Give it, take it

0–1 years · Social-emotional · 6 minutes

What you need

How to do it

Sit facing your baby and hold out a toy with an open hand and an open expression: 'here you go.'

When they take it, wait a moment, then hold your hand out again and ask for it back: 'can I have it?'

Accept whatever happens. If they keep it, that is fine — offer a different one and swap instead. Handing something over voluntarily is a much later skill than taking.

Why it works

Give-and-take is turn-taking made physical, and it is the earliest form of the reciprocity that conversation and friendship later depend on. Doing it with objects makes an abstract social rule visible and repeatable.