Which Games to Play with My Baby

Patty Cake and Peek A Boo are games all babies love.
Read to him.
We had a little cardboard book called Baby Faces which had babies in different moods - happy, sad, angry, sleeping, etc.
My son loved that book!
Sing to him.
We did Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, The Eeensy Weensy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, etc - many of the songs have hand motions for the kids to follow along with.
A baby doesn't need lessons - they learn by playing with Mom, hearing your voice, watching your face, laughing with a tickle or a tummy flubby.

At 11 months he has a very short attention span 1-2 minutes, at most. This is why Seasme Street was structured the way it was. I haven't watched it in many years. But they always did very short snipits so the lessons would hold a child's attention.

You can surely do things like here is your juice in a red cup, or your lunch is on a plue plate and the plate is round. This teaches color and shape. But peek-a-boo is a fun game, it teaches that mommy can 'disappear' for a few seconds and come back. You can see if he will roll a ball back to you but he may be a little young for that one. You can sing "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, touching his body parts as he hears the word.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8FwBSITW-4

Here's another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71hqRT9U0wg

When you take him outside talk to him about the soft green grass, the pretty flowers, the furry dog.

He's really little yet and his brain is absorbing everything. But he will learn best if you just talk and be discriptive. He may not respond or say it back to you but he will learn.

Mostly enjoy him, before you know it he will be off to Kindergarten, then all of sudden he going to prom and graduating. My baby is 21 and it is hard to believe.

Patty Cake is good. So is Peep-Eye. You can look them up if you don't know them. Giving him manipulatives such as nesting cups, wooden spoons and and nesting bowls is also good. Let him figure out what to do with them. Babies need to explore these things themselves.

Have fun!
Dawn

Another one I like is to sing with the babies with motion... we always did one to 'Row, Row, Row your boat' while holding them on your lap, holding their hands, and "rowing" them back and forth.....

The motion and singing always seemed to be a favorite..... they would start saying "row row" to get us to play it....

See if you can find some little "nursery" songs.... "I'm a little teapot", "eensy weensy spider", things like that... you can always make up motions to go with them.

There are usually several CD's of silly songs (Wee Sing Silly Songs) and you can make up motions to those....

great suggestions from these mamas. I also had some guides to kick start my imagination and ideas one was a book called "Games Babies Play" I picked it up at Barnes & Noble it has different games and things to do by age and even if my kiddos were past that "age" and they liked it, we'd do it. I also received a newsletter that goes up to 24 months called "Growing Family" you can google it and subscribe. They send you a monthly newsletter in the mail and while it looks a little outdated with the clip art, the information and tips and games to stimulate your baby's growth (physical, developmental and social/cognitive) are incredible.
Oh - the other thing you may want to try is a book called Yoga Baby. It is a fun thing for mom and baby to do together, it is just incorporating your baby into basic and gentle yoga stretches and poses and supports the physical bond between mom and baby and it is something that gets your heart pumping a bit:)

There are lots of little songs to sing while you bounce him on your lap. Singing these to him will help him develop language, and he will have fun. Keep labelling everything for him. He is listeneing and learning. Here's a good resource I found http://www.piercecountylibrary.org/files/library/wigglest...
Have fun!

Worry a lot less about his IQ and just have fun with him, when he feels like interacting with you. Give him some space when he seems like he wants you to leave him be. Just play - build a block tower and let him be Godzilla. Snuggle. Blow on his tummy. Read short books to him in silly voices. Be goofy and make him laugh. That is the best way to interact with an infant.

At 11 months old, I would lay off the questioning. Just let him be a kid. Build things and let him knock them over. Read to him. Let him nurture a doll. Take him to a playground and let him play.