Fine motor development
A young infant practices eye-hand coordination while holding one or two toys.
Be Prepared: This activity is for a nonmobile infant who is learning to grasp small items with one or two hands. Select small toys that will be of interest to the infant. Toys with faces are often appealing to infants.
Place the infant on his/her back when fully alert and ready to play. Talk with the infant to help him/her feel comfortable. Then place an appealing toy about 12 inches from the infant. Hold the toy steady for several seconds and then move it gently from side to side or in a small circle to attract the infant’s attention to the toy. Describe what you are doing. Then move the toy closer to the infant so it is within easy reach. Encourage the infant to reach for and hold the toy. Avoid putting the toy in the infant’s hand.
If the infant is using one hand to hold the toy, offer a second toy to the infant. The infant may let go of the toy he/she is holding to grasp the second toy, or hold the second toy with his/her other available hand, so he/she is holding one toy in each hand.
Enthusiastically describe the infant’s actions with the toys. Examples: “Wow, Sophie, you are using both of your hands to hold a toy!” “Wow, James, you are holding two toys! You have a toy in each hand!” Point to what you describe. Example: “You have a toy in this hand. And you have a toy in your other hand!”
Fine motor development
Older infants practice coordinating the use of two hands while shaking rattles.
Be Prepared: This activity is for infants who can sit independently or with support. The activity goal of helping infants coordinate the use of two hands in holding an object can be done with an infant holding one rattle with both hands or holding one rattle in each hand. The rattles do not need to be identical. You may wish to include several ball-shaped rattles that prompt use of two hands. Place the rattles in the basket.
Invite 2–3 infants to join you in sitting on the floor to have fun shaking some rattles. Offer the basket of rattles to each infant. Invite each infant to take a rattle from the basket rather than handing a rattle to each infant. The intent is to support reaching and grasping skills. Sit close to the infants and encourage them to shake their rattles. Shake your own rattle gently and use your facial expressions to show enthusiasm.
If an infant is using one hand to hold a rattle, offer a second rattle so the infant has one rattle in each hand.
Describe each infant’s actions. Emphasize that we are making sounds by shaking our rattles. You may wish to make up a simple rhyme or song about shaking our rattles and making sounds.
Fine motor development
Older infants practice bringing both hands together by clapping.
None
Be Prepared: This activity is for mobile infants who can sit independently. Memorize the “Open, Shut Them” rhyme and hand motions as offered below.
Sit on the floor facing several infants. Invite the infants to join you in clapping our hands together. Demonstrate clapping your hands. Encourage the infants to clap their hands with you. Then recite with hand motions the “Open, Shut Them” rhyme. Emphasize clapping your hands and invite infants to clap with you. Maintain eye contact with the infants to support their engagement. Emphasize each word and speak slowly and enthusiastically. Repeat the rhyme and encourage clapping. Infants are not expected to imitate each movement or to say the rhyme. Describe each infant’s actions. Use gestures. Example: “Hosea, your hands are so close together. You are almost clapping your hands!”
Open, Shut Them
Suggested Caregiver Motions
Open, shut them.
[put open hands apart and then together]
Open, shut them.
[put open hands apart and then together]
Give a little clap.
[gently clap hands]
Open, shut them.
[put open hands apart and then together]
Open, shut them.
[put open hands apart and then together]
Put them in your lap.
[place open hands in your lap]
Each activity option offers an opportunity for an infant to use both hands. Toys are a means to this end. Coordinating the use of both hands at the same time takes time to develop, and infants will differ in their readiness to use both hands. In Options 1 and 2, some infants may be more interested in their own hands than in the toy. It is alright to let the infant set the course of the activity. Talk about what the infant is doing with his/her hands.
Infants generally begin to reach for an object with both hands at the same time— about 4–5 months of age—but there will be differences among infants in Options 2 and 3. In addition to the eye-hand coordination tasks of Option 2, there is the opportunity for infants to strengthen their awareness of the cause-effect arrangement of shaking a rattle and hearing a sound.
Option 3 supports the eye-hand coordination of bringing both hands together at the midline. Some infants will engage in clapping and prefer to watch you do the other movements. Repeat parts of the rhyme that seem to be of interest to infants. Example: “You liked putting your hands in your lap. Let’s do it again.” Demonstrate while saying, ‘Put them in your lap!’
The infant’s enjoyment is an important part of each activity. Learning is strengthened in overlapping ways when you and an infant are engaged in a fun activity that is rich with words and action. Some infants may begin to babble to express delight.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: baby gym with toys, cloth-covered sound makers, small toys, books
For short periods of time, young infants may enjoy watching and reaching for toys suspended from a baby gym. Infants who can move around by creeping on their tummies or crawling on hands and knees will enjoy a variety of simple toys to hold and manipulate, such as cloth-covered sound makers. Walking infants will enjoy carrying small objects and manipulating toys on a low surface that allows for standing. Display familiar books, especially board books, for older infants to look at and hold.
Materials Needed: star builders, bristle blocks, large paper and crayons
Support the eye-hand coordination skills of toddlers by providing star builders to take apart. Preschool-age children will benefit from access to a variety of manipulative materials, such as bristle blocks that require coordinated action with two hands. Encourage toddlers and older children to reach across their midline by providing large paper rolled out onto the floor and crayons (rather than markers). Encourage scribbling.
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