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Child & Teen Health
Want your child to grow up healthy, happy, smart, capable, and resilient? Play with them. Infants and toddlers thrive on playful games that change as they grow.
More than a million new nerve connections are made in the brain in the first few years of life. And pruning of these neural connections makes them more efficient. These processes literally build the brain and help guide how it functions for the rest of that child’s life. While biology — particularly genetics — affects this, so does a child’s environment and experiences.
Babies and children thrive with responsive caregiving. Serve and return, a term used by the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, describes this well: back-and-forth interactions, in which the child and caregiver react to and interact with each other in a loving, nurturing way, are the building blocks of a healthy brain and a happy child, who will have a better chance of growing into a healthy, happy, competent, and successful adult.
Play is one of the best ways to do responsive caregiving. To maximize the benefits of play:
The Center for the Developing Child has some great ideas and handouts for parents about specific games to play with their children at different ages.
6-month-olds and 9-month-olds are learning imitation and other building blocks of language. They are also starting to learn movement and explore the world around them.
Here are some play ideas for this age group:
Between 12 months and 18 months, young toddlers are gaining more language and movement skills, and love to imitate. You can:
Older toddlers, who are 2 or 3 years old, are able to do more complicated versions of these games. They can do matching, sorting, and counting games, as well as imitation and movement games like “follow the leader” (you can get quite creative and silly with that one).
As much as you can, give yourself over to play and have fun. Work and chores can wait, or you can actually involve young children in chores, making that more fun for both of you. Checking social media can definitely wait.
Playing with your child is an investment in your child’s future — and a great way to build your relationship and make both of you happy.
Claire McCarthy, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
Mind & Mood
Mind & Mood
Mind & Mood
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