Teaching a Baby to Play Pat-a-Cake

General Interest

Aug 22

Developing Skills Through Play

“Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man, Bake me a cake, as fast as you can; Pat it, prick it, and mark it with B, Put it in the oven for baby and me.”

Here is a great video showing a mom interacting with her baby using the rhyme Pat-a-Cake.

Why not try this with your child? I like doing this babies sitting in my lap as I direct their hands through the gestures. Older children will be able to clap their hands as you hold them. Watch the video and try it yourself!

Here are some good reasons for playing Pat-a-Cake:

When you interact with children through hands on poetry games like pat-a-cake, you help them develop:

Attention skills
Listening skills,
Pre-reading skills…
Communication skills
Phonemic awareness skills
Coordination skills
Relationship skills

…and on and on. You name it. Enjoy!

Meg Rayborn Dawson

Meg Rayborn Dawson is a homeschooling mom of 9 and the author of Dyslexic No More: Saved by the ABC’s. She holds an MS in Exceptional Student Education with a focus on Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of West Florida, an MA in Psychology from Grand Canyon University, and a BA from Northwest Nazarene University.