Games for babies and toddlers

[Uhu]

Hello everybody

My twin ds are nearly 6 months old and I like to play games with them like singing "Row row row the boat" with the rowing actions. I was wondering what imaginative games other parents play with their babies or toddlers that do not require a large array of props and that can be done anywhere at the spur of the moment.

TIA

dd's favourites are row row row your boat, incy wincy spider, old mcdonald and peek a boo which I have been doing with her since she was only a few months old. Now that shes 20months she recognises them and can say row row row, eieio and can hide herself to do peek a boo. Even when we were at tumble tots she sat in the middle of the circle during song time and was showing off by rocking forwards and back by her self

we our ds's were younger my dh and i used to swing them to and fro with a blanket/hammock and sing to them, they also loved bath play and large fabric ball. if interested in montessori method you could get an old bag and fill it with natural materials like leaves, feathers, clear containers filled with dried pasta/lentils/water (lid tightly on!), sea shells, large pebbles, hairbrush, fir cones, old keys on a key ring, large conkers on a string etc. they love textures/sounds at this age. some of the materials would have to be under supervision though

Uhu, I too have ds twins (28 months.) They loved tummy raspberries at that age, they now give each other them and fall about in gales of laughter! Also smelly feet, where you lie them on their backs, sit in front of them, take a sweet little foot each, put it to your nose and then go "peee-uuuuw" and wiggle the foot to the side. Round-and-round-the-garden and This-little-piggy.

Simple but very effective! They still enjoy all those games.

Also, put on some music, any type, sit one up while you dance around with the other and then swap. I found that by doing that then they seem to understand they have to take turns now, without me having to force the issue.

take a foot in each hand that should read!

peep bo, is my ds favourite and has bin since he was around 5 months, now at 14 months he puts things up to his face and pulls them down again squeeling with delight

i also do that smell their foot thing with dd that paula71 suggested. dd laughs at it everytime, especially now that shes older and Ill be a bit more dramtic and pretend I fainted. She'll end up climbing over me and tapping my face to wake me up. Shes so cute

If there's two of you around we play hide and seek alot which my dd thinks is hilarious. So my dh holds dd and says 'where's mummy?'. Meanwhile I'm hiding behind a door and we both look round at the same time, see each other - she squeals with delight and then we both run off and hide again...before starting the whole 'where's mummy thing again. We've been doing this for ages - so now at 11 months - she literally pulls against the door frames to try and look around them...

Aah bless @ all of these ...
Uhu, my DD is 6 months old and she loves raspberries on her tummy and especially on her neck - she has a real belly laugh when we do this. She loves round and round the garden, row row your boat (don't forget the 'If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream' bit ... she loves that best!), Peekaboo. She loves to look at herself in the mirror ... has no idea that it is her own reflection and when I hold her in front of the mirror she smiles at my reflection and then turns to look at me with a puzzled look on her face ... sooo sweet!
Oh ... and 'Flying Baby' ... she loves that ... DH holds her horizontally in the air with one hand under her chest and the other under her thighs and 'flies' her around the room ... with all accompanying noises like 'neeeeeooooowwww!' They spend a considerable amount of time chasing DS (nearly 5) around the house and he screeches "Aaaaagggghhhh, Heeeeelllllpppp ... it's the monster flying baby!" at the top of his voice. Eventually DS will be cornered and DD just dissolves into giggles!!!

my dd is 2.5 years and we played hide & seek this morning. it was great fun and she was so pleased with herself when she found me ..... although our house felt it was going to fall down with the amount of running & jumping she did ....

One game we love, although it needs a few props and more than one person to play (we do it with dh, ds and me for dd) is Baby Bingo. Each person gets two or three small toys and then the "caller" just shouts out the name of the toys and the person who has it yells BINGO! So I say "Squeaky lion?" and ds shouts out Bingo and hold the toy up For some reason it makes babies laugh their head off. I got it from a book that I was given called 100 ways to make a baby laugh.

Thanks everybody, my dh and I will definitely be trying all of your suggestions. I really do love it when they laugh so we are looking forward to many fun filled hours!

Paula 71, if you do not mind me asking, around what age did your twin ds start to notice each other and play together?

Thanks Uhu

Uhu, from the first day we had them in the same cot (until 8 months old when they tried pushing each other through the bars!) so they were always aware of each other, at about the age your two are they occasionally seemed to think they were both the same person! Part of each other. Mine realised at about 18 months not everyone comes in sets of two!

Tbh I would sit them up beside each other, at about 5-6 months and they would giggle at each other and try and grab each other. By the time they were 9 months they were very much a team, pulling each other up to hold onto furniture etc. Ds twin1 always looked out for ds twin2. I have a cute photo of them lying on their tummies, aged about 6 months and ds twin1 is trying to hug ds twin2 who is trying to escape! Very much the older brother although that was only 'cause he was fished out first .

There are a lot of twin mums on here so it might be worth putting something in the Multiple Births section as I have always gotten loads of advice on their and it is great hearing of other twin (and triplet) mums!

I loved playing with them at that age as there wasn't nearly so many fights over toys! Now, the problem is they don't really want other playmates, they are seen as an interesting diversion for a while then it is like go away I am playing with my brother! Even with children they have always known. I love they are so close but it is like an exclusive club sometimes!

At 6 months, my little boy loved having torn up bits of tissues twisted and placed between each toe and then he and I would pull them out and it made him laugh so much. Nice, cheap basic fun!

we discovered clipping and unclipping clothes pegs to bits of DS (24 months) clothes when putting the washing out one day--he loves it and giggles his head off when i pin lots of them to me for him to pull off. also beginning to get pillow fights with small cushions and cover the floor with duvets/ cushions to jump on from sofa. 6 months may be bit small but they could still be bounced in turn.

DS 2.6 has loved the foot phone game since he was a baby. You take one foot and pretend to dial a number , then put foot to your ear/mouth and say 'can i speak to ....childs name' has him on the floor with laughter. As he got older would put foot to own ear and say hello. Has everyone else in stitches too. (especially on the tube

When on holiday last week I accidentally discovered a game with ds (one year old today). I used a muslin square to swat a fly which was annoying me buzzing round the room. He laughed hysterically, so I just kept on waving the muslin round in a 'swatting' motion. He kept on laughing and this continued for at least 10 minutes. I was fed up long before he was. I've done it several times since and he just laughs and laughs