How to Make a Baby Laugh

It's a thrill to hear a baby's first laugh. This milestone, which happens when the baby is about 13 weeks old, means that a baby's social skills are developing rapidly. Fortunately for the comedy- challenged individual, it doesn't take much to make a baby laugh.

Instructions

1. Sing a song. Babies love songs that pair music with games of anticipation, such as "Itsy-bitsy spider." As you sing the song, make your spider fingers crawl up her leg.

2. Bring a toy to life. One of the pleasures of playing with babies is taking advantage of their inability to distinguish real and imaginary objects. Grab his favorite teddy bear or puppet, and instill life into the toy with your silly animation.

3. Find your inner impressionist. Once your baby knows your voice, he loves to hear a squawking parrot or a tweeting toucan imitation come from your mouth.

4. Nuzzle her neck, blow raspberries on her tummy and tickle her toes. Gentle tickles never lose their laugh appeal. Just follow the baby's body language, because she can't tell you when she's had enough.

5. Play peek-a-boo with him. Babies under eight months of age have not developed object permanence, which means they don't understand that things continue to exist when out of their sight. This makes peek-a-boo endlessly hysterical. Take turns hiding yourself, the baby and a toy under a blanket.

6. Get older children in on the game. Preschool and grade school children still share a baby's irreverent sense of humor and enjoy being the center of a baby's attention. If the baby is crawling, a child can crawl alongside and have a turtle race. Babies also delight in young children's squeaky voices.

7. Introduce the baby to the world of pretend. Build a small tower of blocks and then demolish the structure with baby's toy vehicle. Pretend to take a noisy slurp from baby's bottle. Have a lively conversation on the baby's toy phone.

Tips & Warnings

• Never shake, toss or roughhouse with babies. Even in the spirit of play, these activities can cause brain damage or death.