Read Honig (2007) and Pica (2010); complete this handout as you read
Honig(2007)PDPica(2010)
Watch the video Infants: Physical Development (Learning Seed, 2010) which is located in the BMCC library Kanopy video database (these instructions or this video explains how to access the video) and complete this handout as you watch the video.
Review the CDC developmental milestones for 6 month old child
Watch this video of a 6-month-old baby:
Using information from the videos and readings, answer the questions below:
- How is infant physical development connected to brain development?
- What are fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master?
- What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development?
- What milestones does the baby in the video demonstrate (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
- How is the 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched last module?
1)How is infant physical development connected to brain development?
Infant physical development is connected to brain development by skill mastery and growth being the result of brain growth and development.
2)What are fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master?
Clapping their hands together, move their arms, reach out to grab things with their arms, bringing toys to their mouths.
3)What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development?
Put toys outside of a baby’s reach and encourage them to grab them, play games like pat-a-cake, blow bubbles for the baby to watch, and encourage them to reach for the bubbles.
4)What milestones does the baby in the video demonstrate (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
The baby is communicating by making sounds. She is playing with the yellow toy by grabbing it with two hands and putting it in her mouth. She’s able to reach for stuff and grip onto things.
5) How is the 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched in the last module?
The 6-month-old baby and the 4-month-old baby’s development and abilities are different because, with the 4-month-old baby, she didn’t really demonstrate any communication skills, but the 6-month-old baby is doing a lot of communicating.
Diamunique — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Physical movement connects to infant brain development because the more a baby moves and experiences the world through their senses, the more neural pathways & brain connections develop in the baby’s brain. You listed several fine motor skills babies 0-18 mos demonstrate, I wonder, what are some gross motor skills babies 0-18 mos develop? You listed activities infant teachers can do you promote infant motor development: I wonder, what else can teacher do? After reviewing the milestones listed for a 6 month old baby, I wonder, which specific cognitive, language/ communication, social/emotional, and physical milestones did the baby demonstrate? How? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the readings & video in this activity?
1) How is infant physical development connected to brain development?
Infants actual improvement is associated with mental health by ability dominance and development being the aftereffect of cerebrum development and advancement.
2)What are fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master?
Applauding together, move their arms, contact to snatch things with their arms, bringing toys to their mouths.
3) What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development?
Plan exercises that advance perceptual-motor improvement
4)What milestones does the baby in the video demonstrate (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
The infant is imparting by making sounds. She is playing with the yellow toy by snatching it with two hands and placing it in her mouth. She’s ready to go after stuff and grasp onto things.
5) How is the 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched in the last module?
The half year old infant and the 4-month-old child’s turn of events and capacities are diverse in light of the fact that, with the 4-month-old infant, she didn’t actually show any relational abilities, however the half year old infant is doing a great deal of conveying.
Selanie — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Infant motor movement connects to infant brain development because the more a baby moves and experiences the world through their senses, the more neural pathways & brain connections develop in the baby’s brain. You listed several fine motor skills babies 0-18 mos demonstrate, I wonder, what are some gross motor skills babies 0-18 mos develop? I wonder, what are some specific activities infant teachers can do to promote an infant’s perceptual motor abilities? The baby in the video does vocalize, hold objects in both hands & bring objects to her mouth; I wonder, after reviewing the milestones listed for a 6-month-old-baby, which specific cognitive, language/ communication, social/emotional, and physical milestones did the baby in the video demonstrate? How? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the readings & video in this activity?
1.-Physical development is connected to brain development, because physical activities help children to activate their brains and acquire new information. Learning is not all in your head, beginning in infancy, physical movement plays a vital role in the creation of the nerve cell networks that are actually the core of learning. Movement, activates the neural wiring throughout the body, makes the entire body, not just the brain an instrument of learning. (Pica,2010, pg. 48)
In infancy you can see the relationship between a baby’s motor development and the resultant learning. As a baby moves from a lying to a sitting to a creeping and finally to a standing position, his perspective changes as do his perceptions of the world and its possibilities, the more mobile he becomes, the more he increases his knowledge about himself and the people and things around him, acquiring information through his tactile
2.- The fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master are
By 3-4 months of age, most babies placed on their tummies on a safe, warm surface push down with their arms and raise their chest
By 5 months, babies stretch both feet and hands upward in order to swipe at interesting mobiles placed overhead.
At 7 – 9 months, babies placed on the floor will push up both arms and legs and rock back and forth as if doing preliminary exercises.
By 10-13 months, babies placed on a carpet near a sturdy couch will push up to standing, holding on firmly to the couch, even if wobbly. (Honig ,2007, pg. 20)
“Walking typically between 12 to 18 months. Once he is walking unassisted, the baby will enjoy pushing, pulling, and carrying objects while walking” (Pica,2010, pg.50).
3.- Some of the activities and practices, infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development?
-Rolling over. – When a baby is laying on her back, sit behind holding a small toy over her head, one you get her attention, move the toy to one side, while encouraging her to get it, if she rolls over present her with the toy.
-Blowing bubbles promote visual tracking and eye-hand coordination.
-Pat a cake, chance for a baby to cross the body’s vertical midline.
-Splish-splash, when baby is able to sit unassisted, put warn water in a large bowl and encourage baby to touch and splash the water. This is a great activity for eye-hand coordination and upper torso exercise.
-Early manipulative skills, provide opportunities for kicking, give object soft objects to throw. (Pica,2010, pg.50).
4.- The baby in the video demonstrates the next milestones:
-Social and emotional. – recognized her parents faces, she looked happy.
-Language/ communication. – she responded by making sounds, string vowels together when babbling, she responded to her name and made sounds to show joy, she made consonants sounds (ya, ba)
-Movement/ physical development. – she was sitting down without support, she moved her torse and head from side to side to explore.
-Cognitive. – She looked around at things nearby, she brought the toy to her mouth, she was passing her toy from one hand to the other.
5.- How is the 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched last module?
4-month-old baby was laying on her tummy and rolling over and the 6-month-old baby was sitting without support.
4-month-old baby began to babble and the 6-month-old baby Strung vowels together when babbling (“ah,” “eh,” “oh”). In addition, she made consonant sounds (“ba”, “ya”)
4-month-old baby reached a toy with one hand and the 6-month-old baby passed the toy from one hand to another.
Marcela– Thanks for your comment in this activity. The more a baby moves and experiences the world through their senses, the more neural pathways & synaptic connections develop in the baby’s brain. It is amazing how a baby’s view of their world changes as they grow! You listed many motor skills babies 0-18 mos demonstrate, by age. You listed activities infant teachers can do you promote infant motor development; I wonder, which do you have experience using or are you looking forward to trying? You clearly listed the specific cognitive, language/ communication, social/ emotional and physical the 6-month-old baby in the video demonstrated. You also clearly compared the developmental milestones of the 4-old month and 6-month-old babies.
1) An infants physical development is connected to their brain development because the more they do something physically, their brain develops for them to solve problems and figure out new ways to do things. It’s a learning experience that is crucial to their ability to figure things out.
2) Fine motor skills and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months should demonstrate/ master are picking things up, clapping, rolling over on both sides, baby babble, putting objects in their mouths.
3) To help infants physical development, infant teachers can put a lot of different toys with different textures and colors around the room. They can also let them feel different fabrics and objects. They can also have other interactive activities for babies like blowing bubbles, playing outside.
4) The milestones the babie in the video represented were, being able to recoginse her mom and dad’s faces, being able to semi respond to them when they talked to her, babbling, sitting up, moving her arms to her mouth, putting a toy in her mouth, reaching for different objects, and clapping.
5) The 6-month-old baby is different from the 4-month-old babies because the 6-month-old is more talkative and interactive with people around her. The 4-month- old was just looking around and trying to figure out her surroundings. The 6-month-old was also able to babble a lot more than the 4-month-old. She would babble here and there. Also the 6-month-old was able to respond to what her parents were trying to say to her. The 6-month-old was also about to make eye contact for a little bit with her parents where the 4-month-old couldn’t quite do that yet.
Zoe — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Infant physical development is crucial to learning. Infant motor movement connects to infant brain development because the more a baby moves and experiences the world through their senses, the more neural pathways & brain connections develop in the baby’s brain. You listed several motor skills babies 0-18 mos demonstrate, babies also learn to crawl, cruise and walk between 0-18 months. Playing outside, engaging with objects that are different textures, and blowing bubbles is a fun activity with babies & toddlers; I wonder, what are some other activities infant teachers can do to promote an infant’s motor abilities? You listed milestones the baby in the video demonstrated. You described how the 6-month-old was more vocal than the 4-month old baby; I wonder, what other differences in social/emotional, cognitive, language/ communication, and motor skills did you notice between the babies? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the readings & video in this activity?
1) How is infant physical development connected to brain development?
An infants physical development connects to their brain development because when infants do things it can activate their brains and can get more new information.
2)What are fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master?
Fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or masters are moving their arms, try to snatch things, putting toys in their mouths.
3) What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development?
Infants teachers can try to put babies on their back and try to get their attention with a toy so they can try to grab it and try to get a bowl with warm water and let them splash the water.
4)What milestones does the baby in the video demonstrate (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
In the video the baby’s milestone her being able to notice who is her parents. She is able to take her toy and put it in her mouth. She is also able to sit on her own without any support.
5) How is the 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched in the last module?
The 6-month-old baby’s development is different from the 4-month-old baby because the 6-month old baby try to talk even more and wants to interact with others. the 6 month old tries to response to what her parents say while the 4 month just looks around because she is not familiar to the surrounding.
Madelin — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Infant motor movement connects to infant brain development because the more a baby moves and experiences the world through their senses, the more neural pathways & brain connections develop in the baby’s brain. You listed several fine motor skills babies 0-18 mos demonstrate, I wonder, what are some gross motor skills babies 0-18 mos develop? Splashing in water & having toys above a baby to reach for or kick are activities that support motor development; I wonder, what are some other specific activities infant teachers can do to promote an infant’s physical development? The baby in the video does recognize their parents, vocalize, bring objects to her mouth & sit unsupported; I wonder, after reviewing the milestones listed for a 6-month-old-baby, which additional cognitive, language/ communication, social/emotional, and physical milestones did the baby in the video demonstrate? The 6-month-old baby is more interactive & vocal than the 4-month old baby you watched in the last module; I wonder, what were other differences in cognitive, social/emotional, physical, and language/communication skills that you noticed? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the readings & video in this activity?
1. How is infant physical development connected to brain development?
– Infant physical development is related to brain development because early movement is essential for neuronal stimulation and healthy brain development. Baby’s movements increase his awareness of his surroundings and his world. Pica (2010) states “with each new experience, new neural connections are made”.
2. What are fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master?
According to Infants: Physical Development (Learning Seed, 2010)
Gross motor skills
-3 months: Baby can raise their head when lying oh his stomach
-6 months: Baby can roll from his stomach to his back
-8 months: Baby can coordinate their arms and legs while crawling
-10 months: Baby starts to pull himself up to stand with some help
-12 months: Baby know he can walk with the support of furniture or somebody’s hands
Fine motor skills
-3 months: Baby shows coordination of their hands
-6 months: Baby can grasp objects
-8 months: Baby has the ability to pincer grasp
– 10/12 months: Baby can grasp a crayon and start to draw with it
3. What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development?
-Pat-a-cake: offers opportunities for imitation, touch and social interactions
-Splish-splash: offers opportunities for eye-hand coordination
-Cruising: make sure a baby has opportunities to pull himself up using furniture
4. What milestones does the baby in the video demonstrate (social and emotional, language/
communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
-Social and emotional: She knows familiar faces and respond to other’s emotions
-Language/Communication: Respond to sounds, strings vowels together and make sounds to show joy
-Movement/Physical development: She is sitting without support
-Cognitive: She brings objects to her mouth
5. How is the 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched last module?
-The 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities are different from the 4-month-old baby because the 4 months old could not sit without support and she could not string vowels together.
Daniela — — Thanks for your comment in this activity. You connected your comment to the Pica (2010) reading & video in this module. A baby’s physical movement connects to their brain development because the more a baby moves and experiences the world through their senses, the more neural pathways & brain connections develop in the baby’s brain. You listed fine & gross motor skills babies 0-18 mos develop, by age. Pat-a-cake, playing in water, & having furniture babies can pull to stand & cruise around supports a baby’s motor skills; I wonder, what are some other activities infant teachers can do to promote an infant’s physical development? The baby in the video vocalizes, brings objects to her mouth, recognizes familiar faces, & sits without support. The 4-month-old could not sit and could not babble (string vowels together; I wonder what other cognitive, social/ emotional, language/ communication, and physical differences did you notice between the 2 babies? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the Honig (2007) reading in this activity?
1-Growth occurs in a part of the brain called cerebellum. The cerebellum controls physical development and motor skills which helps babies to control their bodies and movements.
2- At 0-18 months babies can clap their hands, bring objects to their mouths,moving their arms , and trying to grab for things.
3-Infant teachers can engage in different activities such as blowing bubbles, have the child play in warm inside of a bowl(splash the water around), cruising which is giving the child an opportunity to pull themselves up and take steps by using whats around them
4-The baby in the video shows social and emotional development because she was able to recognize familiar faces and show emotions when she sees them . The baby communicated by waving her arms , babbling and making sounds. She was able to sit up without support and move her body to explore what is around her.She showed her cognitive skills by putting the toy in her mouth and reaching for other objects.
5-The 4 month old wasnt yet able to sit without support. The communication was also different the 6 month old was beginning to string vowels together.
1. How is infant physical development connected to brain development?
Newborn infants do not have the strength to hold up their head but they learn and start to develop control of their muscles. The cerebellum plays a big role in their physical development and motor skills because it helps babies control their body and movements.
2. What are fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master?
Some fine motor and gross motor skills that babies from 0-18 months demonstrate are as follows:
lift their head, lift their chest
turn and roll over
they have an awkward coordination
backs into the chair to sit down
in constant motion
poke with their finger
loves to pull/ push objects
they use their whole-arm movements.
3. What activities and practices can infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development?
They can grab a warm bowl of water and have them splash water around. They can also blow bubbles.
4. What milestones does the baby in the video demonstrate (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
The baby showed social and emotional by being able to recognize familiar faces and reciprocate emotion. She was able to sit up without the support of a pillow or her mom helping her stay up. She would put toys in her mouth.
5. How is the 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched last module?
The babies development were different because the 6 month old baby was able to sit up by herself while the 4 month old was laying down. The 6 month old baby would try to respond to what the adults were saying while the 4 month old would look around.
1)infant physical development connected to brain development because when babies are new borns they are processing new information and also they aren’t able to move a lot.
2)Some fine motor and gross motor skills that babies 0-18 months demonstrate or master would be
-mumbling
-moving around such as lifting their head, roll over,
-attempt to grab objects nearby
3)Some activities and practices can infant teachers do to support babies’ physical development would be getting. warm bowl which allows them to splash it and make bubbles,
4) Some milestones does the baby in the video demonstrate (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)
-Baby is able to distinguish familiar faces and show some type of emotion towards them(social/emotional)
-Able to sit up (physical)
-Puts the toys in her mouth.
5) The 6-month-old baby’s development and abilities different from the 4-month-old baby we watched last module
-The babies were different because the 6 month old was able to stay sitting up on her own while the 4 month old would be laying down. The 6 month old when hearing people around having a conversation would try to respond while the 4 month old would just stare.
1. Infant physical development is connected to brain development through healthy brain growth. Neurotransmitters in the brain develop through synapses that allow the baby to have experiences through their senses. As they grow, the infant begins to utilize their fine and gross motor skills.
2. The fine and gross motor skills that babies from 0-18months (about 1 and a half years) demonstrate and expert are plenty! Perception and vision are key factors in their development from birth to 3months. They begin to touch and reach for stimuli, and depth perception. Between 4months and 8months, eye and body coordination are improving as they are exploring. Between 8-12months, they are using this coordination to explore more with their physical bodies, pulling themselves up. Around 12months, they will be crawling and/or starting to walk.
3. Infant teachers can support baby’s physical development depending on what stage they are at. For infants under 4months, moving objects within 8-12 inches away will attract their attention and support their perceptual skills. Their sense of touch should be encouraged as well. For infants 6months and up, the infant teacher should be prepared for more movements as the infant is sitting up on their own. It becomes important to provide safety and toys that stimulate them in a safe way as well.
4. There are many milestones that are related to fine and gross motors skills and happens simultaneously. Initially, the infants are operating on reflexes only. Between 3-6months, the infant may prop him/herself up, using their wrists and hands and leg muscles. This is a combination of their fine and gross motor skills.
5. Around 6months, a baby has developed gross motors skills that allow him/her to sit up by themselves. The older the infant becomes, the more advanced they will become through their senses. Whereas a baby is still only operating on their reflexes from birth to 3months. Once the infant is 3 months or so they will raise their heads, and hands when laying on their stomach.