Developmental Red Flags
12-16 Months
An early childhood intervention/ development therapy referral
may be appropriate if your child is exhibiting any of these red
flag symptoms:
- Frequently in a fisted position with both hands after 6
months of age
- Not clapping their hands by 12 months of age
- Not deliberately and immediately releasing objects by 12
months of age
- Not able to tip and hold their bottle by themselves and
keep it up, without lying down, by 12 months of age
- Excessive mouthing
Therapy Options
Thankfully, there are many ways to deal with delays in child
development and behaviors.
These include in-home services, outpatient (you take your child
to a clinic), inpatient (following injury or surgery) and school
based services. Which type of therapy should you choose?
Visit our Therapy
Options area to learn more.
Ask a Therapist
We understand developmental milestones and the challenges of
Special Needs children. We spend a great deal of time with
families understanding the inner workings of childhood routines
and interactions. Ask us about your child today!
Ask a Therapist
Fine Motor Skills for Babies
12-16 Months
At this level of development, your baby is favoring use of one
hand.
While viewing books, he or she will be pointing to pictures.
He or she will be gripping objects and releasing into a container. While
one hand holds an object, the other hand explores and manipulates. Your baby
is happy to build block towers, climb onto furniture, and climb stairs
during this time. When offered markers or crayons, he or she will scribble
spontaneously.
Parenting Tips for Fine Motor Skills:
You can help with baby developmental milestones. Suggested play to help
a baby 12 to 16 months of age develop fine motor skills:
- To encourage marks and scribbles, tape a large piece of paper to a
table, offer crayons. Demonstrate and say "dot, dot, dot" while making
marks.
- To promote putting items into a container, use pots or a coffee can
that will make interesting sounds as your child drops items into the
container.
- To promote stacking blocks, use a variety of stackable items such as
tissue boxes, empty butter tubs, books, and shoe boxes before trying to
stack smaller items.
- To promote pointing with the index finger, use a 'texture book'
where you child can poke a finger into cotton, fabric, and various
interesting materials.
- Place balls of Play-Doh into an ice cube tray or egg carton and show
your child how to poke the material.
- To encourage scribbling, use a Magna Doodle, Aqua Doodle, or
sidewalk chalk on pavement. Paper taped to table and scribbled on with
crayons is great too!
- To promote play with both hands, use bowls and a spoon for
stirring. Help your child remove the paper wrapper from a Popsicle or
juice bar. Hold a tambourine and hit it with other hand. Even peeling
a banana can be helpful and fun.
- Toys don't always come from stores. Make a small wad of masking
tape, sticky side out. It's very entertaining and will give your baby
some good finger exercise.
- Fill and dump, again and again. Give your baby a plastic container
and a mix of toys and household items. Show your baby how to fill the
container, and then dump everything out. The next day, change the items
to keep it fun.
- Homemade blocks. Fill saved pint and quart milk cartons with rice,
and show your baby how to stack them up and knock them down.
- Squeeze those little hands. Put a sponge ball or washcloth in the
bath and show your baby how to squeeze out all the water.
Fine Motor Skills by Age Group
'Fine motor' refers to the development of small muscle movements of the
hands. Fine motor skills develop as your child's whole body gains mobility,
stability, cognitive, and emotional/social development. Fine motor skills
that come to mind are shoe tying, writing, and cutting paper with scissors.
Contact Information
Find Early Intervention
Support contacts in your State. If you have a question or comment for
us, please visit our Contact page.
Early Intervention Helps with Developmental Delay
For children with Special Needs, intervention in early childhood
development means finding specific ways to help a child become as functional
as possible.
Learn more on our Parenting
Tips
page.
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