Although it’s easy to see improvements in large motor skills, one-year-olds also improve their ability to use their hands and fingers, allowing them to examine objects and attempt new movements with greater precision. At this age, toddlers enjoy turning over containers to pour out their contents, building towers of blocks and knocking them down, turning pages, and scribbling. These activities aid the development of hand skills and help children grasp important spatial concepts (“in,” “on,” “under,” and “around”). These new abilities also bring new opportunities to get into trouble, so ensuring that dangerous items and materials are out of reach is important. It’s a good idea to do a safety check on the environment to help prevent accidents.
References
Shelov, S. P. (Editor-in-Chief). (2004.) Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. The American Association of Pediatrics. Revised edition. New York: Bantam Books.
