Your baby now has much greater control over his/her hands, can drop one object and pick up another, and will look closely at things and turn them over to explore them. S/he’ll love holding things, and will put them in his/her mouth to ‘explore’ them.

Games to Play

Fun to feel: A great toy that you can make yourself is a feely box. Put lots of coloured objects of different sizes and textures in a small box & let baby ‘feel’ and move around all the different objects to play with. These can be very simple – socks, sponges, paper, cloth.
Musical toys: Babies like music all along but at this stage s/he gets the “maestro complex” and loves to make his/her own music! S/he’ll enjoy playing with anything that makes a sound, as well as singing games. Toys don’t have to be expensive – give baby a small pot with a spoon that s/he can play with and make sounds with.
The baby will also start experimenting with movement now. Babies do this in different ways and at different times as they develop the muscle and co-ordination to move. The baby will let you know what s/he needs by pulling on your hands to stand or sit. Observe the baby closely and help him/her move into the positions s/he wants to be in.  
This is a big change for the baby and for you; once s/he starts moving, s/he can cause damage to him/her and to objects in the house. Best way to deal with this is to baby-proof your home until the child is older. Make sure that there are no cables or wires that the baby can pull at, such as a kettle or computer. Switch off all the plugs that do not have something plugged in, or even better, switch of everything that you cannot see so the baby can move around freely. Make sure cupboards cannot be opened. If you have cloths on tables, make sure that the baby can’t reach them or pull them down, or even better, remove them. Close doors so that the baby can’t get into unsupervised spaces. Pack precious objects or decorations away – it will become stressful if you have to monitor the baby all the time.

Once the baby starts moving, move with him/her. Get down to his/her level, lie on the floor with him/her as s/he moves and crawls and develops the muscles for mobility.