STEM skills really take off as your baby’s fine motor skills continue to refine and they can use their little hands to explore. The ability to move each finger separately and bring the thumb and first two fingers together is also a huge stride in your baby’s ability to have some independence. Now she is able to manipulate small objects, bring them to her face for closer inspection, and self-feed finger foods. This will continue to be refined through the next few years. You can encourage this by providing small food items on the high chair tray for practice. She is working really hard to converge her eyes on the small object to align her fingers, building visual-motor skills.
Your baby’s grasp patterns emerge in a typical order, starting with a four-finger raking grasp or a palmar grasp where they use their entire hand to grab and hold an item.
Typically the next grasp pattern that emerges is a three finger pincer grasp.
The most mature grasp your six month will demonstrate is a fine pincer grasp and this is a grasp between the opposed thumb and the index finger.
Believe it or not, tummy time is a great way to build these fine motor skills. Weight bearing through the hands develops the musculature to aid in dexterity.
Watch the grasp patterns in motion here: