Fine motor development
A young infant participates in hand and arm movements at and across the midline guided by a caregiver.
None
Place the infant on his/her back on the floor. Engage the infant in the activity only when he/she is alert and seems ready for some action. Use a playful and gentle approach to moving the infant’s hands to a rhyme or song of your choice. Use your voice, not a recording. Slowly move the infant’s hands/arms at or across the midline as follows: (1) hands up and down the midline at the same time; (2) hands from side to side across the midline at the same time; and (3) clapping hands at the midline, near the center of the infant’s chest. Maintain eye contact and a big smile throughout the activity. Talk with the infant about how we are moving our hands. Stop if the infant protests or pulls his/her hands away. Conclude the activity with enthusiastic comments. Describe the infant’s participation. The activity should last about one minute.
Fine motor development
An older infant participates in guided play that encourages bringing both hands, or crossing both hands, at the midline.
Be Prepared: Select two different small toys that are related in type. The toys should be no bigger than the infant’s palm. The activity description below uses animal toys, such as those shown in the picture.
Sit on the floor facing an infant who can sit independently or with support. Be sure an infant feels secure before you begin the play with toys.
Present one toy for the infant to grasp and hold with one or both hands. Support interest in the toy by acknowledging the infant’s reaction. Example: “Mateo, I see a big smile. You like this little turtle toy!” Offer the second toy. Encourage the infant to hold one toy in each hand. Most infants will be interested in exploring the toys by mouthing them.
Hold two toys, one in each hand at your midline at about the center of your chest. Show your toys to the infant. Tap your two toys together in a playful manner at your midline. Describe what you are doing. Example: “My animals go tap, tap, tap.” Invite the infant to tap his/her animals together. Example: “Would you like to tap your animals?” Demonstrate tapping the animals together. Enthusiastically acknowledge any infant effort to move his/her toys to the midline.
Below are two additional ways to encourage the infant to bring his/her hands (toys) to the midline:
Describe the infant’s actions with his/her toys, especially efforts to bring the toys to the midline.
If a toy drops, wait for the infant to reach for the toy. Explain: “The turtle fell down. You can get it.” Some infants may look at you or vocalize. Ask “Would you like help?”
If an infant attempts to put a toy to your mouth, simply reply in a cheerful manner. “No thanks. Let’s make the animals dance.”
The activity may last for a few minutes or maybe less.
Fine motor development
Older infants participate in a game of reaching across the midline to catch floating toys in a water tub.
Be Prepared: Prepare a sensory tub with a few inches of warm water. Place small toys that float, such as shapes, into a container. The toys should be small enough for infants to hold.
Invite 2–3 infants who can readily stand to play a game of catching toys that are floating in a tub. Drop a toy from the container into the tub to demonstrate how to catch it. The toy will move slightly after being dropped into the water. Use one hand/arm to reach for the toy and use your other hand to nudge the floating toy to your “reaching” hand. Then grasp the toy with both hands. If you anticipate this two-step approach to using both hands will be too challenging, demonstrate using both of your hands to catch a floating toy.
Drop a set of toys from the container into the water, let the toys float briefly, and then encourage the infants to reach for and catch a toy. Describe each infant’s actions. Example: “Robert caught a star! He used both hands.” Invite infants to place their “caught” toy in the container that you manage. Drop the toys back into the water for a repeat of the activity.
Avoid competition. You may wish to drop into the water only as many toys as there are infants at the tub and invite infants to catch one toy per drop.
Encourage infants to use both hands. After the initial drop of toys, encourage infants to catch a toy that involves movement of their hands across the midline. You may wish to drop the toys in areas of the tub that promote moving across the midline.
Each of the three activity options offers age-appropriate support for moving hands at or across the midline. Joining hands together (typically 3–4 months of age) and reaching across the midline (6+ months) involve coordination of both sides of the body. These actions are related to important aspects of brain development, as described in the ELM Curriculum User Guide for infants and toddlers, and continue to be refined over the first 3–4 years of life.
In Option 1, it is important to use your (vs. a recorded) voice so you can vary the tempo and volume in response to the infant’s responses. This brief activity could be done at the beginning of another activity with a young infant.
In Option 2, anticipate that an infant may not imitate your actions and will want to use the toys in his/her way. Positively acknowledge the infant’s uses of the toys. After a short period of exploring the toys as the infant wishes, consider placing the infant without the toys on your lap for an adaptation of Option 1. In Option 2, an infant who is teething may be mostly interested in chewing the toy. Offer a teething toy. If a teething toy does not help the infant focus on the toys, offer guided play with the toys at a later time.
The floating toys in Option 3 add a little challenge visually to the task of reaching for a toy. Use a lower, slower drop if the amount of floating is a concern for infants.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: sound makers (such as ball with beads inside), water mat
For nonmobile infants, arrange on the floor play materials that will make a sound when moved, such as a ball with beads inside. Hold sound makers for nonmobile infants to kick or swipe.
For early mobile infants, place the water mat (used in Cognitive Option 1 in this block) on the floor and encourage infants to push on the mat with both hands at the same time. The result will be visible movements of the toys inside the mat.
Sit on the floor to observe mobile infants at play. Watch for and comment on hand actions that bring hands and/or feet to the midline. Example: If an infant begins to move his/her feet together and apart, encourage him/her to try it again.
Materials Needed: blue painter’s tape, paper stars, board book Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Caroline Jayne Church
Provide additional materials to encourage infants to cross the midline with their hands. One possibility is to make small loops of blue painter’s tape and attach a small paper star to each one. Tape the stars in your home’s play area at heights infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children can reach. Encourage children to reach for a star with one hand and then with the opposite hand. For a related experience, hang a few small stars over the diaper table. Hold an infant so he/she can swipe at the stars with one hand and the other.
Another possibility is to share the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star board book with children and then encourage them to pretend to catch stars. Emphasize reaching across the midline to catch pretend stars. You may wish to sing the first verse of “Catch a Falling Star” (see an online source for the lyrics, tune, and motions).
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