0-6 months: Building Foundational Skills with Supportive Toys

0-6 months: Building Foundational Skills with Supportive Toys

• 1-2 Months

  • Our goal as therapists and parents is to help a newborn build tummy time tolerance, track objects within visual field and engage in simple tactile play with light textures and rattles.

  • Ensuring your baby can actively rotate their head to both sides is key in preventing any future asymmetries.

  • Tummy time starts right away. Using some of these engaging toys will help to improve Tummy Time tolerance.

• 3 Months:

  • Your baby is now more visually engaged and is starting to follow objects.

  • Babies are learning how to grasp objects to bring to mouth and play. Toys that encourage holding with two hands is great to work on midline orientation. Bringing hands to knees and hands to feet is another great strengthening activity. Wrist and ankle rattles are great toys to entice that movement.

  • Reaching up for hanging toys while laying on their backs is also a fine motor developmental milestone. Maintaining grasp of lightweight rattles and toys is helping your babies’ little hands build strength and manipulation skills.

• 6 Months:

  • At this age your baby will start to roll back to belly and belly to back. Continuing to increase tummy time tolerance will help to build that strength. Use of the water mat, or the boppy under your child’s chest are both great toys to help improve tolerance.