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This month, you and your baby will explore:

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cause and effect
In their first year, your baby is learning the joys of cause and effect and how to do things to make other things happen! Verbalizing their efforts helps encourage them to keep exploring and experimenting. When you pushed the ball, it rolled! Let’s do it again. Repetition is key because it reinforces learning and gives them the joy of understanding causality.

language
Learning to speak is a complex process. First, your baby practices shaping out sounds (like blowing raspberries). Next up is babbling (from pa, ba to a-ga, ba-ba). Words and sentences follow, and soon enough it’s, Mom, can I have the car keys?

hearing
Your baby’s brain is a remarkable input-output system. In go words and sounds, and out comes . . . babbling, or what experts call “baby jargon.” This preverbal speech mimics real words and is a sign they’re actively listening. So keep those words, songs, and silly sounds coming!

fine motor & hand manipulation
Recent studies have found that language and fine motor skills are closely linked. By talking to your baby about their activities and play (Hooray! You fit the ring on the peg!), you can strengthen their speech and movement skills. A win-win!

early pretend play
Child-initiated pretend play won’t kick in until after 12 months. Until then, engaging your baby in pre-pretend play lays the groundwork for toddler-age make-believe. At this stage, imaginary play is all about imitation. So now’s the time to pull out your funniest sounds and faces. Just watch as your baby tries to copy your comic routines. Hey, imitation is a form of flattery (and a friend of learning).

object permanence
Back when your baby was an even smaller baby, they wouldn’t look for toys when they dropped them. (Out of sight, out of mind!) But now they’re learning that things still exist even when they can’t see or hear them. Try a game of peekaboo to strengthen those object permanence skills — crucial for advanced reasoning, memory, and language.

spatial awareness
It takes a lot of baby brain power to figure out how things work. Talking through their actions (Wow! You made your car move!) helps strengthen their sense of how their body relates to other objects in space.

stacking & balancing
Most babies can’t stack and balance objects on their own until about 18 months. Until then, showing your baby how objects can (or can’t) balance on top of each other lays the foundation for building with blocks — one of the best ways to develop logic and reasoning.

cause and effect
In their first year, your baby is learning the joys of cause and effect and how to do things to make other things happen! Verbalizing their efforts helps encourage them to keep exploring and experimenting. When you pushed the ball, it rolled! Let’s do it again. Repetition is key because it reinforces learning and gives them the joy of understanding causality.

language
Learning to speak is a complex process. First, your baby practices shaping out sounds (like blowing raspberries). Next up is babbling (from pa, ba to a-ga, ba-ba). Words and sentences follow, and soon enough it’s, Mom, can I have the car keys?

hearing
Your baby’s brain is a remarkable input-output system. In go words and sounds, and out comes . . . babbling, or what experts call “baby jargon.” This preverbal speech mimics real words and is a sign they’re actively listening. So keep those words, songs, and silly sounds coming!

fine motor & hand manipulation
Recent studies have found that language and fine motor skills are closely linked. By talking to your baby about their activities and play (Hooray! You fit the ring on the peg!), you can strengthen their speech and movement skills. A win-win!

early pretend play
Child-initiated pretend play won’t kick in until after 12 months. Until then, engaging your baby in pre-pretend play lays the groundwork for toddler-age make-believe. At this stage, imaginary play is all about imitation. So now’s the time to pull out your funniest sounds and faces. Just watch as your baby tries to copy your comic routines. Hey, imitation is a form of flattery (and a friend of learning).

object permanence
Back when your baby was an even smaller baby, they wouldn’t look for toys when they dropped them. (Out of sight, out of mind!) But now they’re learning that things still exist even when they can’t see or hear them. Try a game of peekaboo to strengthen those object permanence skills — crucial for advanced reasoning, memory, and language.

spatial awareness
It takes a lot of baby brain power to figure out how things work. Talking through their actions (Wow! You made your car move!) helps strengthen their sense of how their body relates to other objects in space.

stacking & balancing
Most babies can’t stack and balance objects on their own until about 18 months. Until then, showing your baby how objects can (or can’t) balance on top of each other lays the foundation for building with blocks — one of the best ways to develop logic and reasoning.

cause and effect
In their first year, your baby is learning the joys of cause and effect and how to do things to make other things happen! Verbalizing their efforts helps encourage them to keep exploring and experimenting. When you pushed the ball, it rolled! Let’s do it again. Repetition is key because it reinforces learning and gives them the joy of understanding causality.
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1. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Wood Tractor

   Your baby can explore how the trailer and tractor connect before playing make-believe and taking the wood animals for a spin.

2. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Stacking Wood Animals

   Practice identifying different species as your baby stacks and balances three wooden animals.

3. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Wood Barn

   Cute critters let your baby play peekaboo and hide-and-seek (while building spatial awareness).

4. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Animal Cards

   Encourage early language development by mimicking each animal’s sound and matching them to one of six pictures.

5. 

   In Essentials + Plus + Deluxe:

   Grownup Guide

   Over 20 pages of research-backed guidance, development milestones, and activities to try at home.

6. 

   Only in Plus + Deluxe:

   Activity Pyramid and Sensory Ball Set

   A four-sided pyramid makes sensory activities accessible for your baby whether they’re tackling tummy time or sitting up.

7. 

   Only in Deluxe:

   Hi! (Animal Words)

   See how animals say hello to each other with this rhyming book.