Body
Movement Intelligence
from 6 Months to 15 Months
from 6 Months to 15 Months
| Characteristics | Things to do |
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Large Muscles:
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| By 6 months most babies can roll over from front to back and back to front. | You don’t need to teach your baby to roll over. Just make sure she spends time on a clean blanket on the floor when she is feeling playful. |
| Babies learn to sit up after they learn to roll over. Some babies use rolling to get from one place to another. Keep her play area safe. | You can prop your baby up with pillows to give her practice sitting up. If you sit with your legs crossed and put your baby in the middle, her back can lean against you. |
| Around 6 to 9 months of age, babies like bouncing up and down and kicking against things. This helps to get their muscles ready for walking. | Hold baby’s hands and let her stand and bounce on your bed. There are products that you can buy to help build your baby’s walking muscles. Babies have always learned to walk without expensive toys. Don’t use walkers, they are dangerous. Put your baby on a clean carpeted floor. |
| Babies from 6 to 12 months may start crawling. They usually start by trying to get something out of their reach. Babies need lots of play-time on the floor. They need to practice moving their arms and legs together. | Put some favorite toys just out of her reach to help her learn to crawl. Try this activity to make her arms stronger—lay your baby on her back on your bed. Show her how to grab a broomstick by gently squeezing her hands on it. Slowly lift the broomstick a few inches. Hold a few seconds, then lower. |
| Some babies never learn to crawl. They move other ways and then learn to walk. This is OK. Babies are all different. | Make your baby a “feeling trail.” Make a trail of carpet samples, rope door-mats, rubber door-mats, astro-turf mats, and throw rugs for your baby to move on. You can make it different every day. |
| Babies soon learn to crawl upstairs. They love to practice this skill. You need to teach your baby to crawl down backwards on her tummy. Stairs need to be blocked off with gates when adults can’t be with baby. | Pillows from chairs or couches are good for crawling practice. Place foam pillows or a mattress on a rug. Help baby learn to crawl on and off the pillows. |
| Next, your baby will start to “cruise” holding on to things. | Babies will use anything handy to try to stand up. Make sure there are stable objects around. Make sure she can’t hurt herself if she falls. Give her lots of firm things to hold onto. |
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Small Muscles:
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| At 6 months babies use their fingers as if they are stuck together. They use their fingers to pull things to them. About 7 months babies start to separate their fingers. By about 8 months, babies can use their thumb and forefinger to pick up small things and put them in their mouth. Be careful! Babies can choke on anything that can fit through a toilet paper roll. | Give your baby board books. Let her turn
the pages. Turning the pages will help her use her small finger muscles. Put cheerios in an empty film container on your baby’s high chair. Show her how to put the cheerios in the film container. Give your baby practice pouring. Put a big towel under her high chair. Give her a plastic tub of water, measuring cups and spoons, a small pitcher, a funnel, etc. and let her play. |