Window Wave

What you need

• a window to look out of, in the car, the cafe or the waiting room

How to do it

1. Sit by the window together and wave at anything going past: a bus, a dog, a bird.
2. Say a little "bye bye bus" as each one goes.
3. Wait for the next thing to come, and see who spots it first.

Why it matters

Waving and saying bye bye links a gesture to a word, and watching for the next thing gives them a reason to keep looking.

What they're learning

Waving hello and bye

A wave is one of the first gestures toddlers use to talk before words.

Visual tracking

Following a bus or a dog across the window until it has gone.

First words

"Bus", "dog" and "bye bye" are short words they hear again and again here.

What to look for

Watch for them waving before you do, or turning to you to share what they have spotted.

A tip

If nothing comes for a while, wave at a tree or a parked car. The wave matters more than the thing.

More like this

Wave From the Window from 14 months · 5 min Round and Round the Garden from 12 months · 5 min Bye-Bye, Bath Water from 14 months · 5 min Window Bird Watch from 12 months · 5-10 min