Babies are born with tightly fisted hands. All the muscles are preprogrammed to move in specific ways. The infant learns to move the hand in new ways over the course of the first year.
Providing lots of touch input, simple toys and hand play helps the baby learn how to move the hands and fingers. This process begins to strengthen the muscles.
Key to strong hands for babies:
- Weight bearing during tummy time
- Crawling
- Grasping and releasing toys and objects