7 Baby Toys for Fine Motor Skills

The development of fine motor skills is critical to your baby’s growth.“Fine motor skills include reaching, grasping and manipulating objects,” which allows them to grow into using different tools like crayons and scissors explains, physical therapist Diane Percy who practices in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

To help your baby develop these skills, encourage the coordination of the small muscles of the wrists, hands, fingers, feet, toes and tongue. Percy notes that fine motor skills “develop at the same time as gross motor skills, but are often overlooked as developmental milestones because kids don’t have to use them until they’re asked to print, color and cut in preschool.”

To help your child cultivate these important fine motor skills, choose from these seven toys that encourage her to play while she works her reaching and grabbing skills.


1) Manhattan Toy Bababall Sensory Sphere and Rattle: This puffy ball made of interwoven strips of fabric with ribbons attached has a rattling ball inside and will entertain your baby for hours. It features different textures and bright colors to encourage exploration. It’s appropriate for children 6 months old and up.


2) Manhattan Toy Dr. Seuss One Fish Stacking Blocks Toddler Toy: Toddlers enjoy these stacking blocks featuring the familiar Dr. Seuss characters of “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” The glossy blocks stand up to stacking and toppling. Teach your child to use them as nesting blocks, too, to challenge a different motor skill set.


3) Melissa and Doug Match & Roll Shape Sorter: Shape sorters challenge your baby’s cognitive skills as well as his fine motor skills. He must manipulate the wooden stars, octagons, trapezoids and cubes to fit into color-matched holes of a wooden cylinder. Once all the shapes are in, baby can roll the toy for a thunderous reward, open the top and do it again. Babies who are year old or older are best suited for this toy.


4) Melissa and Doug First Bead Maze: Babies develop super solid grasping and gliding skills with this three-dimensional maze. The brightly colored beads are affixed to wire pathways that your baby can spin and slide in different patterns. Children aged one enjoy this bead maze.


5) Playdoh: Playdoh teaches your toddler to pinch, roll and squeeze. Plus, it’s non-toxic so if some ends up in his mouth – it’s all OK. The stiffness of playdough also builds finger muscle strength. Playdoh is best for children 2 years and older.


6) Construction Paper: Baby toys don’t have to break the bank. A simple stack of construction paper helps your baby develop pinching skills as he crumples to create wads. He can then play the “drop” game, where he learns to grasp and then open his fingers to see how things fall down, but don’t come back up. Tearing the paper also develops his finger dexterity and strength. Supervise the playtime, but babies of 6 months and older enjoy this simple activity.


7) Imaginarium Foam Building Blocks: Foam blocks don’t stack as easily as wooden blocks, which means your baby or toddler has to be particularly adept when building; they’ll develop the motor skills necessary to balance unstable objects. The foam is easy to clean and soft, in case the blocks come toppling down or take flight. Younger babies enjoy stacking just two blocks together, while older babies and toddlers can make taller towers.



Andrea Cespedes is a professionally trained chef and a Certified Nutrition Therapist. With more than 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, she coaches cycling and running and teaches Pilates and yoga. She is an American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainer, RYT-200 and has degrees from Princeton and Columbia University. She’s the proud mom of two kids, who love dance, rock climbing and animals.