What?
Montessori grasping aid is used for grasping and mouthing.
When should I offer this to my baby?
At about 4 months when your baby is beginning to reach out and grasp at objects.
This is when the baby’s grasping reflex develops.
They begin to move from involuntarily grasping things to voluntarily reaching for things to grasp and touch.
How should I offer this to my baby?
You can offer this to your baby:
- When your baby is on their back
- When your baby is on their tummy
- When your baby is one their side
Just hold the grasping beads a little out of reach of your baby and wait while they reach out and grasp them. Remember that the trick is to neither make it too easy nor too hard for them. Don’t place it into their hands but also don’t hold it at a distance that frustrates them.
When babies calculate the distance between their hands and the aid as well as how to move their hands to reach the aid, there is a lot of cognitive processing happening in the brain and we want to encourage this.
Once your baby has grasped this, let them explore with it however they want. It is likely that they will explore it using their mouth – that is perfectly safe but do keep a close eye on your baby and don’t leave them unsupervised with this.
How does this toy help my baby’s developmental needs?
- Offers visual and tactile experiences that are developmentally appropriate for your baby
- Offers opportunity for safe sensorial exploration of an object
- Offers initial experiences of hand eye coordination through reaching and grasping
- Encourages your baby to rotate their wrists
- Encourages your baby to reach out and move their hands and helps them realise what their hands can do
- Encourages your baby to transfer from one hand to another
- Improves your baby’s motor dexterity
Get yours here!
