Customer Reviews

Beyond Peek-A-Boo and Pat-A-Cake: Activities for Baby's First 24 Months

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book provides some really great (and inexpensive) methods of entertaining a young child. I first had "Games Babies Play" which was great for the first nine months, but then didn't have as much to do for an older baby. After purchasing this book, I wish I had had it from the start.

Each month has a list of activities, as well as helpful hints that are great for first time parents. It has some nice journal notations for development also.

I don't feel that I'm that creative of a person, so I thought this book would be helpful. I didn't find it full of suggestions for games; a better title might be "what to do with your life each month." The book had sections recommending that I buy a new outfit, tweeze my brows or other suggestions for mothers (inspirational, but not what I bought the book for). It also recommends chocolate pudding, peanut butter and other allergy/choking hazards for games with 6-9 month olds. IMHO the book wasn't helpful: it wasn't aimed at games, it was an oddly written "what to expect the first year."

Used this with all 3 kids, LOVED it!! So many wonderful ideas, and also sections to fill out what your baby/toddler is doing or enjoying at that time of life. I love flipping back through it and it just brings back some wonderful memories. : )

A reviewer before mentioned the "danger" of the balloons and stickers. Wellll, honestly folks -- whatever happened to COMMON SENSE?? I mean, my babies LOVED looking at bright beautiful ballons! On the other hand, I didn't pop them and leave pieces of balloon around for them to choke on....um, just common sense. Stickers on the hand -- all my babies loved this. The solution to it being a "choking hazard"? How about, YOU are right there, playing with your baby, making sure they don't eat one? Easy enough. Maybe it was a first time parent that wrote that review? ; )

The one valid complaint I agree with is that there is a suggestion about peanut butter, which is a no no before the age of one.

Still, most parents who love new ideas will probably find this book really valuable. Just use common sense with balloons and stickers, that's all. : )

Overall the activities are good, but some pose a hazard to your children-for example, the book mentions that helium balloons are a great way to entertain your 4 month old baby. Balloons are one of the number one killers amoung children. Another suggestion was to put stickers on the child's hands, my baby would be able to remove them and swallow those. Use this book cautiously and beware if your childcare provider uses it.

I love this book. It is separated into each month of your child's first 24 months and has creative ideas for play (and the best part is that you don't have to buy things; the ideas use items you usually already have in the home); short recipes (e.g. make your own baby wipes); developmental information; mom time ideas; poems or short songs. I am not a creative mom, so this book is wonderful. It gives me easy ideas each month. For example, the book recommends saving holiday card fronts that you can put together as a picture book for your baby to explore. What easy, inexpexensive ideas! I highly recommend this. The only slightly negative comment I have is that there is no index, so sometimes it's hard to remember where I saw some of the great ideas and I have to look page by page. But it's worth it!

When the same-ol', same-ol' gets boring to even your repetition-loving young toddler, this book will get the fun rolling again. My 13-month old adores the sticker game (I've used the stickers game to teach her the parts of her face -- and mine), and we've used other games from the book to the delight of the whole family. I'd definitely recommend this if you're in need of more ideas to entertain and engage your child.