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Face to face

Copycat Faces

Takes about:
2 minutes to play
Good for:
Newborn, Baby

The first game you can play with a newborn needs nothing but your face. Hold your baby close, wait for them to make a sound or a face, and copy it back. Then pause, and leave a gap for their turn.

You don’t need to teach your baby anything here. You follow their lead, and copying them shows them you’ve noticed. It’s a conversation before either of you has the words.

How to play

  1. Pick a calm, awake moment. After a feed or a nappy change is good, when your baby is quiet, with wide, bright eyes.
  2. Get close. Hold them in your arms or on your lap, with their head supported and your face a little closer than a ruler’s length from theirs.
  3. Watch and wait. Say nothing for a moment. Look out for a coo, an “oh” mouth, a frown, a yawn or a poke of the tongue.
  4. Copy it back. Make the same sound or face, a little slower and bigger than theirs, with a smile in your voice.
  5. Pause. Keep looking at them, and give them plenty of time to answer. It can take a while.
  6. Copy again. Whatever they do next, copy that too. A few turns each way is a lovely chat.
  7. Stop when they look away. If they turn their head, close their eyes or start to fuss, that’s the end of the round. Have a cuddle.

Why it helps

  • Researchers at Harvard call this back-and-forth “serve and return”: your baby babbles, gestures or cries, and you answer. They say these exchanges help build and strengthen connections in your baby’s brain that are needed for communication and social skills.1
  • The NHS suggests repeating the sounds your baby makes back to them, and says this teaches early lessons in listening and taking turns in a conversation.2
  • Studies suggest babies learn words faster when their parents answer the sounds and gestures they make, soon after they make them.3
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics describes parents copying their baby’s “ooh” and “ah” as one of the earliest back-and-forth games, and suggests smiling back when your baby starts to smile.4

As they grow

  • Newborn: Your face is the whole show. Newborns see most clearly at about 20 to 30cm, roughly the distance to your face when you feed them.5 Their first real smiles usually arrive at around 6 to 8 weeks. When one comes, smile straight back.4 At the end of a round, move your face slowly from side to side and see if their eyes follow. By about 3 months, babies should be able to follow something moving with their eyes.5
  • Baby: As your baby starts to coo, gurgle and babble (“ba-ba”, “da-da”), copy their sounds and keep the “conversation” going, pausing for their turn each time. Towards their first birthday, try swapping roles: pull a silly face, stick out your tongue or say “moo”, and see what they do.

Tips

  • Don’t wait to be copied. You may have heard that newborns copy a poked-out tongue. Scientists still argue about it: in one large study of 106 babies, they were just as likely to poke out their tongue when the adult did something else.6 If your baby seems to copy you, enjoy it. If not, that’s normal. In this game, you’re the copycat.
  • Know when they’ve had enough. Turning away, closing their eyes, yawning, sneezing or hiccupping can all mean your baby needs a break.7 Try again another time.
  • Nappy changes are made for this. Your baby is lying down and facing you, and you can lean in to just the right distance.
  • Anyone can play. Grandparents, older brothers and sisters, anyone your baby sees up close. Older children often love being the copycat.
  • Phone down. Read this once, then put your phone away. Your face is the only thing your baby needs to look at.

About this game

Written with AI assistance. Written by Sam and Erin with help from Claude. We’re parents, not health professionals: if you have any worries about your baby’s development, talk to your health visitor or GP. For more on why games like this matter, see Why play with your baby?

Sources

  1. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Serve and Return. developingchild.harvard.edu
  2. NHS. Help your baby learn to talk. nhs.uk
  3. Tamis-LeMonda CS, Kuchirko Y, Song L. Why Is Infant Language Learning Facilitated by Parental Responsiveness? Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2014;23(2):121–126. doi.org
  4. Yogman M, Garner A, Hutchinson J, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM; Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Council on Communications and Media. The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children. Pediatrics. 2018;142(3):e20182058. doi.org
  5. American Academy of Pediatrics. Infant Vision Development: What Can Babies See? HealthyChildren.org, 2024. healthychildren.org
  6. Oostenbroek J, Suddendorf T, Nielsen M, et al. Comprehensive Longitudinal Study Challenges the Existence of Neonatal Imitation in Humans. Current Biology. 2016;26(10):1334–1338. doi.org
  7. NHS Best Start in Life. Understanding your baby. nhs.uk

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