Baby Physical Development: Neck-Strengthening Baby Game

Work baby's neck muscles (and your hypnosis skills) with this follow-the-toy game.

Submitted by
Kayla Chong

Turns out nine months in the womb can leave baby's neck a little less than mobile. (You try lying around in the fetal position for nine months and see how you feel). Help him gently stretch his neck and work out the kinks with this easy, interactive game that helps with baby's physical development. (Playing the Kinks while you do it might not be a bad idea, either.)

You
Your baby
A couple of eye-catching toys:
Like tops with shiny designs or magic crystal wands with sparkles that tumble through that liquid gel.

If your baby's too young to sit up, place him on a surface that's not too soft to allow him to move his head from side to side. If your baby can sit up, place him seated on the floor.
Use a familiar toy to get baby to stretch and turn his neck. Position the toy at the side of his head so that he has to turn his head more and more to see it.
Slowly switch sides and let your baby track the object, then stretch out the other side of his neck by moving the toy farther and farther to that side.
Switch toys when your baby gets bored with the one you're using (and accept the fact that your kid will be quickly getting bored with toys for a long time to come).
Repeat the back-and-forth movement of the toy several times on each side (and do it on yourself the next time you wake up feeling a little stiff—just use a cup of coffee as your focal point instead of a baby toy!).