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Playing with Baby from 9 Months

By nine months, babies generally can crawl, sit up, stand up and possibly cruise or walk. They have already learned so much from you in their short lifetime. Now they are looking to you to help them to learn how to speak.

You'll have heard baby babbling for a while practicing the sounds she hears around her. Activities now can focus more on what baby is seeing.

So you can play peek a boo games and talk to her about what you are doing. Reading together means you can spend time exploring pictures, colours or shapes.

Don't expect to read a book from start to finish. Instead focus on objects that baby might see in her everyday world and explain to her what they are.

Baby Einstein produces lift-the-flap books that baby will find surprising. Amazon holds a number of baby books that are suitable for even the youngest baby.

Have a look at our buying books for baby section to find out more about what kind of books are best for different baby ages.

Board books are still the safest bet as babies have no concept of what destroying a book means.

The VTech “ Sort and Soar Rocket” baby toy is great for baby now. It's a shape sorter that plays music, blasts off and teaches baby about colours, shapes, numbers and music. Baby may not master this for some months but it's well worth buying as babies love it. Five Four Three Two One…..blast off!

Mischief makes wooden number rings that baby will enjoy learning to use. The wooden rings fit onto five wooden posts on a stand and baby has to learn about colours and numbers to get the puzzle right. Again, don't expect baby to learn how to do this for some months – you'll enjoy trying to find the counters every night when baby has gone to bed.

Baby will become quite frustrated now as she tries to do more and more things. Her frustration will drive her to get things right, so be patient with her as you play together. Reassuring smiles and lots of encouragement will really make a difference now as you sit on the floor.

To find out more about what to look out for when choosing and buying nursery toys visit our How to Choose and Buy a Baby Toy for Different Ages section and our Brands section.

To find out more about the different types of nursery toy that are available for each age group visit our Types of Nursery Toy section.

To find out more about the different online baby and nursery toy shops and stores visit our Top Sites section.

You can also find out more in our How to Choose and Buy a Baby Toy for Helping to Develop Different Skills section.