Baby's Play And Toys - Aged 9-12 Months

Playtimes are now very busy. Your baby will be crawling, pulling to stand up and walking around supporting themselves with the furniture. It may be a few more months before they actually walk independently, so don’t rush them. Put them in soft soled shoes or let them have bare feet when it’s safe to do so.

Your baby’s fine motor skills are now well developed. They can pick up and manipulate small objects. They will start to imitate simple actions like waving ‘Bye bye,’ shaking their head, clapping, playing 'Peek-a-Boo' stretching for toys, banging them and dropping them.

Your baby is also learning about the fact that objects move from one place to another. An example is when they are sitting in their high chair, look at something on their tray, pick it up and drop it onto the floor. They then look down at it, look at you, and then back to the object on the floor. You might find this annoying, but it’s important to respond. Look at them, look at the object, pick it up, describe it and put it back on the high chair tray. Baby may do this several times. They are learning that if something disappears from their sight, it hasn’t necessarily gone forever.