Tummy Time Treasure Hunt
Parent places a favorite toy just out of reach while baby is on their tummy. The guide coaches the parent through observing how the baby attempts to move toward the object, capturing early crawling precursors, reaching behavior, and motivation/persistence.
Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.
What you'll need
Place baby on tummy on a blanket or play mat. Have a favorite toy ready.
How it works
- 1~20s
Perfect. Now place that toy right where your child can see it, but just barely out of reach -- maybe six inches or so in front of them. Not so far that it's frustrating, just far enough that they'd need to stretch or scoot a little. How does your child react when they spots it?
Watch for: shows_directed_interest_toward_object
- 2~30s
This is great -- now I want you to watch really carefully for a second. When your child tries to get to the toy, what does their body do? Does they push with their legs, pull with their arms, sort of rock back and forth, or do a full belly scoot? Just describe what you see.
Watch for: uses_body_to_drag_toward_object
- 3~15s
Okay, when your child finally gets to that toy -- or if you want to bring it a little closer so they can grab it -- tell me how they picks it up. Does they use the whole hand like a scoop, or are their fingers doing different things?
Watch for: grasps_object_with_hand
- 4~30s
Let's try one more round! Move the toy to a slightly different spot -- maybe off to one side instead of straight ahead. This tells us a lot about how your child plans their movement. Does they try to change direction, or does they just go straight and then adjust?
Watch for: adjusts_direction_toward_object
- 5
One last thing I noticed I want to ask about. During all of this, did your child look back at you at any point? Like checking in, or maybe making sounds at you -- babbling, squealing, that kind of thing?
Watch for: social_referencing_during_play