Infancy - Improving Your Baby's Fine and Gross Motor Skills - Cognitive

Manual dexterity is directly tied to cognitive development. It's through the hands that your baby demonstrates the link between thought and action. 

4 to 6 Months

This is a crucial period in the development of your baby's fine motor skills. The baby will start to learn to coordinate it's thoughts with his hand movements. . He'll also begin to grab his own hands and feet and transfer objects from hand to hand. This type of exploration teaches your child cause and effect and shows him that his actions have an impact on the world.

Here's how to enhance their fine motor skills and coordination:

• -Play pat-a-cake or "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" with your baby to help improve her coordination.
• -Press a soft block between your baby's hands for practice holding toys.
• -Shift your baby's positions frequently. Their motor skills are challenged in different ways and develop more thoroughly.

• 10 to 12 Months

  During this stage, your baby refines what she knows and moves on to harder tasks, such as learning how to operate her fingers independently of one another.
  • -Babies this age understand dozens of words, so ask your child to perform tasks that challenge her motor coordination and her understanding of cause and effect, such as squeezing a squeaky toy.
  • -Let your baby do things on their own. This allows them to practice her skills and promotes independence