For months now, I’ve observed how much my kids love to open and close things. And they also love to put things inside other things. Their favorite toy since they were 8 months is a little drawer with a ball inside that they can open and close.

With that in mind, when I saw this wooden cigar box at the Salvation Army, I thought maybe I could do something with it. A great Montessori activity for toddlers usually around 15-18 months is putting chips into the slot of a box. So I ask my very handy husband for help.  He broke out his power saw and cut a slot in this wooden box and screwed on the latch. Then we bought some plastic poker chips to put in it.

This is by far one of my kids’ favorite toys. They love the box; they love the chips even more. Watch what Mackenzie does in this video at 12 months.

Now that they are 14 months, they still play with this box endlessly. Of course we find chips everywhere in the house, including inside the VCR player, inside my file cabinet, inside baskets, inside other toys, in bed, in the bathtub, everywhere. It’s been an excellent investment: $2 box + $2 for the latch + $1.99 worth of plastic poker chips = fine motor skill development and months of fun!

I cooked some teriyaki ribs in the slow cooker and pulled it apart into little long strips. Here is Brooke (8.5 months) practicing her pincer grasp (keep reading below).

The pincer grasp is a sophisticated 2 finger grasp that children generally start working on from between 8-9 months and can become quite good at by 12 months (though some will not master it till they are 18-24 months). It usually starts as a primitive pincer grasp, which looks like this. Notice the flat fingers.

And gradually becomes this.

A true pincer grasp looks like this. The fingers are completely rounded and the fingertips are touching

Some parents never let their babies handle little things, so even when they reach 1.5 -2 years old, their pincer grasp is still primitive. Practice is the only way to improve this very important skill, that eventually allows the child to write with a pencil, use scissors and play the violin.

Food is an excellent way to let your baby practice his pincer grasp. At every meal, always give him something he can eat with his hands. Start out by cutting things into spears that he can grab with his whole hand (a piece of banana sliced vertically down the middle, a spear of apple, asparagus)  then gradually, give him smaller pieces and even slippery things that will slide out of their hand. Under supervision, you can also try non-food items. Give your baby the opportunity to practice!