Mirror, mirror

Babies and young children are fascinated by mirrors. It’s very entertaining to watch them as they react to their mirror image, especially for the first time.  These common household items can be used for learning and fun with your little one.

In the morning or evening before you start brushing teeth, look into the mirror with your child and point to different parts of the body. You might touch and name different parts of their body. This is your nose, or these are your ears. You could then name a body part and ask them to point to it. This helps not only build vocabulary but also gives meaning and context to words.

While you brush teeth or comb hair in front of the mirror you might like to sing songs such as "This is the way we brush our teeth/comb our hair/wash our face, early in the morning". It’s always fun to be a little silly and mix up the words. You might like to pretend to brush your hair with a toothbrush and see how your child reacts.

Mirrors are also great for games. Use a mirror to teach your child to play peek-a-boo, you can play it the traditional way or get your child to stand behind you and pop out to peek-a-boo. You might even like to play a game of can you guess how I’m feeling?. Look into the mirror and make a happy or sad face and ask your child to guess the feeling. You can reinforce their answer by saying, “that’s right, I’m happy because I have a big smile on my face”.  This is a great way of helping them build self-awareness.

More ideas for playing with household objects

• Soft sounds
• What's on the line?
• Backyard science expedition