Fine motor development
Infants practice coordinating the use of their hands to play with toy musical instruments.
Sit close to several infants who can sit with or without support. Say the name of each instrument as you point to or hold it. Explain that we can make sounds with our toys. Demonstrate how to use two hands to make a sound with each item, one toy at a time. Emphasize that you are using both hands. Hold up both hands as you describe them. Example: “These are my hands. I am using both of my hands to tap our drum. Tap, tap, tap. The drum is making a sound.”
Use both of your hands to offer one instrument to each infant. Offer an instrument in a way that encourages the infant to use both hands to take the instrument from you. Refrain from simply putting a toy in front of an infant. Then encourage each infant to use both of his/her hands to make a sound with the instrument.
Describe each infant’s actions with a toy. Point out that the toy makes a sound when we gently hit our hand or a finger on part of the toy. Help infants trade toys if interested and encourage continued use of both hands to make sounds. Conclude the activity by reminding infants that we used our hands to make sounds.
Larger toy instruments are recommended for this activity because they promote the use of both hands for holding or moving, including taking the toy from you as suggested in the activity plan. The sound-making toys will be of interest to most infants. Using both hands to make a sound may be novel for some infants. Offer your initial demonstration of using both hands with a toy when infants are focused on you. Consider offering another demonstration if an infant uses one hand exclusively. It is not necessary to use both hands to make a sound with an instrument, of course, and infants will differ in their readiness to coordinate the use of both hands. Look for opportunities to emphasize the cause-effect nature of playing with the instrument. Example: “Wow, Samantha. You used your hands to push keys on our piano. And the piano made a sound!” Acknowledge each infant’s approach to the instruments.
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
An older infant practices turning pages of a board book.
Be Prepared: This activity is for an older infant who shows beginning interest in and ability to turn the pages of a book, such as using his/her thumb and index (pointer) finger to pick up small items or poking an index finger into a toy or book that has holes. The activity described below offers focused support in learning how to turn the pages of a board book. It is an in-depth complement to ELM’s book sharing activity plans for infants, which consistently suggest inviting an older infant to help turn the pages of a book.
Identify a book of interest to the infant from this activity’s Optional Reading list or your classroom’s library. The examples of engagement strategies offered in this activity plan are from Noisy Farm by Tiger Tales.
[Sit next to an infant and invite him/her to look at the book with you.]
We can look at this book together.
[Point to and describe key features of the book’s cover. Example: “Our book is about farm animals. Here is a cow. Cows are animals. Cows live on farms. Look at the cow’s big ears. Here is the cow’s mouth. The cow says “moo.”]
We need to turn the page of our book to find out what else happens. I am going to turn the page of our book to see what happens next.
[Slowly demonstrate turning the first page, lifting with your index finger as you describe your action.]
I used my finger to turn a page of our book. You have a finger, too. Where is your finger?
[Encourage the infant to hold up his/her finger.
Read part or all of the text on the page. Point to and describe any illustrations on the page that correspond to the text. Example: “Here is a lamb. Look at the picture of a lamb jumping!”]
I used my finger to point to the lion shown in our book. You can use your finger to point to something in our book.
[Invite the infant to point to an image on a page. Example: “There is another animal on this page. Would you please point to the other animal?” Emphasize that the infant used his/her finger to point. Example: “You used your finger to point. You pointed to a picture of a horse.”]
We need to turn a page of our book so we can find out what happens. Would you please turn a page for us?
[Encourage the infant to use his/her index finger to lift the page. Describe the infant’s action in turning a page. Continue this pattern of reading the book, inviting the infant to turn pages, and describing how we use our finger to turn a page.]
We shared a book together. You turned the pages of the book so we could find out what happens next in our book. Thank you for helping us look at our book!
[Encourage the infant to gently return the book to its customary location. Emphasize that carrying the book with both hands and gently putting it in its location are part of taking good care of our books.]
Regular reminders of when to turn a page are helpful prompts. Describing how we use our finger to turn a page can also be helpful. Infants benefit from hearing important words used repeatedly. The point in which you offer these reminders in the session may change as the infant becomes more familiar with the process. The first several times the infant is invited to turn a page, it may be useful to describe how we use a finger. After several instances of turning a page, the description of finger use can be offered after the infant turns a page. Watch the infant’s page-turning attempts to determine when your mention of using a finger can be offered after (vs. before) the infant’s page turn. Note the activity description also recommends offering a periodic reminder of why we turn a page.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials needed: texture mat, touch-and-feel texture books (such as Beep! Beep! by DK Publishing, Puppies and Kittens by DK Publishing, and Noisy Farm by Tiger Tales), shape sorter, pop-up boxes, an Oball® toy
Non-mobile infants enjoy feeling textures with their fingers. Place the texture mat in an area free of other toys. Some infants may like to roll over the mat. Young infants will also enjoy looking at picture books arranged on the floor. Sit close to a non-mobile infant to turn pages and describe pictures.
Items that early mobile infants can put into containers, and then dump out, can foster fine motor skills. Display books in novel places for infants to discover. Sit with 1–2 infants at a time to look at picture books with textures. The books suggested above have texture and pictures that will interest most infants. Example: Noisy Farm has buttons that activate animal sounds. Some infants may activate the sound buttons in Noisy Farm with one finger. Younger infants can press the button using their whole hand.
In selecting play materials for a week, consider toys that foster the fine motor skills of mobile infants who are exploring the use of thumb and index finger together. Possibilities include a shape sorter, pop-up boxes, and the Oball® toy.
Materials Needed: paper, stapler, shoelaces, cardboard, maze puzzles, thin marker, sound makers, and musical instruments that promote use of both hands
In addition to offering the activity options for infants, offer ways to promote the fine motor skills of older children in your setting. Encourage preschool-age children to draw in a homemade blank book. (Fold three sheets of copy paper in half and staple at the fold. Make the blank books ahead of time and give one to each preschool child.) Show children how to open their book and press their hand along the fold to create pages that will open easily.
Lacing cards also fosters the fine motor skills of preschool-age and older children. Homemade lacing materials can be made with shoelaces and cardboard. Older children may enjoy solving maze puzzles while practicing a pencil grip on a thin marker.
For an informal gathering with a mixed-age group, give each child sound makers for each hand or instruments that require both hands, such as a tambourine. Ask older children to help you sing familiar songs. Encourage all children to use the instruments to make pleasing sounds together.
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