• Respond to the first sounds your baby makes even though they are not real words. Have a little conversation repeating some of the sounds he makes and try out some new ones. Smile and encourage him to talk more. Leave gaps of silence for your baby to talk back to you.

• Stretch some pram toys across your baby’s pram for her to watch and play with.

• Snuggle up and read books together. Board books with large bright pictures, lift the flap books and books with different textures are particularly popular. Give sounds for pictures instead of words at times e.g. quack instead of duck. Go back a page when your baby has shown a response to one particular picture, repeating the same sound with the same picture. Naming the objects in the pictures will eventually help your child build up a good vocabulary.

• Ring a bell or have a squeaky toy and hold it where your baby can see it. Move away just out of the range of your child’s vision, sound the bell again and see if your baby turns his head to locate it.

• Playgyms are good for encouraging your baby to reach out and grab or kick their legs, babies love to try and grab and kick the dangling toys. Make sure that the toys can be dangled from the right height for your baby to reach up to.

• Playmats are great with different textures to explore and perhaps a squeaky button and activities like lift-the-flap to amuse your baby. They encourage your baby to use his neck muscles.

• A wrist rattle attached to your baby’s wrist like a bracelet that jingles as your baby moves his hand is fun.