As I gathered all of the ingredients for the dinner, my 10 month old followed me into the kitchen and he observed everything from bowls, kitchen utensils, to cups and at that time I realized the simplest things can keep him intrigued and attentive. I noticed that I do not need to bring his bouncer, fancy toys or even letting hims watch baby videos into the kitchen while I cook, rather those kitchen utensils were just as entertaining, especially since that two million neural connections are produced in your baby's brain every second in the beginning of their life.
"You don't take a class; you're thrown into motherhood and learn from experience." - Jennie Finch
Here I collected some 6 simple fine motor developmental activities for your baby and very easy too, to say the least. Welcome to motherhood, where it is our responsibility to guide our little one's to growing and developing. Expensive toys are not always necessary for helping their fine motor skills to develop so what better way to help them develop than it is to find common household items and easy ways for them to develop through sensory play?
What is sensory play? Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your baby's sense of touch, taste, smell, sight or hearing. Encouraging your little one to utilize their sense of creativity, exploration, to play, learn and explore even from the simplest of things will do just fine.
1. FOOD SENSORY BIN
Here I used storage containers such as tupperware to put baby snacking food or cereal into and this allows your baby to touch and feel different textures of food while being able to eat it at the same time which encourages self-feeding. I used baby finger food in one tupperware and in another I used oats because it has a different texture so your baby can learn the difference in texture, leading to improvement in their sensory skills.
2. USING KITCHEN UTENSILS OR HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
As items that are sometimes overlooked, your baby will enjoy and benefit exploring the pots, pans, bowls, whisks, cups and spatula's. I let my baby use his creativity and imagination by giving him various kitchen utensils such as a soup bowl, a mixing bowl, a cooking spoon, whisk, and cups.
He loved making noises with these items which also encourages his hearing sensory development. We are definitely using this sensory play activity more often especially since he can play with these items, while I cook and prepare food. Before he used to cry and try to crawl and grab on to my leg because he wanted my attention while I was cooking but now this activity helps a LOT! After play with these items, just be aware it might get messy and leave an unorganized appearance but at the end of the day, it is OK to have a mess because sometimes the more messy motherhood can be the more we adore it, leading to adoring motherhood.
3. EXPLORING BOOKS AND/OR BOOKSHELVES
There is something so entertaining for my baby about being able to go to a book shelf and take down the books and look at them one by one and explore each one. He develops fine motor skills by flipping through the pages and flaps.
4. READING A FINGER PUPPET BOOK
Cognitively beneficial, reading a finger puppet book to your baby encourages interactive play, hand-eye coordination. Your baby can touch and feel the puppet which is also a part of sensory play development. I used Twinkle Twinkle Finger Puppet Board Book by Cottage Door Press and it can be found on Amazon, Amazon Japan and Target in the USA.
5. DROPPING AND RELEASING ITEMS INTO CONTAINERS
Dropping and releasing items into containers is also another developmental milestone. This activity is also simple and easy to do with your baby because it just involves getting a container or a toy box and getting items, such as blocks to drop them into and releasing into it as well as picking them up. This activity is so important because your baby's voluntary movement and reaching objects is simultaneously developing fine motor skills contributing to his/her developmental milestone.
6. CLAPPING
The next baby developmental milestone and a sensory activity is CLAPPING! Clapping, in general, improves heart health and improve blood pressure and for babies it is also beneficial because it is also linked to cognitive skills. Clapping can also lead to happiness and validation encouraging the baby to be aware of positive emotion. So clap away, and have fun and smile with your baby !
To see the the full video on these 6 Simple Sensory Activities for your Baby, please check out :
7. PLAYING OUTSIDE : NATURE SENSORY
Playing outside in nature has so many benefits for all ages, especially for babies. Outdoor play provides an environment that encourages a calming and alert state of being, and also encourages body awareness. Outdoor sensory play can encourage exploration, which also helps children and babies to focus on all of the senses. Nature also is home to many new and interesting sounds and different textures.
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