Part Jack-in-the-Box, part Guess-What's-Inside, this game will keep baby guessing and giggling. Be sure you have something special at the end of the game to make the wait worthwhile!

Materials:
• Card table or other small table, or large cardboard box
• Variety of boxes in different sizes, nesting one inside another
• Toy or treat

What to do:
1. Collect a variety of boxes that will nest one inside another. Try to get very large boxes and very small boxes, as well as everything in between.
2. Place a special toy or treat in the smallest box for your baby to discover at the end of the game. Close the small box and place it in the next larger box; close the outside box.
3. Continue until you've nested all the boxes inside each other, ending with the giant box.
4. Bring your baby into the room and show him the box.
5. Ask him, "What's inside?" and help him open the box.
6. When your baby sees the next box, say, "Another box!" Lift that box out of the bigger box and ask your baby to open it.
7. Continue until you get to the smallest box, then let your baby open up the surprise!

Variation:
Have your baby try to put the boxes back together in order of size.

Safety:
Make the boxes easy to open so your baby can do the task himself without getting too frustrated

Number of participants: Nine kids
What players will need: To know the song
Length of time: Five to ten minutes

Rules of the game:
One person takes on the role of the farmer. The rest of the children form a circle around him and sing "The Farmer in the Dell." When they come to the second verse, "The farmer takes a wife," the farmer points to someone who then joins him in the center o f the circle. The rest of the kids continue singing. In each verse of the song someone new is added to the dell, and the last child picked chooses a new person to join those who were picked before. When "the rat takes the cheese," the last child enters th e circle. The rest of the children then form a circle around the cheese and sing the final verse,"the cheese stands alone." If the kids decide to play again, the cheese gets to be the farmer in the next game.

Song lyrics:
The farmer in the dell, the farmer in the dell,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the farmer in the dell.
The farmer takes a wife, the farmer takes a wife,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the farmer takes a wife.
The wife takes a child, the wife takes a child,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the wife takes a child.
The child takes a nurse, the child takes a nurse,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the child takes a nurse.
The nurse takes a cow, the nurse takes a cow,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the nurse takes a cow.
The cow takes a dog, the cow takes a dog,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the cow takes a dog.
The dog takes a cat, the dog takes a cat,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the dog takes a cat.
The cat takes a rat, the cat takes a rat,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the cat takes a rat.
The rat takes the cheese, the rat takes the cheese,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the rat takes the cheese.
The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone,
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the cheese stands alone.

Number of participants: Two
What players will need: An appreciation for rocking (because they'll do lots of it!)
Length of time: Five minutes or less

Rules of the game:
Two children sit across from each other on the floor with the soles of their feet touching. They clasp hands and rock back and forth; when one child leans forward, the other leans back. While rocking, the children sing the song

"Row, Row, Row Your Boat":
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

The game ends when the novelty wears off. Adults who get in on the game can make it more exciting by exaggerating the rocking movements.

Other ways to play it: Players can get as rambunctious as they like, and the first one who lets go of the other person's hand loses the game.

Number of participants: At least four
What players will need: A large picture of a donkey, a pretend donkey tail, pins or tape, a blindfold, and a pen or pencil.
Length of time: About 30 minutes

Rules of the game: A perennial classic, Pin the Tail on the Donkey is almost a party staple. Before the game, draw a large picture of a donkey without a tail, and place it on a wall where your child can reach it. Create a pretend tail for the donkey with a pushpin or piece of tape at the top. Stand the players in line a few feet from the donkey picture. Explain to the kids that their job is to pin the tail on the donkey but that this job will be tricky because they will be blindfolded. Then blindfold the first child in line , spin him around three times, hand him the donkey tail, and point him in the direction of the donkey. When he sticks the tail on the donkey, mark the spot with his name. The child who pins the tail closest to where it belongs wins.

Other ways to play it: Instead of drawing a donkey, you can use any other animal with a tail, such as an elephant or a cat.

Also called: Goose, Goose, Gander; Duck, Duck, Grey Duck; The Mush Pot; Peske (in the Czech Republic); Antoakyire (in Ghana)
Number of participants: Five or more
Length of time: As long as the kids are able to play, the game can continue

Background: This early version of Tag is especially good for younger children because there are only two kids running at the same time, preventing accidents and confusion.
Rules of the game: First, choose one person to be It. Sit the kids down cross-legged in a circle facing each other. It walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each person on the head and labeling most of them Ducks. As soon as It taps a child and calls him a Goose, this player must get up and chase It around the circle. It has to try to get into the Goose's spo t before that player tags him. If It does, then the goose becomes It and the game starts over. If the Goose tags It before he makes it safely onto the Goose's former spot, It must sit in the middle of the circle, called the mush pot, and the Goose becomes It in the next round. The child in the mush pot must stay there until another person is unfortunate enough to get caught. Then they trade places and the one in the mush pot can return to the circle while the other player takes his place.

Other ways to play it: Not all games of Duck, Duck, Goose have a mush pot. In an alternate version, It simply stays It if he's caught, and the Goose returns to the circle.

Number of participants: Four to ten
Length of time: 5 minutes
What players will need: Their arms and hands

Background:
This simple, cooperative game is tons of fun for little children as they try to stack their hands one on top of the other as fast as they can. The stack won't work if the children don't go in order, so they must wait for each other if they want to get it right.
Rules of the game:
Sit the children in a circle. One child starts by putting her right hand in the middle, palm down. The next player does the same and then the next and the next until everyone has their right hand in. Then the first player puts her left hand in and everyon e does the same. Now comes the fun. The hands on the bottom start moving to the top. As the pile gets higher and higher the hands move faster and faster. When the children have reached as high as they can, the round is over. There are no winners and losers. The game is over when the children tire of playing.

Other ways to play it:
Try timing the children in each round. Then see if they can break their own record for speed.