Toys to guide baby to find their hands & develop fine motor skills
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Books full of texture provide tactile sensory input that alerts baby to what they are feeling and helps direct their attention to their hands.
Wrist rattles and sock rattles give a subtle sounds to help baby look toward what’s making that noise. Love that this set includes both to work on finding their hands and feet, both huge milestones!
Textured teethers with open handles give baby a chance to learn about their hands as they explore their mouth.
Play gyms are one of my very favorite ways to target fine motor and visual motor development as baby moves from batting toward toys to reaching and grasping. Giving lots of opportunities with toys suspended over them gives them more chance to get a glimpse of their hands as they move it outward to hit at the toys. The Lovevery play gym is my favorite for the simplicity and intention of each component. The mat includes textures, crinkles, and a subtle bell, basically everything that’s included in the rest of the list in one toy!
The O Ball rattle helps develop grasp as baby moves from having a reflexive grasp (just clamping down on anything) to an intentional grasp. I love using this as a target when they are lying on their sides to get them to bring their hands together. Supervised play in side lying, sometimes with a rolled blanket to their back for comfort, helps them see their hands more as they’re playing without having to hold them straight out the whole time.
Crinkle toys are amazing for tactile sensory input to the hands. I love that this one also has the teether feet to give a good variety of input!
Toy tissue box is one of my favorite toys across the first year. They can learn so much from us swiping those different textured tissues in their hands in early infancy. The toy grows with them as they learn to pull them out and then eventually work toward release skills and putting toys into containers.
