Books that Promote Fine Motor Skills
The skill of pointer finger isolation is typically seen between 9-12 months of age. These books are a great natural way to promote fine motor finger isolation while having so much FUN!
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I'll be completely honest, my true motivation with "fine motor" books is simply to get my wild toddler to SIT for more than 30 seconds :) and it totally works!
One of his (19 months old) current favorites is anything from the Slide & See series. We have Dinosaurs, Zoo, and Farm and they are ALL a hit. Plus seeing those chubby little fingers slide the pieces back and forth is just the ca-utest!
And you absolutely cannot go wrong with all the sensory components of the That's Not My... series. Perhaps our most popular series of books for good reason. Each page has a fun touchy-feely component that's perfect from tummy time through toddlerhood. It's been cool to see how his wide palmar grasp has transformed into a very careful pointer finger isolation for engaging with each sensory experience.
After learning that letter/number tracing is one of the fastest ways our children can learn their alphabet and numerics, I've been more intentional about purchasing books with these components. And I've also found the sensation is very enticing for little hands. While my youngest isn't quite ready to begin learning letters & numbers, he can begin grasping the "tracing" concept with the Are You There Little... series. I adore these tiny books with beautiful illustrations and cutouts that captivate busy little hands. Bunny and Puppy are our two personal favorites.
Usborne JUST released these new Little Lift & Look books dedicated to littler babes that like to tear every flap out of their big sister's books. Not that I would have any experience with that or anything :| Lifting the flaps is such amazing fine motor strength and coordination, not to mention the books are precious! For sure could've used these like 6 months and 5 ruined books ago :)
And last but not least, our Noisy series pairs touch with sound, which is HIGHLY motivating for little minds! I will say, these are a bit harder to activate than our sound books I linked in the blog post below, so you may have to assist with pressing the buttons at first but soon enough--they'll be stronger and more independent with this fine motor task, too!
How adorable is this video of Redding (19 months) sitting there "reading" the book to himself. Obsessed. You can find this book in this blog post, which contains all of our touch-activated sound books that are also incredible for pointer finger isolation and also for an endless amount of "independent reading time". Double win!
To browse all the books in my book shop, visit this link.
Which one would your babe love?!
