Your Baby’s Brain

• Talking to your baby helps her learn to speak. You can tell her the names of her body parts. You should repeat things. She will learn new words even before she can speak. A good time for this is bath time. You can talk about washing her leg, her foot and her toes.
• Point to objects that are near and describe them for her. You can point to her rubber ducky and say, “See the yellow ducky.” You can point to her blanket and say, “Grandma loves you. She made this special blanket just for you.”
• Talk about your activities as you do them. As you prepare to go outside, you can say, “Let’s go get in the car. We’ll go to the store for more diapers.” If you’re wiping her face, you can say, “Let’s wipe your face clean. No more stickiness! Doesn’t that feel better?”
• Play finger games or hand games with her. When your baby does something you like, move your fingers or hands. You can wiggle your fingers whenever she smiles. Or you can rub her tummy whenever she grabs her feet. Soon she will learn that when she does something it makes you do something too.
• Hide objects under a blanket. Act surprised and delighted when your baby finds them.
• Put pillows or soft blocks down on the floor. Your baby can crawl to them. She can crawl all over them.
• Give her toys and games that help her learn. Give her balls, blocks, nesting toys, busy boxes and rattles. She also likes toys that she can pull apart and put back together. Talk to her about the names of the toy and what the toy is doing.

See how much fun it is to help your baby’s brain develop. This is a good time to enjoy each other. And remember, each child develops in her own special way.

This content has been provided freely by CMC. Click Healthy Start, Grow Smart—Your-Eight-Month-Old for your free download. Click GreatDad Free Ebook to download the entire Health Start, Grow Smart series.

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