Fine Motor Skills: Birth to 2 years
Generally thought of as the movement and use of hands and upper extremities, fine motor skills include reaching, grasping and manipulating objects with your hands. This is a list of fine motor skills children should demonstrate between the ages of 0-2 years.
Age |
Milestone |
3 months |
- Holds small object in hand (without thumb tucked in hand)
|
5 months |
- Reaches for toy
- Briefly holds toy
|
6 months |
- Follows objects with eyes in all directions
|
7 months |
- Transfers objects from one hand to the other
|
8 months |
- Keeps hands open and relaxed most of the time
- Starting to have ability to pick up small foods, like Cheerios
|
10 months |
- Able to release an object voluntarily
- Gives toy to caregiver when asked
|
14 months |
- Likes to explore, turn pages of cardboard books
|
15 months |
- Puts objects/toys in a container
|
16 months |
- Uses both hands to play
- Points at objects with index finger
- Can isolate index finger with other fingers closed
|
17 months |
- Can build a block tower using 3-4 blocks
|
Suggestions for Helping Your Infant Develop Fine Motor Skills
Help develop MOTOR SKILLS
As the development of vision and the sense of touch is important to the development of motor skills. Children need to be able to see and feel what is in their hands in order to interact with or manipulate objects.
Help your infant develop VISUAL SKILLS by:
Getting Close …Young babies like to look at faces. A parent's face is very expressive and possesses contrast which encourages babies to focus and use their visual skills. Position your face about 12" from your baby's face. Sing, talk and make silly faces!
Choosing Color …As babies get to be 3-6 months old they begin to enjoy objects with increasing color. Three-month-olds often like "cool colors"- lemon yellow, sky blue and lime green. Six-month-olds are getting ready for brighter colors - hot pink, red and orange.
