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Kids and smartphones – what’s the risk?

A new European study examining the risks in children using smartphones to access the internet is a warning for Australian parents.

Professor Lelia Green from the School of Communications and Arts is a co-author of the EU Kids Online report Online on the Mobile: Internet use on smartphones and associated risks among youth in Europe.

This research is important for Australia as there is no up-to-date data available about Australian children’s experiences. However, earlier studies have shown that a greater proportion of Australian kids are using smartphones than their European counterparts.

Professor Green said there has been a dramatic increase in European children aged between nine and 16 using the internet on smartphones.

“Four years ago only 12 per cent of European children aged nine to 16 had access to a smart handheld device. Now, over 60% of 13 – 16 year-olds and 28% of children aged nine to 12 are connecting to the internet via smartphones,” Professor Green said.

“Our research looked at whether accessing the internet this way exposed children to more risk or harm.”

Smartphones not just for rich kids

Professor Green said historically children using smartphones came from richer, more privileged backgrounds.

“But now most 13 to 16 year-olds have smartphones. Along with being exposed to extra risk, children with smartphones access the internet more often and engage in a greater range of activities,” she said.

Parents be vigilant

While younger European children are less likely than older children to encounter online risks, Professor Green said they are more likely to be affected by the risks they experience.

“Parents of younger children with smartphones should actively regulate their child’s internet use. The younger the child, the more their parents should involve themselves,” she said.

“Children’s risk varies with gender and age. However, smart media introduces new risks to children such as geo-locational data and apps which connect mobile users with strangers.”

More and more

Professor Green said EU Kids Online researchers have shown that opportunity for kids to connect online and their exposure to risk go hand in hand.

“Children connecting to the internet via mobile devices have more access, more often, using more devices, with more risk,” she said.

Professor Green urges software developers, technology companies and service providers to prioritise the development of a suite of consistent easy-to-use handset controls which parents can use to support and monitor their children’s safe mobile internet use.

Information about the project and survey:

· Professor Lelia Green of ECU’s School of Communications and Arts leads the Australian partner research. She serves on the EU Kids Online International Advisory Panel and is currently a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

· Australian partner research referenced in Figure 1 gratefully acknowledges the use of EU Kids Online materials and processes. Their project was funded by the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation and supported by Edith Cowan University.

· The EU Kids Online project aims to enhance knowledge of European children’s and parents’ experiences and practices regarding risky and safer use of the internet and new online technologies, and thereby to inform the promotion of a safer online environment for children. The project is funded by the EC Safer Internet Programme (SI-2010-TN-4201001).

· This report uses the findings from EU Kids Online II (2010-2011). Countries included are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK.

· It also references the Net Children Go Mobile project (2013-14). Countries included are: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania and the UK. Net Children Go Mobile is also funded by the EC Safer Internet Programme.

· For more findings, other reports and technical survey details please see www.eukidsonline.net.

(Source: Edith Cowan University)

Early intervention could boost education levels

Taking steps from an early age to improve childhood education skills could raise overall population levels of academic achievement by as much as 5%, and reduce socioeconomic inequality in education by 15%, according to international research led by the University of Adelaide.

In a study now published in the journal Child Development, researchers from the University of Adelaide’s School of Population Health and colleagues at the University of Bristol in the UK have modelled the likely outcomes of interventions to improve academic skills in children up to school age. They considered what effect these interventions would have on education by age 16.

Speaking during Children’s Week (18-26 October), lead author Dr Catherine Chittleborough from the University of Adelaide says socioeconomic disadvantage is a known risk factor for education and related outcomes.

“Childhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with reduced ability to benefit from schooling, poorer educational outcomes, a lower likelihood of continuing to tertiary education, and less job success. A poor education is associated with increased welfare dependence and lower skilled jobs with lower pay, helping to continue the cycle of disadvantage,” Dr Chittleborough says.

“We’ve known for some time that intervening before the age of five can improve skills necessary for educational success, but the effect of these interventions on socioeconomic inequalities has remained unknown,” she says.

Using data of almost 12,000 children from the UK, the researchers found that progressive educational interventions – and more intense interventions for those with greater need – could improve school entry academic skills and later educational outcomes.

“Based on our models, population levels of educational achievement could rise by 5%, and absolute socioeconomic inequality in poor educational achievement could be reduced by 15%,” Dr Chittleborough says.

“That is an important finding, especially when you consider that in 2012 there were more than 620,000 pupils aged 15-16 in secondary education in the UK. A 5% improvement in their educational outcomes means that 13,500 students would be better off. This would then impact on their future employability and their ability to contribute to society economically. I expect we would see similar outcomes on education if we used Australian data.”

Dr Chittleborough says pre-school education is extremely important to set children on the right path. “By providing the appropriate educational support, we could make a difference to a lot of children’s lives,” she says.

This research is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

(Source: The University of Adelaide, Child Development)

National study reveals how and why teenagers sext

The majority of sexting by young Australians takes place in the context of a romantic relationship, according to a national study of more than 1400 teenagers.

The University of Sydney study of young people aged mostly between 13 and 18 found sexting is not a marginal behaviour. A significant proportion of young people have sent a sexual image of themselves by the time they are 13-15 years old.

In only a small minority of cases, teenagers reported sending an image on to a third party without consent. About 6% of those who had sent a sext had ever sent an image on again. Most young people send sexts to very few sexting partners, the study found.

Some 61% of 13-18 year olds who have sexted did so with one person or less in the past 12 months.

“Most sexting by young people takes place in the context of a romantic relationship,” said research lead Dr Murray Lee, an Associate Professor in Criminology at the University of Sydney.

“Only very small numbers of girls report being coerced or pressured into sending an image, even though the perception amongst young people is that pressure is a strong motivator. Rather, most report they sext to be ‘fun and flirty’, ‘as a sexy present’, or ‘to feel sexy and confident’,” he said.

Key findings include:

some 47% of those surveyed have sent or received a sext
just under 40% of 13-15 year olds have sent a sexual image
50% of 16-18 year olds have sent a sexual video
males overall were likely to send to more sexting partners than females
males aged 13-15 were most likely to have sent images and videos to more than five people

The study has a number of significant implications for policymakers, said Dr Lee.

For example, education campaigns must be nuanced enough to recognise that most sexting occurs safely within relationships. Abstinence messages are unlikely to be successful, while there is a need for the development of sexual ethics around sexting.

(Source: The University of Sydney)

Teeth Tales tells a story

A project looking at the oral health of children from migrant backgrounds found there are many significant barriers for parents accessing mainstream dental services and oral health information.

Teeth Tales is a community-based child oral health project for Australian families from migrant backgrounds.

The families who benefited from this project had children under four years old, from Iraqi, Lebanese or Pakistani backgrounds living in metropolitan Melbourne.

Maryanne Tadic, Manager of the Population Health Unit for lead partner Merri Community Health Services said it is important to develop alternative options for children from migrant families who may have difficulty accessing information and services.

“We know from previous research conducted in Moreland and Hume from 2006 to 2009, that there are different traditions and beliefs about taking care of teeth,” she said.

Lead researcher, Associate Professor Lisa Gibbs from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health said the aim of the project was to develop more accessible services promoting child oral health that can be reproduced in other culturally diverse local government areas in Australia.

“International research shows that people from migrant backgrounds are at risk of poor oral health. This raised concerns for the oral health of local children from refugee and migrant backgrounds,” she said.

More than 650 children from these communities received dental screenings. 151 families also attended a local oral health education course led by a trained leader from their cultural group. The course consisted of six hours of oral health education over two weeks, and a site visit to the local community health dental service the following week.

Ms Tadic said that working in partnership with established cultural organisations is critical to health promotion initiatives for families with migrant and refugee backgrounds.

The discussion of traditional oral health practices needs to be incorporated into oral health promotion initiatives.

“Study designs need to include the spread of cultural networks. ‘Teeth Tales’ findings are now directly informing Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) child oral health clinical guidelines,” Associate Professor Gibbs said.

Early results indicate the “Teeth Tales” intervention is promising in terms of increasing tooth brushing frequency and some measures of parental oral health knowledge.

(Source: The University of Melbourne)

Australia and New Zealand world leaders in safe IVF

New Zealand and Australia are world leaders when it comes to safe IVF practice thanks to their focus on single-embryo transfer, according to the Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2012 report released today by the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit at UNSW Australia.

The report confirms that New Zealand and Australia are leaders in this field of medicine. Multiple births are by far the greatest health risk to mothers and babies from IVF, and multiple embryo transfer clearly increases this risk. Rates of IVF multiple births in New Zealand and Australia are among the lowest in the world (6.6% in Australia and 5.2% in New Zealand).

The vast majority (76.3%) of IVF cycles in both countries involve single-embryo transfer. For comparison, multiple birth occurs in about 30% of IVF births in the United States and in about 18% in the United Kingdom.

“These results make Australia and New Zealand the safest region in the world for women to have IVF,” says Associate Professor Mark Bowman, President of the Fertility Society of Australia (FSA), which funds the annual report and national IVF register.

“Australia and New Zealand have the lowest ART multiple birth rates of any region in the world and yet maintain consistently high success rates,” he says.

The annual report showed an increase in the number of IVF treatment cycles performed, from 61,929 in 2008 to 70,082 in 2012 (5177 of these from New Zealand resulting in 1286 babies). These latest figures represent 13.7 cycles per 1,000 women of reproductive age in Australia, compared with 5.7 cycles per 1,000 women of reproductive age in New Zealand. The number of cycles per woman also differs between Australia (1.9 cycles) and New Zealand (1.5 cycles).

“Such differences in utilisation are likely to be associated with the different funding and eligibility criteria in New Zealand. I hope that in the future some adjustments to the eligibility criteria can be made to enable more couples in New Zealand to have a family,” says Professor Cindy Farquhar, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Auckland and National Women’s Health, Auckland District Health Board.

For all age groups across New Zealand and Australia, where women used their own eggs, 22.8% of fresh embryo transfer cycles resulted in a birth and 22.2% of frozen/thawed embryo transfer cycles resulted in a birth.

Birth rates were much higher for younger women. Among those aged 30–34, the birth rate was 32.3% for fresh cycles and 26.4% for frozen/thawed cycles. For women aged over 44, it was less than 1.6% and around 5.4% respectively.

The report also showed advances in technology and clinical practice have resulted in more than a 20% increase in the birth rate for frozen/thawed embryo transfers in the past five years, rising from 18% to 22%.

A four-year review of the cohort who had their first IVF cycle in 2009 showed the best chance of success is the first treatment cycle. However, the birth rate also remains quite consistent over the next seven cycles.

The Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2012 report contains data about IVF cycles undertaken in 2012 and the resulting babies born in 2012 and 2013. The data is maintained by the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit at UNSW on behalf of the FSA.

(Source: UNSW)

Checklist: Fine motor skill milestones for toddlers (18 months to 36 months)

Fine motor skills, the skills which allow children to control the use of their fingers and hands develop rapidly in toddlers. Development milestones are actions most toddlers can do with their hands by a certain age.

Toddlers 18-24 months

Toddlers between 18-24 months can usually:

Hold a pencil or crayon in their fist.
Use a crayon or pencil to scribble or make marks on a piece of paper.
Pick up small objects like raisins using only the thumb and index finger (pincer grasp).
Place objects in a container and dump them out again.
Hold a toy with one hand and poke, push or pinch parts of it with the other.
Finger feed themselves.
Scoop food using a baby spoon or fork.
Bring a baby spoon to their mouth for feeding, but they’ll still probably get lots of food on their face.

Toddlers 24-30 months

Between 24-30 months toddlers often:

Begin to show a hand preference (for the left or right hand).
Jab at paper and on it by holding a pencil or crayon in their fist and moving their entire arm while.
Turning the pages of thick books one by one (instead of two by two or three by three).
Roll, squeeze and pound paydough to make shapes.
Use scissor to snip at the edges of the paper (which they’ll probably hold at an awkward angle).
Hold scissors incorrectly, for example with both hands.
Dollop glue onto paper (and have lots of fun in the process) but be unable to spread it.

Toddlers 30-36 months

Toddlers approaching their third birthday can usually already:

Holding pencils, crayons and other writing implements in their fingers instead of their fist, but not yet in the correct writing grasp.
Scribble circles and lines on their paper.
Stack blocks and connect interlocking blocks.
Thread a large bead onto a shoelace.
Play with a peg board that uses large pegs.
Do simple jigsaw puzzles, for example shapes or four piece puzzles.
Feed themselves using utensils like a spoon.
Drink from a cup without a lid on their own.
Hold the cup in one hand.
Help dress themselves.
Unfasten large buttons
Put on outer clothing like a jacket without help.
Fasten and unfasten large zippers.
Wash their hands with an adult’s help.
Turn a door knob.

Links

	Download printable checklist.
	Read more about fine motor skill development milestones for toddlers – 18-36 months.
	Read more about fine motor skills.

References

Virginia Early Childhood Development Alignment Program. Milestones of child development- A guide to young children’s learning and development from birth to kindergarten. 2009. (cited 12 May 2014). Available from URL Link
South Carolina Education Office of Early Childhood Education. South Carolina Infant and Toddler Guidelines. 2010. (cited 12 May 2014). Available from URL Link
Community Childcare Cooperative Ltd (NSW). Development Milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards. Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. 2012. (cited 5 May 2014). Available from URL Link
Andrews M. General Categories of Fine Motor Development. Michigan State University Extension. UNDATED. (cited 28 March 2014). Available from URL Link
5. Owens A. Supporting children’s development- fine motor skills. Putting Children First. Issue 28. 2008. National Childcare Accreditation Council. [Full Text]

Checklist: Fine motor skill milestones for babies (birth to 18 months)

Fine motor skills, the ability to control the movements of the hands and fingers develop early in life. Baby development milestones for fine motor skills are the things most babies can do with their fingers and hands at a particular age.

Babies 6 months

By six months of age most babies will be:

Reaching out for objects they see around them.
Swiping their arms to try and grab close objects, for example a rattle or toy you dangle in front of them.
Holding objects placed in their hand so they do not fall.
Using all their fingers to grasp objects in their palm, initially on the ulner (little finger) side and later in the middle of the palm.
Grabbing objects like rattles.
Holding onto objects for short periods of time.
Showing an interest in toys that make noises.
Grabbing and clasping small body parts including their own toes and your fingers.
Playing with objects of different sizes.

Babies 12 months

By twelve months of age babies are usually:

Reaching for and grasping objects using only one hand.
Having lots of fun throwing the things they pick up and back down on the floor.
Holding and shaking things that make noise like rattles and keys.
Moving objects from one hand to another (and often also to their mouths).
Interested in looking at the things they pick up.
Holding objects in both hands at the same time.
Raking objects by bending their fingers around objects and pulling them towards their palm (raking grasp).
Picking objects between the pads of the thumb and index and middle fingers (radial digital grasp).
Bang toys or other objects together and scrunch up paper. They will enjoy hearing the noises their actions make as they are coordinating not only their hands and eyes at this age, but also their sense of hearing.
Clasp their hands together.
Follow a moving person with their eyes, an important early step in developing hand eye coordination.
Feeding themselves finger foods like rusks.
Having a go at feeding themselves with a baby spoon, which they clench in their fist (and probably missing their mouth and making a mess in the process).
Holding and manipulating their own bottle.

Babies 18 months

By eighteen months most babies will already be:

Picking up small objects using pincer grip (grasping an object between the pads of the thumb and index finger).
Holding fat pencils or crayons in their fist and scribbling.
Turning thick book pages two or three at a time.
Playing peg board games.
Turning knobs and buttons.
Finger feeding themselves efficiently.
Self-feeding with baby utensils like a fork (and getting more and more food in their mouth).
Drinking from a cup with no lid.
Point at things they want to touch but can’t reach.
Remove and replace things like toys and blocks from boxes or bins.

Free download

Download printable checklist.

You might also like…

	Fine motor skills for babies – birth to 18 months old.
	Fine motor skills.

References

Virginia Early Childhood Development Alignment Program. Milestones of child development- A guide to young children’s learning and development from birth to kindergarten. 2009. (cited 12 May 2014). Available from URL Link
Community Childcare Cooperative Ltd (NSW). Development Milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards. Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. 2012. (cited 5 May 2014). Available from URL Link
South Carolina Education Office of Early Childhood Education. South Carolina Infant and Toddler Guidelines. 2010. (cited 12 May 2014). Available from URL Link
Owens A. Supporting children’s development- fine motor skills. Putting Children First. Issue 28. 2008. National Childcare Accreditation Council. [Full Text]
Columbia University. Developmental Progression of the Grasp. UNDATED. (cited 4 September 2014). Available from URL Link

Ipads can help kinder kids learn

Tablets such as iPads can be used in kindergartens and primary schools to help children learn important skills, according to ongoing research.

While many parents are concerned that tablets might undermine a child’s love of reading traditional books, Victoria University researcher Professor Nicola Yelland found that some Apps encouraged reading and cooperative play, as well as helping children as young as two years of age develop “foundation skills” in maths, such as sorting, matching, classifying and counting.

Professor Yelland studied the use of tablets with 95 children: two- and three-year-olds in a mother’s group; four-year-olds at a kindergarten; and children aged five and six in a prep class. The Apps included electronic books, games incorporating characters from books as well as specific skill-building games, and Apps that enabled making music and creating scenes with characters.

Ipads were the focus in the first two years of the study. This year the study is looking at the way kindergarten children, seven-year-olds and 12- and 13-year-olds use Microsoft Surface Pro II tablets.

Professor Yelland, who is research director at the College of Education, will present the findings of the second year of her project on 23 October as part of the VU College of Education’s Diamond Series seminars at Kingsville Primary School.

Professor Yelland found kindergarten children did not want advice from adults, preferring to “do their own thing”: “They wanted to explore the range of each App’s potential, either individually or with a friend, to figure out what it did, and they often formed groups of two or more to take turns playing games.” The Apps encouraged them to use complex game strategies and skills and reading and comprehension, such as recognising letters and numbers.

“The four-year olds were adventurous and persistent. They loved the immediate feedback when they answered correctly,” Professor Yelland says. “Children who often had trouble concentrating on a specific task appeared to have no problem when using the tablet.”

One of the teachers in the study also used the tablet to follow up the children’s interests on the internet. For example, they were able to identify bugs found in the playground, or watch footage of a volcano erupting as preparations for experiments in the sandpit.

For the prep students, many of whom did not speak English at home, Apps were chosen to help their language skills, number recognition and fine motor skills. “One of the teachers commented that the tablet session made the children’s faces light up,” Professor Yelland says.

Even two-year-olds managed tablets, she found: “The ones in my study were able to quickly learn how to navigate the game or the tablet, for example, exiting the games via the ‘home’ button, switching games regularly and turning the tablet on and off.”

Two-year-olds usually do not play with other children but play by themselves alongside others in what is known as “parallel play”. When playing with a tablet, however, another two-year-old would sometimes come over to watch and they would talk and interact together. “This was unique to tablet play,” Professor Yelland says.

However, Professor Yelland also found that many of the Apps marketed for young children were not useful or enjoyable for them. She noted, “The claims of the developers are often over-inflated and sometimes the App is very limited and does not use the full potential of the tablet.”

(Source: Victoria University)

Fine motor skill development milestones for toddlers (18 to 36 months)

As babies develop the gross motor skills that enable them to toddle around, they are also improving their fine motor skills which allow them to pick objects up and manipulate them. If you’ve got a toddler you’ve almost certainly noticed that they’re interested in touching just about everything they can get their hands on! They’ll probably also reach out and try to grab for things which they can see but are out of reach.

Their fine motor skills will develop rapidly in the next eighteen months and there are plenty of fun ways you can help them develop their finger muscles. Playing games that involve placing small objects in and dumping them out of containers is fun at this age and a great way to help them develop their fine finger muscles. They’ll also be beginning to coordinate the use of both their hands at once, so activities that require the coordination of both hands like clapping games, threading beads and washing hands can help. Writing is an important fine motor skill which toddlers will benefit from every opportunity to practice.

Toddlers 18-24 months

From about 18 months of age your child may begin to demonstrate the ability to:

Hold a pencil or crayon in a fist grip (radial cross palmar grasp and palmar supinate grasp) and use it to scribble or make marks on a piece of paper.
Use pincer grasp (the thumb and forefinger only) to pick up small things, for example small pieces of food like cereal or cut vegetables.
Pick up small objects, place them in a container and dump them out again.
Poke, push or pinch parts of a toy with one hand, while holding it with the other.
Feed themselves efficiently using their fingers.
Use utensils like baby spoons and forks for feeding, scoop food and bring it to the mouth- but expect them to get some food on their face.

Fisted grasp: radial cross palmar grasp — Radial cross palmar grasp

Fisted grasp: palmar supinate grasp — Palmar supinate grasp

Toddlers 24-30 months

Between 24-30 months toddlers continue to improve their fine motor abilities and become increasingly independent feeders and improve their ability to write, draw and manipulate objects and tools. At 2-2.5 years, your child may:

Begin to show a preference for one hand or the other (just over half of toddlers show preference for being left or right handed at this age).
Jab at the paper and make scribbles by moving their entire arm while holding the pencil in their fist. Their thumb may be either up (palmar supinate grasp) or down (radial cross palmar grasp).
Start turning the pages of a board book one at a time instead of two or three at a time.
Make shapes from play dough by rolling, squeezing and pounding it.
Snip at the edges of paper, probably holding the scissors and paper incorrectly. For example, they will hold the paper at the wrong angle and may try to use two hands to use the scissors.
Enjoy putting big dollops of glue on the page but be unable to coordinate their hands to spread it.

Toddlers 30-36 months

As they approach their third birthday children become more competent at writing and feeding themselves and start to perform self care tasks like doing up their own buttons, independently. At this age most children:

Digital pronate grasp

Begin holding pencils, crayons and other writing implements in their fingers instead of their fist. The pencil is gripped in the fingers with the end resting in their palm. The palm faces downwards. This is the second stage writing grasp, also referred to as digital pronate grasp. However, they have still not developed the proper pencil grip (known as tripod grasp and characterised by holding the pencil between thumb and forefinger) and continue to use their entire hand. Although their entire hand is involved in moving the pencil, children rely more on their thumb and forefinger. They rest the side of their hand on the little finger on the paper, but still hold their wrist and forearm up off the paper or desk. At this age most children like to scribble circles and lines on their paper.
Dynamic tripod grasp

Can make stacks from blocks and connect interlocking construction blocks;
Thread a large bead or piece of coloured pasta onto a shoelace.
Play with a peg board that uses large pegs.
Manipulate the pieces to do simple jigsaw puzzles. Puzzles which involved fitting shapes like squares and circle into the write hole or fitting together a small number of pieces (e.g. a four piece jigsaw puzzle) are appropriate at this age.
Feed themselves using utensils like a spoon. They should also be able to drink independently from a cup. By their third birthday most children should be able to hold the cup in one hand.
Help dress themselves, however they are still too young to dress independently and require adult help. They may be able to unfasten large buttons or put on outer clothing like their jacket unassisted. They will probably also be able to fasten and unfasten large zippers.
Wash their hands with an adult’s help.
Turn a door know to open a door.

Free download

Download a checklist of developmental milestones for toddlers.

You might also like…

To read more about fine motor skills and development in other age groups, visit Fine Motor Skills.

References

Virginia Early Childhood Development Alignment Program. Milestones of child development- A guide to young children’s learning and development from birth to kindergarten. 2009. (cited 12 May 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
South Carolina Education Office of Early Childhood Education. South Carolina Infant and Toddler Guidelines. 2010. (cited 12 May 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Calder Help your preschool child develop fine motor skills. 2006. (cited 12 May 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Community Childcare Cooperative Ltd (NSW). Development Milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards. Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. 2012. (cited 5 May 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Andrews General Categories of Fine Motor Development. Michigan State University Extension. UNDATED. (cited 28 March 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Owens Supporting children’s development- fine motor skills. Putting Children First. Issue 28. 2008. National Childcare Accreditation Council. (Full Text)
Achorn LB, Wait KJ. The Relationship between Fine Motor Skills and Fluency of Handwriting in Kindergarten and First Grade Children. Paper presented to the Sage Colleges Program in Occupational Therapy. 2005. (cited 4 September 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Columbia Developmental Progression of the Grasp. Undated. (cited 4 September 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Eastern Kentucky University- Occupational Therapy. Writing Grasps. 2011. (cited 4 September 2014). Available from: (URL Link)

Fine motor skills for babies (birth to 18 months)

Babies develop rapidly in the first few months of life and it is at this very early stage that they begin developing and using their hand and finger muscles. They also start to develop side-strength, control and the hand eye coordination needed to do things like grab with their hands. Giving them toys that rattle or make noises when shaken and playing hands games (e.g. peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake) are amongst the best things you can do to encourage fine motor skills development at this age.

At this early stage of life babies will demonstrate they are developing their fine muscles and their ability to control the use of their fingers by reaching out, for example to grab onto an adult’s finger. They’ll probably also begin to imitate hand actions they observe in adults, for example waving goodbye and clapping their hands.

Babies 0-6 months

Newborns have very little control over or awareness of their bodies. However they rapidly become familiar with their bodies and understand, for example, that their hands are attached to their bodies and can be used to grab things.

At this age they’ll still be using their entire hand (rather than their fingers) to grab things. They begin grabbing and holding objects from about four months of age using crude palmar grasp, that is resting the object on the little finger side of the palm and curling their fingers (but not their thumb) around the object. From about five months most babies have developed palmar grasp. It is similar to crude palmar grasp in that the fingers but not the thumb curl around the object, but the object is stabilised on the middle of the palm. In the first six months of life the hand control and grasps your baby develops and will allow them to do things like:

Reach out and swipe their arms to grab for an object dangling in front of them.
Palmar grasp

Grasp an object when it is placed in their hand.
Grab and hold onto and object for a short period of time, for example hold onto a rattle. They’ll be interested in rattles and other toys that make noises when moved, as well as body parts that are small enough for them to grab including their own toes and your fingers.
Play with objects of different sizes.

Babies 6-12 months

Babies continue to strengthen their hands and develop their ability to grasp objects. Between six and seven months of age most babies begin holding objects using radial palmar grasp. They use the radial (index finger) side of the palm to stabilise the object while curling their middle and index fingers around it to prevent it from falling. However it is not until about eight months of age that they begin grasping with their thumb, initially by using it along with the index and middle fingers to rake objects into their palm.

Most babies develop inferior pincer grasp in which the object is grasped between the pad of the thumb and the side of the index finger, at around the same time they begin raking objects into their hands.

After a couple of months (usually between 10-12 months of age) they develop a more advance pincer grasp, clasping objects between the pad of the thumb and the pads of the index and middle fingers.

Between 6-12 months of age babies are usually able to use their developing finger strength and control to:

Reach for and grasp an object using only one hand. After about eight months of age they will probably also enjoy throwing them down again.
Pincer grasp

Hold and shake objects like rattles and keys;
Transfer objects from one hand to another. At this age babies will also enjoy looking at the objects they pick up and will usually try and transfer just about everything to their mouths as well.
Hold two objects, one in each hand.
Pick up small objects using pincer grip (grasping an object between the thumb and index finger);
Bang toys or other objects together and scrunch up paper. They will enjoy hearing the noises their actions make as they are coordinating not only their hands and eyes at this age, but also their sense of hearing.
Clasp their hands together.
Follow a moving person with their eyes. Although it involves the eyes and the hands, this is an important part of fine motor development because fine motor tasks rely on babies and children having the ability to coordinate the movements of their hands with what their eyes see.
Self-feed simple finger foods like rusks and attempt to self-feed using appropriate, baby-size utensils like spoons. If using a spoon they will probably clench it in their fist and are likely to miss when they try and bring the spoon up to their mouth. At this age they’ll find it easier to self-feed with finger food like baby rusks. They should be able to hold an manipulate their own bottle.

Babies 12-18 months

Babies usually develop a neat pincer grasp after 12 months of age however babies with more advanced finger skills may develop this grasp as early as nine months. Neat pincer grasp is similar to pincer grasp in that objects are held using only the thumb and index finger. However instead of using the index finger pad, the index finger tip is used to grasp the object. Babies also develop early writing grasps (grasps used to hold and manipulate pencils, crayons and other writing implements) at this age.

Between 12-18 months babies can typically:

Radial cross palmar grasp

Scribble with a fat pencil or crayon held in their fist. This is the earliest form of writing grasp. The writing implement is held vertically. Depending on whether the thumb is up or down this fisted grip is referred to as either radial cross palmar grasp (thumb down) or palmar supinate grasp (thumb up). When using the entire fist babies often hold the pencil in the middle rather than near the tip. They usually hold their hand up, placing only the pencil on the paper and not the side of their hand. Babies have not yet developed the ability to grasp a pencil correctly.
Turn the pages of a board book (thick pages), typically turning two to three pages at a time.
Palmar supinate grasp

Place objects on a peg board or peg game.
Turn knobs and buttons.
Feed themselves efficiently using their fingers and attempt to self-feed using utensils like a baby-sized fork.
Drink from a cup without a lid.
Look and point at an object they want to touch which is out of reach.
Remove toys, blocks or other objects from a box or bin and put them back in.

Links

	Download a checklist of developmental milestones for babies.
	To read more about fine motor skills and development in other age groups, visit Fine Motor Skills.

References

Virginia Early Childhood Development Alignment Program. Milestones of child development- A guide to young children’s learning and development from birth to kindergarten. 2009 (cited 12 May 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Community Childcare Cooperative Ltd (NSW). Development Milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards. Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. 2012 (cited 5 May 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
South Carolina Education Office of Early Childhood Education. Good Start Grow Smart- South Carolina Early Learning Standards for 3, 4 and 5 year old children. 2007 (cited 5 May 2014) Available From: (URL Link)
South Carolina Education Office of Early Childhood Education. South Carolina Infant and Toddler Guidelines. 2010 (cited 20 February 2015) Available From: (URL Link)
Owens Supporting children’s development- fine motor skills. Putting Children First. Issue 28. 2008. National Childcare Accreditation Council. (Full Text)
Andrews General Categories of Fine Motor Development. Michigan State University Extension. 2014 (cited 28 March 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Columbia Developmental Progression of the Grasp. Undated (cited 4 September 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
Eastern Kentucky University- Occupational Therapy. Writing Grasps. 2011 (cited 4 September 2014). Available from: (URL Link)
The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center. ND Early Childhood Outcomes Process Age Expectation Development Milestones. 2010 (cited 3 November 2014). Available from: (URL Link)

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