Using Hands to Play

It is important for older babies to use their hands together for play (and for many self care tasks as they grow up). Here are a few tips to promote what we call "bilateral hand skills":
-Give baby something safe to hold in each hand such as (interlocking) rings, blocks, rattles, shapes. They will first just hold them, then you can show them how to bang them together.
-Have baby reach across their body to reach for toys. You can place all of the shapes on one side of your baby and have them reach across their body to get each shape to then place into the open shape sorter on the other side of their body. We call this "crossing midline" and it helps establish bilateral coordination.
-Give baby a plastic spice jar and have them practice taking the top on and off, and placing Cheerios into the jar.