Small Muscle Development Activities for Infants

Purpose

• Small muscle or fine motor skill development activities encourage the development of a baby̵7;s eye-hand coordination and use of the small muscles in the hands and fingers to accomplish a variety of tasks. A baby̵7;s early play with her hands provides a means for eventually developing the coordination needed to use her hands to do things like grasp, hold, eat, draw, cut, write, button, tie and zip zippers.

Developmental Milestones

• An infant̵7;s first hand movements are reflex movements. By 3 months of age, a baby swipes at objects but lacks control over his movements. He often closes his hands too early or too late to grasp an object. Toys placed in his hands may not remain there for long. By 9 months of age an infant usually has sufficient eye-hand coordination to pick up objects. Fine motor control continues to develop until around 1 year of age when he can bang objects together and put objects into and take them out of a container. By 18 months he has the ability to maintain a good holding grip and scribble with a crayon.

Methods

• With a few well-chosen objects available, babies will naturally engage in activities promoting small muscle development. Provide toys for infants such as rattles, stacking toys, blocks and shape sorters to encourage eye-hand coordination. Offer a baby finger foods such as small round pieces of ready-to-eat cereal or pieces of soft, well-cooked vegetables. By allowing a baby to feed herself, you are providing an opportunity for her to develop her pincer grasp, the ability to pick up objects with the forefinger and thumb.

Considerations

• The first year of life is a prime time for motor development. Babies typically work on developing large motor skills, such as crawling and walking, before fine motor skills. Children will spend several years developing and refining their fine motor skills. Although parents should monitor such development, they should be patient and remember that each child is different. Because children will master fine motor skills at different rates, comparing one child to another is often not necessary or helpful.