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29 Dec 2006 04:53 PM

Stimulating Your Baby's Motor Skills

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

Do you ever worry that you aren't stimulating your baby enough? Do you ever grow concerned that the stimulation you are providing is too much? The truth is that stimulating your baby is a natural part of your daily interactions with them. Your baby is going to communicate when they are over stimulated by becoming cranky and through crying.

In the meanwhile, among the many ways you stimulate your baby's large motor skills include:

• Helping them to stand on your lap
• Bouncing them either in a sitting or a standing position
• Prop them upright on pillows to simulate sitting
• Encourage them to hold your fingers and pull themselves up
• Play patty cake with them
• Fly them around while holding them

As you can see - most of the way we play with our infants and children is how we encourage their large motor skills and how we help them to develop. We do the same with their small motor skills whether it's playing with blocks or stuffed animals. They learn dexterity, balance and build strength and hand-eye coordination naturally.

Our Job as Parents

Our job as parents is to encourage the natural growth and development of our children. We do this in a variety of ways, but primarily through the most natural one - the way we interact with them. We hold them, we cuddle them and we play with them. We demonstrate for them how to use tools and toys and never forget that they watch us to see how we interact with each other.

When Daddy hugs Mommy or Mommy kisses Daddy - they are paying attention. They are trying to do the same things and they are trying to simulate what you do in your environment whether it's sweeping, vacuuming, cleaning or reading. When my daughter was very little, she used to pull one of her board books over to lay down and look at - usually when I was laying there reading a book. These mimic behaviors also stimulate their motor skills and their thinking skills.

So before you worry that you aren't doing enough - consider what you are doing to stimulate your baby.

Related Articles:

Do you hear what I hear? The Sense of Sound

The Sense of Taste

Your Toddler's Sense of Smell

The Sense of Sight - Looking at the World Through Rose-Colored Glasses

The Sense of Touch - The World is at Their Fingertips

Stop & Smell the Roses

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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