Occupational therapists use hand-eye coordination activities to tune and synchronize the movements of the arm and hand during functional activities. Poor coordination can be attributed many things, such as disease, medication changes, developmental delay, or head injuries. However, there are simple tasks that occupational therapists use that can be easily duplicated.
Ball Toss
Throwing and catching a ball works on reflexes and coordination by requiring a quick response of the hands to react to the ball moving in the air. A therapist may modify this simple task to increase the difficulty by using a smaller ball, asking the client to throw and catch a ball at the same time or randomly alternating throwing and bouncing the ball.
Card Sorting
A deck of cards can be used in multiple ways to fine tune coordination. Activities can range from playing any simple card game for those most impaired, through sorting the cards quickly by color. Because cards are thin, they are difficult to manipulate. These tasks require visual scanning.
Peg Hole Task
Peg board activities include a vast array of tasks that require the client to place objects into an appropriate hole. This task is very beneficial increasing coordination because of the repetition and order of the activity. The smallest pegs are the most difficult to manipulate and require normal hand-eye coordination.
Finger Exercises
Without any equipment, therapists can address impaired hand-eye coordination by having their client attempt to touch their thumb to each finger in order one at a time. Clients with impaired coordination will have difficulty with actually manipulating their fingers so that fingertip touches the tip of thumb, and these clients will often touch the side of the digit.
Nuts and Bolts
The maneuvering of a nut to screw onto a bolt requires a significant amount of hand-eye coordination. Occupational therapists often use a premade board that has the bolts attached so that the client only has to manipulate the nut onto the bolt. However, to sort a pile of nuts and bolts and attach the appropriate pieces together requires a high level of coordination.
Nose-to-Hand Exercise
A diagnostic tool used by therapists during their initial evaluation can also be beneficial as a coordination activity. The client starts by placing the index finger on the nose and then reaches out to touch the therapist's hand approximately one foot in front of the client's face, then the client returns the finger to the nose. To raise the intensity of this exercise, the therapist may encourage the client to increase the speed of their movement.
