Noah has been working on his pincer grasp (which is a huge milestone for any child) for awhile and he has not quite mastered it yet. Noah is motor driven, just not fine motor driven.
We’ve talked about the development of a child’s grasp previously and how understanding your child’s grasp determines what they are able to interact with from food to toys. Once I understood Noah’s grasp, I realized that I was asking a lot for him to pick up puffs at 9 months of age and so I switched to a banana which he was able to bring to his mouth with ease.
Our occupational therapist has given us several activities to work on to help him develop his pincer grasp which is last stage of grasp development. Feel free to try some of these with your child.
Socks make an inexpensive occupational therapy tool!
I am not going to lie, there are a few activities that we don’t do at home, and one reason Noah may be lacking in his pincer grasp is it is not a top priority at home. (Like we always say, we aren’t perfect parents by any means.) 🙂
Our occupational therapist told us we could but socks on his hands with a hole cut out for his pointer finger and thumb so that he can only use his pincer grasp to pick things up. We were not big fans of this, but it does work.
“Ok, what’s next?”
Putting pick up foods in an ice tray forces Noah to use just his pointer and thumb to pick up food. It is the only two fingers that fit down into those tight spaces. I will admit this works great and Noah used those fingers without problems with this method. We should do this more now that I am thinking of it.
Check out that grasping awesomeness!
This is an activity that must be closely watched as you are going to use items that are marked for age 3+ due to choking hazards. Our therapist likes to use Pop Beads.
By the way, another fun and easy to do at home activity is to make “Cloud Dough.”
Has your child mastered the pincer grasp yet? What activities did you do?
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Adorable! Love how he's smiling at the camera man and the people around him while working his pincers! Congratulations to you and Noah for picking up an awesome skill!! (pun intended!)
Ha,ha...that was a good one! :) And thanks for the kind words. :-)
You are an awesome dad, and you have an amazing kiddo. Watching the videos brings a smile to my face!
So cute with those socks on his hands....go Noah!
Thanks! He's rocking it, huh?
way to go noah love your socks your rockin the grasping thing there is a eattable playdough recipe online for the one that you hide the thing in the dough that way if he eats the dough it wont hurt him its koolaide n someother stuff that is eattable . my kids love to play with it then they can eat it if they want when they are tired of playin.
Hi Rick! Just wanted to say thank you SO very much for these posts. My little girl, Casey, is 3 months old and we were surprised at her birth to discover that she has Down Syndrome. I can't tell you how helpful your developmental and therapy posts are for me! We are still very early in things with Casey and I'm just trying to amass as much knowledge as possible for the road ahead. Many thanks for helping me do that! :)
I recently tried to reach you via email, but didn't hear back. Knowing how it is with so many emails coming into everyone's Inbox nowadays, I thought that maybe posting a comment would be a quicker and much better way to connect.
I am working with a very special lady, Dr. Julia Kinder, who has an 8 year old daughter with Down syndrome. We're trying to promote A PETITION REGARDING DOWN SYNDROME and I thought you would be a great resource to help spread the word.
PETITION - https://www.change.org/petitions/medical-school-faculty-require-complete-education-on-down-syndrome-for-3rd-year-medical-students
We're also having all sorts of activities on her website Celebrating Down syndrome - http://www.juliakinder.com/DownSyndromeCelebration/
We also published a national Press Release about this a few weeks ago, but we need the active Down syndrome community to get involved - http://www.prweb.com/releases/Dr-Julia-Kinder/Down-Syndrome-Celebration/prweb10028318.htm
Please let me know if you would help by posting some of this to your interested audience: colin@juliakinder.com
Your time and efforts are so important as we try to change the stereotypes surrounding Down syndrome - dispelling the myths - and as we try to CHANGE THE WAY IN WHICH THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY PROVIDES RESOURCES TO NEW PARENTS. We can only achieve these goals with your help!
Thank you so much!
How old was he when you started doing this? My son is almost 10 months old and likes to eat little puffs and yogurt bites. I might try the sock thing when he eats becase he grabs with his whole hand and can never get the food in his mouth.
Thanks for your comment. Noah is 18 months old in this video. (His age appears at the bottom of the post. Also we put the date of the video at the start of each video. Just a heads up.)
By the way, have you talked with your child's OT about having them help you with this?
Wow buena idea, lo voy hacer este tipo de terapia con mi hijo
Wow buena idea, lo voy hacer este tipo de terapia con mi hijo
por cierto Noah es hermoso
Great idea! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks! How old are your children by the way?
Love this post! We might just have to try the sock idea! Brianne is 2 1/2 and still uses a raking motion if given the chance to pick something up. We did the ice cube snack tray today....and the other day I had her putting pompoms in a water bottle. Thanks for the suggestions and ideas! We'll keep working at it - practice makes perfect! :)