Wet and Wild
Turn bathtime into aquatic exploration. Equip your child with cups of different sizes, a small plastic teapot or watering can, and a handful of plastic measuring spoons. Let her pour water from one container to another so she can see what happens. Take a turn pouring the water for her, and let her try to "catch" it in her hands. Another fun idea: Let her have a wet sponge so she can watch the water drip from the sponge onto other objects, Epstein suggests. Show her how to twist and squeeze the sponge to make even more water drip.

Mommy Is Sleeping
Sit close to your baby (he can be seated or lying down, depending on his age). Say "Mommy is going to sleep now," and close your eyes. After a few seconds, open your eyes and enthusiastically say "Hi!" or "Good morning!" (You can switch it up with "Good afternoon" or "Good evening" to reflect the time of day.) Seeing Mom's eyes pop open and hearing her greeting usually elicits a laugh. After a few rounds, pause longer before opening your eyes to see how your baby reacts. Chances are babies about 6 months and older will start to vocalize or bat at your face to "wake you up."

Fall for Foliage
Head outside and gather leaves in a variety of colors and sizes. Give them to your baby and let him pick them up and explore them with his hands (with your supervision, of course). Crinkle some of the leaves so he can experience the sound and learn that the action of crinkling the leaf makes that crunchy noise. Use a leaf big enough to cover most of your face for a new take on traditional peekaboo.

Roll Play
Seat your baby on the floor across from you, and roll a toy car to her. Encourage her to roll it back to you. Try to keep the activity going. This back-and-forth game teaches the concept of taking turns, which will be necessary later for conversations, and it sets the stage for sharing.

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