Infants first use the ulnar grasp where their fingers close against the palm when trying to hold an object. A delightful example of this is when babies begin to explore gravity by dropping toys whilst sitting in their highchair. Pour water onto the spinning starfish, wobbling coral and turning shell with the sea life cups to stimulate fine motor skills and cause and effect. Children demonstrate that they have understood the concept of cause and effect when they talk about the consequence of actions. Sound and movement attract a baby’s attention; if a toy is placed almost within reach of babies their movements become more animated.

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Babies begin to learn about conversational turn-taking from an early age; if a baby is babbling the adult waits for a pause and then talks to the baby. There are social skills involved in language acquisition such as realising that it is necessary to wait until the other person has finished speaking. After the first year, infants adopt the ‘pincer grasp’ where they use their thumb and index finger to grasp even very tiny objects.

Adults can facilitate babies’ language development by playing with them, focussing on particular toys, reading books and naming everyday objects.

VTech Splashtime Submarine, Kids Bath Toy, Baby Interactive VTech Splashtime Submarine, Kids Bath Toy, Baby Interactive

Spatial skills can also be enhanced when playing games that require concentration, quick responses and finely tuned motor skills. The grasping, at first, is quite clumsy but through repetition, and across time, infants become adept at grasping and develop fine motor skills. When young babies watch a mobile they are constantly moving their head, arms, legs and even their mouths in response to the movement of the toy. Toys that reliably make a noise when pressed, pulled or touched teach babies that their actions have an effect on the world. Featuring a cute octopus character with a light up mask button triggering fun phrases, songs and sounds.

If babies are presented with an unexpected event where, for example, a moving toy train disappears behind a screen but does not come out the other end they will stare for a long time at the screen. Toys that name alphabet letters and everyday words satisfy young children’s need for repetition and rehearsal when practicing words and sounds.

VTech toys offer babies and children the opportunity to learn more about cause and effect by pressing buttons and listening to the sounds, moving toys around and playing educational computer games. For example, babies are beginning to understand that toys reliably fall to the ground and that if a toy train goes into a tunnel it will come out the other end. Social interaction is important for language development and turn-taking games are a fun and educational way for babies and young children to learn. This enables the baby to continue with their experiment and learn more about cause and effect; babies learn a great deal through repetition and it is good to facilitate opportunities where babies can begin to understand that, for instance, a toy will always fall to the ground. You will often see young babies in a bath reaching with their legs towards a floating toy and kicking.