“It’s not a joke, it’s true! The hand movement will promote the development of infants and young children’s speech, cognitive development, is a very important foundation for the development of children’s abilities throughout their lives. Speaking of fine motor, let’s take a look at the development pattern of the baby’s hand fine motor at each month of age: Months: 0-1 month Basic skills: grip reflex. Skill analysis: newborn palms clenched fist-like, occasionally open. At this stage, the activities of the baby’s palms are reflexive. If the mother gently places her fingers on the baby’s open palm, he may have a very brief grasp reflex and then release it. Age: 2 months New skills: thumbs begin to unfold and visual sensitivity increases. Skill Explanation: Beginning to gaze, or follow objects with gaze, which is the basis of grasping action. Skill reinforcement: When babies are one or two months old, parents can often use their fingers or toys with handles to touch their little palms to encourage them to grasp, and this can be “trained” 3 to 5 times a day. Use toys that make sounds to move in front of the baby to attract the baby to follow the toy and guide the baby to touch it with their hands. Age: 3 months New skills: grip reflex disappears, likes to play and watch hands on the chest, likes to put hands and toys into the mouth. Months old: 4 months New skills: can grasp toys. Skill reinforcement: entrance teether and oral skill trainer can be used to promote baby’s grasping ability, while meeting baby’s oral exploration needs. New skills to kill: ★ Baby likes to put things in his mouth because, when baby is playing, mom and dad must pay attention to baby’s safety. Months old: 5 months New skills: can grasp objects within reach of small hands. Skill reinforcement: Mom and Dad can use brightly colored toys, such as small colored balls, colored sticks, rattles, etc., placed in front of the child’s eyes and small hands can reach, to tease the baby to grasp, to hold, training hand and eye coordination, to promote small hand movement. Months: 6-7 months New skills: can grasp the toy well to play freely, will transfer the toy from one hand to the other. Skill reinforcement: You can let your baby play with toys, such as switching toys from one hand to the other, and hitting one toy with another. Give your baby a small drum and clap the sound with your hand is a new discovery for your baby. Mothers should demonstrate to your baby at the beginning and play the rhythm with your baby by playing the drum to stimulate your baby’s hand development movement. Months: 8 months New skills: Baby’s palms are fully expanded and he learns to use his thumb and index finger to hold objects flat. Skill reinforcement: Begin to teach your child to pinch objects with the thumb and index or middle finger pairs, you can train your baby to take teething cookies and teething sticks to eat by themselves, and develop your baby’s self-care skills. Months 9-10 months New skills: Grasp objects more flexibly and begin to hold things with the finger and the tip of the thumb. Skill reinforcement: Under the demonstration of mommy and daddy, babies practice grasping and pinching small balls, small beans and other objects. New skills to kill: ★ At this time, the baby can hold the drinking cup by themselves to drink water, but mothers also need to pay attention to the baby after drinking water, like to play with the water cup, will get the clothes wet, or timely help the baby take away the water cup. Little babies can crawl, often picking up “little babies” that parents do not notice. Parents should pay special attention to the baby activity place to thoroughly sweep in advance, so that the baby does not accidentally eat. Age: 10-12 months New skills: can put down and pick up objects in their hands at will. Skill reinforcement: at 10 months of age, babies can play ball tossing, lassoing and play hide the toy games with their babies, and begin to match the corresponding language. New skill killing power: ★★★ The increased hand activity also increases the danger, mom and dad should pay attention. Age: 12 months and beyond After the child reaches the age of 12, hand training should be developed to a higher level, such as teaching them to eat, wash their faces, put on clothes, tie buttons and shoelaces, and use spoons. When they are older, they should be taught to use chopsticks. Chopsticks are good for brain development. To start, give them a small pair of chopsticks and teach them to use them to grasp, pick, and hold food. Chopsticks are good for brain development in infants. Don’t restrict your child’s small hands The hands are the main organ of human activity and an important organ for recognizing objects. Therefore, mothers and fathers should not restrict their babies from touching this and that because they are afraid of being dirty or dangerous, which actually restricts the development of the baby’s small hand movements, which is tantamount to limiting the baby’s brain development. Mom and dad usually exercise their babies according to the different stages of fine motor development, the more refined the movement of the baby’s fingers, the smarter the brain will be, which is what we usually say is handy, handy mind! The baby’s growth and development is individually different, so moms should not blindly compare themselves to avoid unnecessary anxiety, which is also detrimental to the baby’s growth. If your baby’s development is lagging behind a lot, you still need to go to a professional medical institution for testing and early intervention and rehabilitation, which will be beneficial for your baby’s life.