Here’s an activity I’ve meant to do with Veronika for some time, and now with the era of COVID-19 upon us I was propelled into action. For babies who might not get to see relatives in person very often, it’s helpful to have a visual depiction to go with names (Grammy! Papa!) as well as of where people live.

I used two maps for the game, one a world map and one a close-up of the United States.

Print out pictures of family members, and then cut the faces into small squares; tape these down to the map. She loved looking through all the photos as we worked, proudly saying the names of grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Of course Veronika is too young to fully understand geography, but it was a fun way to introduce the names of different states as we positioned all the photos.

Then we moved up to the world-sized map to look at relatives who live abroad, and also the places where her ancestors come from, like England and India.

Hang this on the wall and refer to it often!

“I spy” is such a classic children’s game that it’s easy to overlook it. But don’t! And yes, you can play it even with children who are just beginning to speak.

Here are a few ways Veronika and I already play the game, at sixteen months old. First, I use pages of her Hello magazines as “I spy” prompts. “I spy a duck,” I might say simply, and ask her to point to the duck on the page. The magazine’s “Find It” page is particularly great for this activity.

It’s a nice way to reiterate vocabulary she already possesses. She sometimes signs the word proudly, or sometimes says it orally back. “I spy a fish!”

It’s also a great way to build on existing vocabulary, so I might instead say, “I spy something fast and red. The red car!” This is closer to the classic version you can play with older children (“I spy something red…”) and helps add colors, adjectives, and nouns into her repertoire.

Then we take the game along in the car. If she has an issue of Hello open on her lap, I’ll make a mental note of what’s on the page. As we drive, I can say, “I spy a tree.” She’ll look up with a smile when she spots it.

We also talk about what’s out the windows, though this can be harder for a toddler to grasp with so many items whizzing by. But big siblings will love jumping in on the game. Travis gave Veronika helpful clues like, “I spy an animal that’s furry and says woof,” just as we drove by a dog. What will she spy next? So many possibilities!