Exploring, imagining, creating and play: babies

Play helps babies develop their ability to explore, imagine, and be creative. Between birth and 12 months, your baby will be fascinated by you, by herself and by the world around her. Play ideas to develop baby imagination and creativity include peekaboo, books, treasure boxes, nature walks, messy play and more.

Baby play: why it’s important for imaginative and creative development

Between birth and 12 months, your baby becomes more interested in the world all the time. Play is the main way that babies develop, learn and explore the world.

As babies explore through play, their imaginations develop. And as their imaginations develop, they can experiment with new sounds, sights, objects and activities. They also learn to solve simple problems, and they start being able to understand their own and other people’s feelings.

What to expect as your baby’s imagination develops

Your baby is likely to be fascinated by you. Your face, facial expressions, voice and touch spark his imagination and help him learn.

At the same time, your baby will enjoy looking at pictures in books.

Babies are naturally curious about the environment and are keen to explore, especially once they can crawl. Your baby might look into cupboards, under beds and around the house. When she does this she’s imagining what she might find there and what she can do with whatever she finds.

At 5-6 months, touching and tasting are how your baby explores, which is why he seems to put everything in his mouth.

Around this age, your baby will also enjoy seeing what happens when she bangs things together or uses her voice. From about seven months, she might try to copy you if you make different sounds.

And from about eight months, your baby will start using his imagination to copy what he’s seen you do. Your baby might use a block as a mobile phone or play peekaboo by hiding his face behind a cushion.

Play ideas and creative activities to help your baby’s imagination grow

Here are some indoor play ideas for your baby:

Play peekaboo with objects like scarves or tea towels.
Sit your baby in front of a mirror. Young babies can look at the mirror while lying on their sides or tummies.
Put toys, open books or different objects in front of your baby.
Look at photos of different people and places. Talk to your baby about what he sees.
Read book and share stories or sing nursery rhymes using actions together. For example, do twinkly star fingers while singing ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’.
Listen to different types and styles of music and get your baby involved. You could use a bucket and wooden spoons for a drum. A plastic jar full of uncooked rice can be a shaker – just make sure the lid is on tightly.
Make a treasure box for your baby, full of everyday items and natural objects for your baby to touch and feel.

Here are some outside play ideas for your baby:

Look outdoors for new and interesting natural objects. Let your baby explore them with her senses. She could feel the roughness of a tree trunk or smell a flower.
Go for a nature walk in your own yard, or (if you can) at a playground or beach--anywhere there are different things to see, hear and feel. Even a city street has nature. Look for grass growing in pavement cracks!
Give your baby tummy time on a mat outdoors. This lets your baby see the world in a new way.
Try messy play using sand, mud, clay, playdough or paints. Just make sure these materials are non-toxic, and that you supervise carefully, because your baby’s fingers are likely to end up in his mouth at some stage.

Open-ended play
Open-ended play is good for your baby’s imagination. Blocks, including homemade blocks from milk cartons or plastic containers, are great for open-ended play. Your baby can use them for all sorts of things--banging, building, piling up. As she gets older, she'll pretend: block can be a car, a phone, and much more.