Toys, household items affect baby's motor skill development

Toys, appliances, and even a sofa can impact the way or when a baby first crawls or walks, according to a new study which found that many parents are unaware of the role household items play in an infant's motor skill development.
Priscila Cacola, an assistant professor of kinesiology in The University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation, has co-developed a simple questionnaire for caregivers of infants aged 3 to 18 months.
The questionnaire can aid in the evaluation of toys and other items in the home known as home affordances, Cacola said.
The questionnaire is called the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Infant Scale, or AHEMD-IS, and is now being used by physical and occupational therapists worldwide.

Cacola said the tool could help parents better assess items for motor skill development or help infants do something like learning to walk.
"When parents buy toys, they're rarely thinking 'I wonder if this is going to be great for my child's fine or gross motor skills,' but if they look at each AHEMD-IS question and each separation of the question, they can choose to buy toys that are different or that offer different opportunities for their infants," said Cacola.

"Parents, doctors or other infant caregivers might ask 'What does a toy or a coffee table do?' Well, depending on the space between the couch and the coffee table, it could be the first distance that the child wants to cross," Cacola said.

"If a toy is cranked and pops up, the child might want to go grab it, which could lead the child to walking. But the challenge is the thing that stimulates that child to begin walking," she said.
The researchers surveyed parents of more than 400 infants over five years in three Brazilian states, using the AHEMD-IS.
They focused on four categories, including physical space in the home, variety of stimulation, gross-motor toys and fine-motor toys.
Parents were asked questions like whether there was enough space for the child in the home to play or move around freely; does the home include a special space for toys where the child can choose what to play with and get it without help; and whether the parents regularly played games with their child to practice movements such as 'clap hands', 'wave','crawl', 'walk', etc.

Based on questionnaire responses, expert opinion and other variables, researchers found the AHEMD-IS to be a reliable and valid instrument for parents, doctors or other child caregivers in assessing objects in the home environment that promote infant motor development.
"Developing a child's motor skills is extremely important because motor development is actually the mediator of cognitive, social and emotional development," Cacola said.
The study is published in the journal Physical Therapy.