Your baby’s hands will develop more strength when he has reached 5 months old, and his span of activities becomes larger. He can even play while in a sitting posture. But why do some babies seem obsessed and enjoy playing with all the toys around while some others do not and just acting like a bore?
Baby at this age is still undergoing an initial stage of development, even with strength developed in their hands. Therefore, training has to be given to further strengthen his fine movements and coordination. Some toys may require agile and immediate response, which may be somewhat difficult for babies who still have not managed to control his finger movements well. This would kill their interest and patience while finding the playtime boring.
Image source: Fisher-Price
For a better playtime and achievement of major milestones, your encouragement of exercising his hands as much as possible, to boost upper limb agility, is important. By improving fine motor movements and hand-eye coordination, his ability to control the limbs and possess stronger hand strength to develop full physical development would be enhanced.
“Press the button" trains fine motor movements and upper limb agility
You can find some props which react differently according to different actions, which would help your baby to move more his upper limbs. Fisher-Price’s Kick & Play Piano Gym can produce pre-recorded sounds and music when your baby presses the piano keys. Not only can he get a better sense of accomplishment which enhances the enthusiasm to play, but also by repeat pressing of the piano keys would fully exercise every joint on his little fingers. This gradually improves the dexterity of movements, while strengthening the agility of his upper limb.
Image source: Fisher-Price | how to improve fine motor skills
Interactive games train hand reflexes and promote upper limb agility
If you can design an interactive game to strengthen the baby’s hand reaction during playtime, it will be very effective in improving the baby’s upper limb agility. For example, when you are playing the “piano" with your baby, you can guide his hand to press the red key by giving the baby “command" simply saying “Press the red one!". As time goes by, he will be able to respond to the action according to different sounds. He would even understand quickly the meaning of your instruction of pressing the key in a specific colour. This would boost his hands’ reflexes as well as the agility of the upper limb.
Building blocks games trains hand-eye coordination and improves upper limb agility
Building blocks game is a good way to develop baby’s hand-eye coordination and improve upper limb agility. You can place Fisher-Price’s Play & Learn Activity Cube in front of the baby, this would encourage him to reach out for different shapes of building blocks, or piling them up and knocking them down; you can also let him grab the triangular and circular blocks, then search and fit into the corresponding notches on the six-sided box. This process is beneficial for him to relate things viewed and hand movements, as well as to improve his hand-eye coordination hence the development of upper limb agility.
Image source: Fisher-Price | how to improve fine motor skills
Baby’s development is a step-by-step process. Practice makes perfect and every milestone is interrelated with one another through learning under your care and guidance. When he learns how to control each finger to grab a toy for you, you will definitely melt in the joy of seeing growth in your baby.
This article was contributed by Fisher-Price and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
All parenting advice in this article is only intended for reference. We recommend that you consult your healthcare provider for help and advice.
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