Hand Function 7-24 Month Period

Original Editor - Robin Tacchetti based on the course by Pam Versfeld
Top Contributors - Robin Tacchetti, Jess Bell, Tarina van der Stockt, Kim Jackson, Ewa Jaraczewska and Jorge Rodríguez Palomino

Intro

Infants transitioning into toddlerhood will demonstrate more complex use of their hands. In early infancy, hand use was subjected to random spontaneous movements of the arms. As they age, infants engage in intentional movement patterns to reach and grasp object they seek. Successful reaching entails locating the target while opening and aligning the hand in preparation to grasp the object. Developmentally, reaching precedes grasping. Between 9-19 months old, infants can plan ahead before reaching a target. During this time period, reaching and grasping is not limited to visual targets, as infants can reach auditory targets as well. Throughout the 7-24 month period, infants will use their hands in a variety of ways along with a variety of finger grasps to manipulate, learn and play with objects.

Development of Hand Function

Development of hand function for infants occurs in two processes; cascades in development and perception-action loops with embedded exploration and selection.

• Cascades in Development:
  • theory based on learned new skills are a combination of established development with new skill acquisition

• Perception-Action Loops with Embedded Exploration and Selection:
  • infants will use repeated trials to learn new skills
  • with each opportunity they learn how to vary their movement to attain success
    • provides different sensory feedback as a consequence of their movement

Perception

The way in which we gather information about the events within the environment (the physical structure and the events occuring) is referred to as perception. We attain this information as an active brain process in recognising patterns from the steady flow of sensory information. Examples of perceiving sensory information is through tasting, feeling, looking and listening. For infants, hand use provides opportunities to learn about the properties of objects through their feeling sensation.

7-12 Month Period

The hands serve several purposes during the 7-12 month period. Their trifold functions are listed below:

using hand for support

1. As part of the postural and locomotor systems
   • learning to balance in sitting, crawling and buttock shuffling, cruising
2. For communication and in social interactions
3. For picking up, moving and manipulating objects
   • to explore their different properties and what can be done with them

Hand-Object Actions

During the 7-12 month time period, infants will use their hands to interact with objects with varied complex actions. These hand-object behaviours are listed below:

• shaking
• banging
• patting, poking, stroking, flapping with the fingers
• turning objects over
• passing from one hand to the other
• throwing and dropping objects
• picking up, moving and dropping small and large objects

** By 12 months, infants reach and grasp motions are similar to that of an adult

Grasp Patterns

When infants learn to sit independently they become more efficient at reaching and grasping as their arms are no longer needed for support. Their grasp transitions from a reflexive palmar grasp to a radial palmar grasp to a pincer grasp. These fine motor adaptations facilitate more detailed manipulation and play of objects. Using new grasps, infants begin releasing objects awkwardly around 7-8 months moving to more purposeful movements as they age. Around 12 months old, infants use fingering and hand-hand manipulations to investigate objects. Repetitive trials allows them to find a finger pattern that is best suited to the size and shape of different objects.

Grasp patterns commonly seen during this period:

• Hook grasp: used to grasp small objects; fingers flexed at all joints
• Power grasp: used to hold a cylindrical object between fingers and thumb
• Palmar grasp: used to hold objects or tools with a long handle
• Circular grasp: used to grasp a ball or flat round object
• Chuck grasp: using the thumb, forefinger and ring finger; complex grasp typically for 4-5 years old
• Key grasp: used to grasp small flat surface between thumb and side of forefinger, other fingers flexed to provide support

Small Objects

Around 10-11 months old, infants begin to poke and pick up small objects. Poking entails using an extended forefinger while picking involves bending and extending the fingers using a raking action. As time progresses, infants will transition to a pincer or key grip to pick up small objects.

Ball Activities

Ball play in infancy creates a variety of experiences about how balls function. Infants learn to visually track moving balls as well as predict where the ball will stop moving. Anticipating the future location of a moving ball is an important skill for learning to catch a ball. Ball play with partners allows the infants to observe their partners actions, discover different ways balls move, and how to catch and throw.

Social interaction and communication gestures

During the 7-12 month period, infants use their hands for social interaction and communication. Some of the various gestures you might see during this stage are listed below:

• waving
• arm pointing
• clapping hands
• raising hands for hooray
• high five
• copying actions

12-24 Months

Task Structure

During the 12-24 month stage, toddlers use their hands for more goal-directed actions. Their improved visual perceptual and spatial relation skills contribute to their improved ability to manipulate objects and bilateral hand use. comparing them to others. Goal-oriented tasks requires an understanding of the series of actions needed to complete the task otherwise known as task structure. Three main components needed to complete a task structure are listed below:

1. visual information gathered for planning movements
2. predict and adapt posture in response to limb movements
3. complete a sequence of movements

Toddlers learn to perform tasks with greater accuracy over time and through repeated experiences. During play activities, toddlers will adapt their grip, their body position and the pulling force applied through their arms to accommodate for the specific task. They quickly learn how to plan, execute and adapt their movements to attain their goal.

Posting Activities

Posting or inserting activities begin during this 12-24 months. This task requires the toddler to place objects through small openings such as small balls, rods or flat disks inserted into holes in the lids of a container. Through the undertaking, toddlers learn about sizes and shapes of objects as they fit through the various holes.

Duration of Play

Toddlers age 12-24 months have brief sustained periods of focused attention to a task before moving onto another activity. These quick bursts of focused play are not a sign of poor attention span, but one of using the most effective way to learn about properties and affordances of many different objects. A study by Herzberg et al.2022 showed that toddlers object interactions were on average 9.8 seconds with transitions among dozens of toys and non-t0ys.

Resources

• Baby Navigator
• Skills For Action
• Hand Function 0-7 Months
• Hand Function
• Infant Development