I over-think things. I’m well aware of this. I have even put quite a bit of thought into the games I play with my babies. Scary, I know, but with more than six babies living in my house across a span of 11 years, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to analyze. My favorite game is one I call “the face game”. The face game goes like this:

• <point to Beth’s nose>
• Beth’s nose
• <point to my nose>
• Daddy’s nose
• <point to Beth’s nose>
• Beth’s nose
• <point to my nose>
• Daddy’s nose
• <point to Beth’s nose>
• Beth’s nose

And that’s pretty much it. I repeat the procedure for various parts of the face: ears, mouth, eyes (carefully), cheek, chin, neck, etc. I always do hair last, and when we do the hair, I always help them to tousle my hair a bit. For each body part, I do baby first, then me, then baby, then me again, then baby again. After hair I end with:

• <pat Beth’s chest>
• Beth
• <pat my chest>
• Daddy
• <pat Beth’s chest>
• Beth
• <pat my chest>
• Daddy
• <pat Beth’s chest>
• Beth

What makes this game so special?

• The face game works for a wide variety of ages. I can start playing the game with a baby immediately after birth, but kids continue to get enjoyment from the game up through age 3 or 4.
• The face game encourages face-to-face time. We are looking at each other, studying each other’s faces while playing. It’s quite intimate.
• The face game is very relaxing. I play at a very deliberate, unhurried pace. I use voice inflection, rather than bouncing and tickling, to maintain interest. It is almost hypnotic.
• The face game is repetitive. It encourages pattern recognition. As baby gets older, she learns to anticipate what’s going to happen next. Inevitably, she starts to take control, and tries to run the game herself, and that’s just fine.
• The face game encourages basic classification. Toss in a finger or an elbow. Sounds simple, but at a certain age, baby starts to recognize that these are not face body parts, and it’s a funny joke to her.
• The face game is science. Baby is learning basic anatomy while she plays.
• The face game teaches identity. Daddy is Daddy, and I am me. We are separate individuals, and yet we have a lot in common too.
• The face game is calming and reassuring. Once baby is used to the procedure, that familiarity can have a comforting effect in confusing or upsetting situations.
• The face game easily expands to multiple participants. I currently have a one-year-old, a three-year-old, and a four-year-old in my house. If I start playing with my youngest, the other two will frequently want to join in. Even my kindergartner occasionally wants to be part of the action.

Maybe this particular game is not for you, and that’s just fine, but I encourage you to put some thought into the activities that you do with your baby. What are the games teaching? What behaviors do they promote? What other benefits do they provide? Be deliberate about your parenting.

– danBhentschel