Pincer Grasp Activities for Tot Schoolers

I am working on a list of fine motor skills that Vito has to practise on.  First on the list is the pincer grasp.

Vito recently turned 1 and I’m starting to introduce him to a routine of activities which include developing of fine motor activities, language (reading books and baby signs), nature exploration and more. 

Now, this post is all about his love of dropping cereals and GeoMags in a container. One of the most important fine motor skills that child should develop early on in life is their PINCER GRASP (picking up small objects using index finger and thumb).  This is a basic skill needed to be able to hold a pen, feed themselves, using scissors, manipulating small objects and more.

It started with the cereals (he eats this every morning) and I gave him an empty water bottle and demonstrated how to drop that cereal in the hole.  He was taken right away.  He started mimicking my actions. A few tries, he failed.  But I find it so amazing for this little fellow to try and try and finally succeed!

So cute, how he opens his mouth as he attempts to drop the cereal.  As you can see, I am holding the bottle at first.

He grabbed it from me and attempts to hold the bottle in one hand and using his other hand to drop the cereal.  I was amaze that he’s able to control the movement of his hands for their individual task!  Right hand is in control of the bottle, making sure it doesn’t move so he can drop the cereal easily, and the left hand is in control of the cereal as he try to focus dropping it on that small bottle mouth.  And I have to say, good hand and eye coordination practice as well!

See here, his hands switched roles!  And he can do the job in either hands!

 

Oh and here, doing it again the next day :D

 

Wow! You can’t imagine how happy I am that he was able to do that! And he was so happy as well, and kept on clapping his hands for his major achievement. He’s hooked whenever he works on this activity.

Then a few days, I tried to challenge him by giving him GeoMags.  Now this one is not as small as the cereals and they are of different shape.  It’s tricky for him as he has to position the magnetic stick to a correct orientation so he can drop it.

 

Last material we used is the buttons (from Galt Fun Button).  We these buttons! They’re big enough for little hands to hold.   See in the pictures below how I need to position the tub in different orientation so he can drop it easily.  He cannot do it yet with the tub standing upright.

 

I love that he pushed the buttons more!

 

More tot school activities in the next few days!

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