They may be content with lying on their backs staring at the ceiling, or playing in their baby gym at first, but soon they’ll want more entertainment.

So how do you keep your baby amused when they can’t read, shove everything in their mouths and have little attention span? Try these ideas …

1 Sing rhymes with actions

Young babies love physical play, so anything that involves tickling (ie Round and Round the Garden) and gently pulling fingers and toes (think This Little Piggy) will have them squealing with joy.

The good news is that babies under four months don’t have long concentration spans, so just a few minutes of playing at any one time is enough to entertain them without over-stimulating them.

2 Play peekaboo

You are your baby’s best playmate, and babies under four months will be endlessly entertained by you pulling different facial expressions, especially if you cover your face and ‘peekaboo’ from behind it.

Try sticking your tongue out – your baby may even start to copy.

3 Show picture cards

Very young babies see contrast more clearly than colour, so simple black and white patterns or shapes can fascinate them (and it can be why they’ll sometimes become fixated on a particular top you’re wearing!).

You can buy picture cards and books, but your baby will love home-made ones just as much. With a thick, black felt-tip pen, draw zig-zagging lines, circles, shapes and simple faces onto white card.

As your baby gets a bit older and can grasp things (around five to six months), you can stick photos of family members into jam jar lids for them to look at and explore.

4 Dance like no-one is watching …

… well, apart from your baby. She’ll love watching you do the actions to rhymes such as Wind the Bobbin Up (you’ll be amazed how one big smile from her quickly makes you forget your initial embarrassment).

But she’ll be equally entertained by you throwing some shapes on your living room dance floor to the latest chart topper.

5 Look at picture books

Start looking at books together from the word go and you’ll not only entertain your baby now, but help her future learning, too.

Even before they can speak, babies love looking at bright pictures and listening to the sound of your reading. You will get a Bookstart Baby pack in your baby’s first year, usually from your health visitor or other health professional. And don’t forget your local library

Or check out these best board books for babies and best books for one year olds.

6 Have some puppet fun

As babies get to around four months, they can focus their attention for a bit longer. Take your cue from them and don’t force play upon them if they start to get distracted and look away.

Babies of this age LOVE puppets. You don’t have to buy expensive ones – a sock on the hand will do, or just use one of their cuddly toys and move the arms and legs around.

The most important aspect is the talking – your baby will love listening to you do funny voices or sounds and it teaches her that listening to voices is fun.

7 Shake it up

Homemade rattles and drums are cheap to make and help develop your baby’s motor skills (how she moves her body, hands and fingers).

Make a rattle or shaker by filling small, empty plastic bottles with dried pasta or beans, remembering to glue the lid on tightly so your baby can’t get to the contents. You can even brighten your shaker up with coloured tape (again, securely attached!).

Drums can be fashioned from objects around the house – saucepans and wooden spoons are a noisy, but popular, choice with most babies. Start by showing her how to shake or drum yourself, then as she gets to five or six months and can grasp objects, gradually encourage her to do it herself.

8 Play with water

As babies start to learn to kick their legs and wave their arms at around two months, they’ll love to explore this movement in water. And as they get older, splashing about in the bath, paddling pool or swimming pool, or even just with a washing up bowl, gets more and more fun.

Try pouring water on to the tummies of babies too young to sit up, then add interest with squirters, jugs, colanders and funnels (and anything else unbreakable) as they get big enough to hold and play with things.

If the weather is nice, sit her outside with a bowl of water and some spoons and paint brushes. Let her experiment with ‘painting’ on the patio with water.

Remember never to leave a baby alone with water, though – even if it's just a small amount.

9 Mirror movements

Your baby will love mirroring games, where you copy what she is doing.

For younger babies, copy small movements – blink if she blinks, smile if she smiles, reach out to her when she reaches out to you.

Older babies will like doing more adventurous moves – stretching out arms, hiding faces, clapping hands. This is a great game to play if you’re stuck in the queue at the supermarket and have your baby in the trolley in front of you.