What is Pincer Grasp?
Picking up small items requires fine motor skills – which means pinching between the thumb and index fingers, also known as the pincer grasp. This is an important skill for babies to develop because it allows them to manipulate and explore objects in complex ways, which eventually helps with tasks like buttoning, zipping, or self-feeding. Before your baby develops the pincer grasp, they are likely using the raking grasp – which means they pick things up by raking them with their whole hand. This grasp is important to develop before progressing to more advanced grasps such as the pincer grasp. It is crucial to keep in mind that your baby should master other gross motor skills first before focusing on refining fine motor skills – which means they should be sitting independently before working on developing their pincer grasp.
Feed Them Bite-Sized Foods
One of the first functional ways your baby learns to use pincer grasp is when eating small foods. If you haven’t yet, try incorporating soft finger foods to encourage them to develop pincer grasp. Try using a tray and avoid using plates or bowls, as these can make it too easy for your baby to obtain using their whole hand.
Examples Include:
- Cheerios or puffs
- Strawberries or blueberries
- Shredded cheese
- Peas
- Bananas
- Cooked pasta
- Soft bread
**All food should be cut up or smushed to prevent choking hazard**
Play With Small Toys
Certain toys can encourage your baby to use their pincer grasp while remaining both fun and safe. Show your baby how to use the items first, then make sure to give them time to process it and pick up the skill. Examples Include:
- Blocks
- Rings
- Balls
- Bee toy
- Dimpl toy
- Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog
- Toys with buttons or levers
- Turning thick pages of a book
- Literally anything small! (And safe for babies)
In addition to toys, you can also use simple household items such as straws, cotton balls, or tissues (babies love pulling out tissues from boxes). The important thing is to make it a fun and engaging activity! Try making it a game by taking straws out of a cup or stuffing cotton balls into a paper towel roll.
Other Tips
- If your baby is clumping everything together and picking up multiple small items using their whole hand, try placing items further apart with lots of space in between them, or present items one at a time to encourage the use of the pincer grasp.
- Pointing is another important fine motor skill, as it promotes using individual fingers separately. You can work on this skill by pointing to pictures in books.
