Reaching is a way that your little one begins to purposefully interact with their environment. They see or hear something and they want to reach for it. This can start very early on with floor time. In fact we talk about it in our sidelying post and how sidelying can make it easier to reach!
Reaching on their back can be a little harder sometimes because they have to work against gravity. But you can use a boppy to help give them a little support at their shoulders, as well as decrease the effects of gravity and it makes it easier. Remember, starting close to the body is easier than further away. This goes in all positions!
On the belly, reaching is even a little harder. They have to hold their weight up on one side while moving the arm on the other. In the beginning this may look like creeping the arm a bit along the floor without actually weight shifting. But having them do this encourages more movement.
You want to start with toys in all positions close enough to let them have success and foster more reaching, and then slowly move them further away as they become more proficient at it. Using an activity center is great as well as toys that are extremely responsive to touch because then they get the feedback immediately which encourages more!
Check out this video for some ideas!
Also, for toy ideas visit our Amazon Store