Festive things to do this Christmas

• Give everyone a tea cloth, napkin or piece of kitchen roll.
• Choose a small object that the baby recognises (this might be a tree decoration or favourite toy, but be careful of anything the baby could choke on).
• One person should hide the toy under their napkin without the baby seeing who has it. Go around the group saying ‘Where is it?’ or ‘Has (insert name here) got it?’.
• The family member named lifts their cloth to show if they have the object or not. If not, they say ‘no, not here’.
• Encourage your baby to point to whose cloth they want to lift next.
• With each person, ask ‘Has mummy got it? or ‘Has Uncle David got it?’.
• When you find the toy, say ‘There it is’ and everyone claps.
• See if your baby would like to play again with a different person hiding the object.
• Try to make your voice as animated as possible to keep your baby’s interest.

This game is great for building looking and listening skills and teaches object permanence, that objects can still exist even when they are out of sight, a key skill in babies’ development.

• Play some music (any music will do but Christmas tunes are great for this).
• Everyone wriggles and dances about to the music in their chairs (or around the room if you have finished dinner).
• Encourage your baby to wave their hands or clap if they can.
• One person is in charge of turning the music off and says ‘stop’.
• When the music stops everyone must stay very still.
• The person in charge then says ‘go’ and turns the music back on.

Babies love to watch you dancing and having fun and will learn to listen for stop-and-go commands. This game is great for developing early listening skills. Older brothers and sisters will enjoy being in charge of the music too!

• Get a hat or selection of hats, you could use the hats out of crackers for this if you like.
• Pass the hat around the group and sing (to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down): ‘Pass the hat around and round, Round and round, Round and round, Pass the hat around and round, Whose turn is it?’.
• When the singing stops the person who is holding the hat puts it on and pulls a funny face at the baby.
• If you have enough hats each person gets to keep the hat on when it lands on them until eventually everyone is wearing hats including the baby.

This game helps the baby learn to listen and anticipate what’s coming next, as well as look out for faces. Babies love looking at faces. They find faces fascinating and learning about faces helps babies to make brain connections and bond with those around them.

• Sit in a circle close enough to reach the person next to you. Each person takes turns to offer their finger to the person next to them. If it is just you and baby this will still work too.
• Ask them to hold your finger. When they do, pull a funny face like sticking your tongue out or making a raspberry sound. When they let go, stop. Then it’s their turn with the next person along.
• One person will play with the baby. It can be nice if there’s an older child who can play with the baby to help them to bond together.
• See how many different funny faces and sounds you can make and who can make the family laugh the most.

Did you know that babies are short-sighted when they're first born? This means that they struggle to hold their attention on things that are happening too far from their face. This game is great for developing early attention and listening skills as well as encouraging your baby to look at faces.

• Give everyone something that can make a sound. This could be a wooden spoon, a rattle, a spoon and tin drum, or crinkly wrapping paper.
• Sing your favourite Christmas songs together and play your ‘instruments’ as you sing.
• Get all the family to choose their favourite songs.
• Encourage baby to play along too. They might need help at first but will soon learn to bang or rattle along with the music.

Making sounds with simple ‘instruments’ is good for both children’s motor skills as well as their sense of rhythm, which can help with their language skills too.