boost her crawling skills and | | | | when she stumbles or falls. Once your baby becomes |
| strengthen the muscles she will soon use to walk. | | | | a confident toddler, there are tons of new games to |
| Sometime between 9 months old and the first | | | | enjoy together! |
| birthday, most babies will begin to walk, some earlier | | | | |