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Did you know that there are things you can do as a parent to help boost your baby’s motor skills? Young babies learn fine motor skills with practice as they grow older. The more opportunity they have to practice, the quicker they will master these skills. While all children learn at their own pace, there are things you can do to help your baby along.

Here are some of the things your baby can do to improve motor skills:

• When feeding your baby, give her a spoon to hold while you feed her with another. This teaches hand-eye coordination and will help her learn to feed herself more quickly. It also pleases most babies to feel they are doing part of the work.
• When feeding baby finger foods, give her plastic kitchen utensils like measuring cups and let her practice putting the foods in and out of there.
• Allow your baby to play with plastic stacking cups or bowls.
• Play games with finger foods such as creating a trail and having your baby follow it to the end to eat a snack.

Always remember to monitor your baby well while she is eating, especially finger foods or new foods. Picking up small objects like finger foods is great for hand-eye coordination but can be a danger if she picks up small objects that are not meant to be eaten. This cna be a real choking hazard so watch baby close.

As a parent or baby childcare provider, it’s our jobs to give our children the best start in life. One way to help do this is to foster learning such as through baby’s fine motor skills.