The early years of a child’s life are very important for their health and development
Ma, did you know that the first 36 months of a child’s life are called golden period?
This means that in the first three years of life, your little one experiences a period of rapid growth and development. So it is necessary to stimulate or stimulate the right and appropriate to support motor development, both fine and gross motor.
Motor movement is a term used to describe the behavior performed by the human body.
If your child is living this age, Popmama.com will review some of the stimulation activities that you should do.
Let’s explore together year by year!
0-12 Months Age
In the first year, babies learn to focus their eyesight, reach out, explore, and learn about the things around them. Cognitive or brain development means the process of learning memory, language, thinking, and reasoning.
At this age, your little one needs to start being trained for gross and fine motor control movement behaviors such as:
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1. Stimulation that stimulates gross motor skills of toddlers aged 0-12 months:
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Gross motor development is the development of motion which includes balance and coordination between body parts, such as:
- Give a large mirror in front of the child and then call his name so he can lift his head many times.
- Teach children how to hold, drop, and roll different balls. This helps him learn about how things move.
- Sound the toy over his head and move it to another part so that the child will tilt and roll over.
- Crawl beside the child and let him try to crawl along to train his balance.
- Invite children who have been practicing walking through the grass in the morning.
- Place the toy a few meters in front of him, then encourage him to take the toy.
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2. Stimulation to stimulate fine motor skills of toddlers aged 0-12 months:
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Fine motor movements can be developed more if there is stimulation from Mama, for example with activities such as:
- Hold the child’s fingers, then cross his arms across his chest. This movement aims to increase muscle strength in the upper arms, shoulders and upper back.
- Give soft toys like teether which can be grasped while being bitten by it.
- Give the toy stacking colorful blocks and invite the child to enter the object, this method is to train eye and hand coordination.
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1-2 Years Old
According to the CDC, during the second year, toddlers move around more, and begin to become aware of themselves and their surroundings. Their desire to explore new objects and people is also increasing. Everything that your child sees, hears and feels is a form of stimulation that stimulates his brain.
Here are some activities that help improve gross and fine motor control movement behavior for toddlers aged 1-2 years:
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1. Stimulation to stimulate gross motor skills for toddlers aged 1-2 years:
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The game is one of the fun techniques to train stimulation. Mama can invite the little one to play like:
- give a small ball of wool to help him practice catching.
- Give him a small rubber ball and let him try to kick it back and forth slowly.
- Take your little one to run while Mama chases him, but don’t run too fast, Mama!
- Invite him to stand on a short chair without holding on.
- Encourage your toddler’s curiosity and ability to recognize common objects by taking field trips together to the park or taking the bus.
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2. Stimulation to stimulate fine motor skills for toddlers aged 1-2 years:
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Teach your little one to train his hand movement coordination, to train and stimulate his physical abilities and development, for example:
- Put the small food on a plate and let it transfer to another plate by pinching.
- Give it a banana and let it peel its skin.
- Open 2-3 pages of a children’s story book or magazine.
- Provide a toy with a button to press to make something happen, or try an activity like shaking or banging objects.
- Play with stacking blocks and toys your little one can roll or knock on the floor.
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2-3 years old
At this age, your child experiences the peak of very rapid early childhood development in the brain and cells. According to the CDC, during this stage, toddlers reach milestones in how they play, learn, talk, behave, and move (such as jumping, running, or balancing).
Here are some activities that can help your child’s gross and fine motor development at the age of 2-3 years:
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Stimulation to stimulate gross motor skills for toddlers aged 2-3 years:
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Gradually, the development of the back, leg, and balance muscles of toddlers is increasing. So, start teaching your little one some movements such as:
- Learn to balance the body by standing on one leg.
- Learn to step back while on tiptoe.
- Climb a bed or chair that is not too high.
- Jump around on the spot or on a trampoline.
- Learn to ride a tricycle.
- Use one foot and then the other when climbing stairs.
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2. Stimulation to stimulate fine motor skills for toddlers aged 2-3 years:
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Meanwhile, below are some of the fine motor skills that are commonly shown by your little one after entering the age of 2-3 years.
- Doodling on paper with colored pencils.
- Learn to cut colored paper using plastic scissors.
- Learn to write simple numbers like 1,2,3
- Learn to button clothes or undress yourself and various light activities at home.
- Encourage the growing child’s independence by allowing him to help dress himself and feed himself.
So those are some ways to stimulate gross and fine motor skills in toddlers. Indeed, nothing is instant, it takes patience and consistency from Mama. If you are consistent, you will see the results.
However, it is important to know that each child has their own milestones, so adjust the above activities to the child’s abilities. Simple but very important impact in the first 1000 days of children.
Do not give up, Ma, If not Mama, who else will support your little one’s skills?
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