Many people say that whether a baby is smart or not mainly depends on his hands. Is there any scientific reason?

A few days ago, the editor went to a relative's house as a guest. I was deeply shocked by the behavior of his five-month-old child. That is - when the mother twirls her finger in front of the baby, the baby can't take his eyes away at first, and then starts to follow the gesture. Not only the editor, but other people present who saw this scene for the first time also gave thumbs up: "The baby is so smart." "The imitation ability is so strong at such a young age. It's so good." "Really I don’t understand how my mother taught me, it’s really amazing!”… And the reason why everyone praises it so much is because we all understand the importance of fine motor development to the baby’s intellectual development.

An important feature that distinguishes humans from animals is that humans can use tools. What humans use to make and use tools are their hands. Someone once said that people's upper body movements have become a representative of wisdom rather than a representative of movement. From a scientific point of view, fine hand movements refer to the activity ability of small muscle groups in the hands. It is completed by sending instructions from the advanced nerve center of the human brain. The signals that stimulate and control fine finger movements originate from the motor cortex, the highest area of ??the brain. The more refined the movements, the larger the corresponding brain areas that govern them. In other words, the better the baby's fine movements are, the more developed the brain will be.

Baby’s ability to use hands, especially fingers, is the essence of this ability, which is the coordination ability of hand-eye-brain. Generally speaking, the development of baby's fine hand movements will go from unconscious to conscious. From unconscious grasping at birth to gradually conscious use of hands, the development of a baby's fine movements is inseparable from the continuous progress of its own growth and the active guidance of parents. As follows, we will talk about how babies before 1 year old can guide the fine movements of their hands. Babies 0-6 months old

At this stage, the awareness of opponents is slowly strengthening. Generally, 3-4 months before birth, the baby's grasping is unconscious. For example, if a parent puts a finger on the baby's palm, the baby will grasp it tightly, but this is actually just a natural reflex. What parents need to do is to provide enlightenment education. Touching is essential. Newborn touching is now advocated, which means touching the baby's shoulders, arms, palms, backs of hands, fingers, wrists, etc. as soon as the baby is born to stimulate the baby's hand nerves and promote the flexibility of the baby's fingers. Let the baby feel the little hands. Babies are full of curiosity about all new creatures. Parents can seize the baby's curiosity and show various finger gestures in front of the baby to attract the baby's attention and inspire the baby to think. Encourage baby to grasp. You can place some brightly colored toys in front of the baby and encourage the baby to grab them with his hands. If he can't grasp it once, he can grab it again. After practicing many times, the baby's grasping ability will gradually be developed. Tear paper game. The editor once saw a video on Douyin that gave a child a cabbage and asked the child to learn to tear the cabbage. This video may seem funny, but it is actually similar to a paper tearing game, which can help develop your baby's hand-eye coordination and exercise the fine movements of their hands. 7-12 months

Babies at this stage can not only sit and play games by themselves, but also have budding consciousness, can feel their parents' love for them, and will become more clingy. At this time, parents need to interact more with their children, encourage them, and let them learn to actively explore with their hands. Encourage children in various ways. When the child's fine motor skills develop further, parents must express their praise for the child. For example, parents can give a thumbs up and look at the child lovingly; they can pat the baby on the shoulder and say, "Baby, you are awesome; you can make a face with the baby, or smile knowingly... There are many ways to express it. But it must be expressed. Let your baby focus on playing with toys. It is recommended that parents give their babies one toy at a time, allowing them to slowly come into contact with it, become familiar with it, and think about how to play with it. Sometimes babies like to throw toys. On the one hand, this is to attract the parents' attention, and on the other hand, they are also exploring a new way to play. Parents may wish to pick up the toys, rinse them clean and let the baby continue to explore. Hand to hand operation. When the baby already has the awareness of using his hands, parents can train the baby to use a toy in one hand to hit a toy in the other hand to help promote the development of hand-eye-ear-brain sensory perception. Let your baby try to eat. After 6 months, the baby starts to add complementary foods, and parents can slowly let the baby try to pick up things by himself. Parents can let the baby sit on a dining chair, put some raisins, biscuits and other small foods in the baby's plastic plate, and let the baby pinch them with their thumb and index finger to eat.

Children’s intelligence can develop to one level without the help of hands, but with the help of hands, children’s intelligence can develop to a higher level. Parents must not miss this opportunity. Use the relative free time during maternity leave and breastfeeding leave to pay more attention to the fine movement guidance of the baby's hands before the age of 1 to help the baby's intellectual development. What needs to be reminded is that parents must take good care when giving small objects to their children to prevent the baby from accidentally swallowing some small objects and causing danger.