Verbal and motor skills are important to start teaching your children at a young age. The earlier they start practicing both in every day learning, the faster they will pick up other skills. It is important to interact in a way that is easy for them to understand. One of the best ways to incorporate both skill sets is to use games for baby starting at a very young age. It is important to remember that you should work within their skill level and gradually step up.
Children begin to develop their fine motor skills as soon as they can start walking. While they don’t have to be complex operations, small things to teach and develop motor skills are essential to a child’s development. Many daily tasks in your child’s life involve the use of fine motor skills – from getting dressed on their own to writing – and they must be developed frequently to promote strong skills. The more your child practices these skills, the more they will be able to do for themselves, the better their hand and eye coordination will be, and the stronger their bodies will develop.
One of the most recommended games for baby that combines both verbal and motor skills is with the children’s rhyme Where is Thumbkin? Originally written in French as Frere Jacques, it was translated into English with the title of Are you Sleeping? New versions with new words appear often, but one of the most popular is Where is Thumbkin? Many child development experts believed that changing the lyrics to ones that engaged movement and hand dexterity activities for children would be more beneficial than the original lyrics which did not engage much movement.
The reason that Thumbkin is an important and recommended hand and eye coordination development game is that it uses a lot of fine motor skills, like pointing, moving hands and arms, and coordination. It also helps a child to learn about their hands and engages them in a movement activity that promotes dexterity.
The rhyme includes a list of actions and motions that your child can use to develop their fine motor skills. These motions include the following: raising their hands in front of themselves, closing their fingers into a fist and holding out their thumbs, wiggling their fingers, and holding hands behind their back. The rhyme goes through movement for each of the fingers, beginning with Thumbkin (the thumbs) and ending with Pinkie (the small fingers).
Even silly rhymes and games with baby can help to make their fine motor skills stronger and more advanced at a young age, and help them to keep developing strong skills as they age. Starting with simple, yet fun and engaging tasks like the rhyme of Where is Thumbkin? is a perfect way to engage your young one while helping them grow.