Taking Hold: Manual Dexterity in Young Children, DVD

Part of the Series : Baby It's You: The First Three Years

Length: 25 minutes

ORDER CODE: BVL41949

ISBN: 9781616169541

Copyright date: ©1994

Closed Captioned

Holding hands with a child is one of the great pleasures of parenting—but it’s also a manifestation of key steps in infant and toddler development. This program looks at the growth of manipulative skills in childhood, from a newborn’s primitive grasp to the creative tool-use of a 2-year-old. Viewers gain an understanding of how babies learn to pick up objects, drop or release them, and use them in combination, as well as how these skills are applied to the tools of everyday life: spoons, toothbrushes, crayons, and the like. Although manual dexterity starts taking shape within three months after birth and is directly related to survival, the video also emphasizes its link to creativity and self-expression. A part of the series Baby It’s You: The First Three Years. (25 minutes)

Contents
A Baby's Grasp (02:57)
A newborn's primitive grasp is the earliest sign of the human tool user. Babies display a powerful drive to master the skills necessary to make use of tools.

Manual Dexterity: Reach and Grasp (02:56)
Babies discover their own hands and make them touch deliberately. Next, they make deliberate contact with the outside world. The brain has different pathways for perception and action. Reaching and grasping are separate skills.

Learning About the Physical World (01:32)
Once babies can grasp and manipulate objects, they explore the world of objects through their mouths.

Babies and Objects (04:40)
A young baby knows that her mother continues to exist even though she is not in the same room. This understanding is called object permanence and is vital to the human ability to use tools. At eight months, a baby can grab a moving object.

Releasing Objects and Memory (01:55)
Babies eventually learn to release objects from their grasp. A toddler tosses toys from the balcony, and he knows they have not disappeared. He remembers his toys though they are out of view.

Opposable Thumb (02:03)
Babies learn to use their thumb and forefinger as pincers to pick up individual small objects. This ability is unique to humans.

Skills and Tools (04:45)
The demands of eating command all the child's attention. He uses his opposable thumb, rotating wrist, and the ability to coordinate hand and eye. By the age of two children have the necessary skills to use a whole range of tools.

Tools and Lasting Traces (02:32)
Children learn to distinguish between writing and drawing. They are in the process of using tools to leave lasting traces of their work, thoughts, and feelings.

Credits: Taking Hold: Manual Dexterity in Young Children (00:40)
Credits: Taking Hold: Manual Dexterity in Young Children