Infant Fine Motor
After completing an activity please fill out the Activity Completion Log.
Fill the Jug: Picking Up and Turning
What you’ll need:
1) Two empty containers with one large opening and one small opening
2) Items that can fit in the containers (crayons, drinking straws cut into pieces, balls)
What you’ll do:
1) Sit with your child and show them the crayons/balls with the container
2) Show your child how to put the crayons or balls into the container
3) Switch container sizes based on your child’s ability to put the crayons or balls into the container
4) After items have been put into the container, flip the container over to get the items out
5) Encourage your child to try on their own
Holding and Dropping
Choose a toy that the baby can close her hand around easily, such as a soft animal or a rattle. Hold the toy so the baby can see it.
Touch the toy to the inside of her hand so that her fingers close around it as you describe it. Let go of the toy so that she can feel herself holding it.
Repeat the game each time she drops the toy.
Encourage her to use each hand to hold the toy by saying, “What about your other hand? Can you hold your rattle with this hand?”
Bath Tub Painting
Increase fine motor skills while introducing art and painting to your baby by painting in the bathtub. Give your baby a clean paintbrush and encourage him/ her to paint the walls with the water.
Post-it Pull
What you’ll need:
1) Post-its
What you’ll do:
1) Use the post-its and stick them to a low part of the wall for your baby to reach.
2) Put post-its on varying heights to challenge your baby to reach higher parts.
3) Show your baby how to pull the post-its off the wall and let them try.
This activity helps your baby practice hand-eye coordination, the pincer grip problem solving, and bending and stretching!
Teaching Strategies
At Arm’s Reach
Primary Objectives
7a. Uses fingers and hands
Why It’s Important
When they are very young, children begin to move their bodies purposefully. You promote your child’s gross-and fine-motor development when you provide them with experiences that encourage them to move, reach, and stretch.
Materials
Blanket; Basket of small toys
What You Do
1. This activity is appropriate only for infants who are able to support their body weight enough for tummy-time activities.
2. Spread the blanket on the floor in an area where your child will be protected from other activity in the room.
3. Place your child on her tummy on the blanket. Show her a toy and describe it to her. Ex. Look, I have a blue and white rattle.
4. Put the toy on the blanket just at arm’s reach for your child so that she has to stretch her arm out to grab it.
5. Give her time to shake, mouth, and touch the toy.
6. When she shows you she is ready for a new experience, place another toy just at arm’s reach for her to grab.
7. Encourage her to use the opposite arm by placing the toy within closer reach of the arm she did not previously use.
8. Repeat the interaction for as long as your child is interested. Pay particular attention to her activity level. It is hard work for your child to lie on her tummy and reach for toys. You may notice that she is beginning to have a hard time supporting her head and neck, she is no longer reaching for objects, or she has an unhappy look on her face. When your child shows you that she is finished or that her body is tired, help her change position so she can rest her muscles.