## North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

#### Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Health and Physical Development (HPD)

#### Subdomain: Motor Development

#### Goal: Children develop small muscle control and hand-eye coordination to manipulate objects and work with tools.

#### Skill Progression: Reach/Grasp/Release

#### Age: 12-15 Months

You may choose a different domain, go back, or click on a skill below for more information.

### Reach: Beginning of two-handed reach, with one hand stabilizing

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child with objects that require two hands to manipulate.

Elicitation Strategy

Have a toy that needs two hands to operate, such as a jack-in-the-box.

Behavior Observed

Reaches forward, with both arms and hands, but hands are doing different activities. One hand stabilizes an object, while the other one does an action.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Introduce activities that require two hands, such as drawing, using a bowl and spoon to stir, holding a toy with one hand, activating it with another, etc. Explain to early childhood educators and parents how as the child matures, an increasing number of activities will require different movements on alternate sides of the body. Provide activities that encourage using hands in different ways, such as holding a box and removing the top.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.