Where Play Meets Potential
At 6 months of age, something magical happens where your little wobbly infant becomes a lot more alert, interactive, responsive, and interested in the world around them. Typically between 4 and 9 months, babies begin to sit up unassisted and this opens up a whole new world for play.
Something that I found my baby, Ruby, loved at this age more than any other toy in our house was pictures of people she knew, well pictures of people and babies in general really.
The great thing about using pictures in play is that it has the added benefit of developing their 6-12 month old social emotional development. Honestly, you can use pictures in play way before 6 months and even after 12 months, but this age range seems most engaged by picture play.
At 6 months they become much more social by mimicking others, showing preferences, expressing emotions like joy and fear, and distinguishing between those they know and don’t know. Through pictures of themselves and others they begin to understand themselves, show preferences, mimic facial expressions and emotions, and feel confidence for knowing something (“Oh hey I have seen that person before, I can remember”). For all these social reasons, pictures make an excellent play prop for this age group.
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You can use any type of blocks you have, but preferably ones they can pick up and manipulate. I used some foam blocks. This continues to be one of Ruby’s favorite toys. I made these when she was 8 months old and she is currently 10 months old. This is great because she can pick up the blocks and look at the pictures. She looks at them, smiles, talks, and carries them around. We also name the people in the pictures whenever she grabs a certain block.
This one works better for when they have a good grasp on object permanence. I would say around 8-10 months would be ideal. I started this activity a little early and as soon as the pictures on the wall were covered up, Ruby lost all interest as if they had disappeared. Now, she loves to lift the flaps (or tear them down completely) to reveal the picture underneath.
You can use fabric scraps or heavy paper like construction paper or cardstock. You could also use Post-it notes, but those will be more temporary.
We have done this activity in a few different ways. I taped a picture to Ruby’s highchair tray and then covered it with baby cereal. She then played with the cereal to reveal the picture underneath.
I also taped a picture to a tray and covered it with colored yogurt. I offered a basting brush as an option to move the yogurt around, but of course Ruby preferred her hands and her face.
You can use other sensory bases (chia seed slime, dry oats, moon dough (flour and oil), oobleck, cocoa powder, jello, etc.). You can also do it on a tray or bin on the ground, on a high chair tray, or on a table.
Pictures in a puzzle is another one of those favorite toys that gets played with again and again over time. We used a Melissa and Doug house puzzle, which I thought was perfect to put pictures of people and pets that live in our house, but you can use any peg puzzle.
You can display the puzzle with the pieces put in the puzzle for them to take out and reveal the picture or you can display the puzzle with the pieces taken out so they will put the pieces back and cover the pictures up. Ruby preferred to take the pieces out.
This is a simple and obvious use of pictures, but sometimes you don’t think to use something like a picture album with babies. I bought an album meant for babies (Sassy baby brand), but you can use any picture album and treat it like another book you would read. She loved this album so much I used it as motivation in a couch obstacle to encourage her gross motor skills.
I love creating DIY toys! Some of the ways I have used pictures with DIY toys is by creating a lift the flap puzzle, lid puzzle, and taped some pictures inside a pizza box for another lift the flap toy. You can see some of my cardboard DIY projects in my post “4 Super Engaging Cardboard DIY Projects for Toddlers.”
Take your play with pictures into the bathtub or water table. Simply laminate the pictures to make them waterproof or put them in a clear container like empty spice jars.
We taped sponges to the floor for a crawl path (see my post “10 Ways to Play with Sponges”), but you could also tape pictures to the floor. I also kept the pictures up on the wall after using the flaps and Ruby loved to reach up, pull to stand, and scale the wall to look at the pictures.
We had some pictures on sticks from our wedding that my mom had made. We also used these as picture props at our baby shower. These props have received a lot of love. They made for great puppets too! You can create puppets with pictures by glueing them to popsicle sticks, paper bags, or get real crafty and print pictures on some fabric.
We did this around Easter by hiding pictures in Easter eggs and Ruby loved it! We played peekaboo by hiding the pictures inside the egg and then opening them up. You could use eggs, boxes, or other easy to open containers. We even made a peekaboo game with a pizza box.
Another fun way to make play with pictures interactive for babies 6 to 12 months of age is to use them with magnets. There are a variety of ways to do this.
You can use any surface that is magnet, even a baking tray. I love using the refrigerator when I’m trying to get things done in the kitchen.
Spice container magnets are great for hiding all sorts of treasures. You can even cut pictures and put them inside.
There are honestly so many different ways to play with pictures and there are even more when you take into account older ages, but these are some ideas to get you started with your baby 6 to 12 months.
I would love to hear if you tried any of these or if you have other suggestions. Let me know in the comments below. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook for daily play inspiration.
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This age is just so sweet! I love your idea of using pictures in play. I’ve never seen that before and it’s really smart!
Thank you! It almost seems we have an obsession with pictures at our house at the moment, but whatever keeps them happy and engaged right?
2 thoughts on “Playing with a 6 to 12 Month Old Baby Using Pictures”
This age is just so sweet! I love your idea of using pictures in play. I’ve never seen that before and it’s really smart!
Thank you! It almost seems we have an obsession with pictures at our house at the moment, but whatever keeps them happy and engaged right?