What to do with this activity?
When your baby is old enough to grasp things, offer them big chunky crayons to hold. When they are ready, show them how they can make marks on paper - a new and important skill. Make sure the crayons are made of safe materials (it will say on the box if they are) because they might end up in their mouth. Never leave your child unattended with crayons.
As an alternative to making marks on plain paper, you might like to click on the yellow activity link below to find a website that has lots of free pictures that you can print out. Your child is too small yet to be able to colour in pictures, but you can talk about the images while they add crayon marks. The important thing is that they enjoy playing, and start getting used to holding crayons and making marks with them.
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Why am I doing this?
Learning to move, reach and grasp helps children develop the muscles and skills to scribble and learn to write when they get older. Body awareness and learning to do big movements (like crawling and walking) and small movements like the pincer movement (where you lift up things with your index finger and thumb) are important parts of your child's development. It is part of awakening and developing your brain. For your young child, reaching for objects helps build their coordination and will help them hold crayons later on.
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How can I do more?
Have fun with your child dancing to music. This helps their coordination. If your child is moving their arms or body at all they are dancing!
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