Hand-eye coordination is a skill that must be developed. It is the ability of the brain to use vision to guide movement. By the age of 15 months, your child's hand-eye coordination begins to improve. You can facilitate this development with some activities that challenge your preschooler. Play is the best way for your child to learn these skills, increasing motor development through fun activities.
Doll Dressing
Dolls made specifically for dressing open up your child's mind to imagination while improving hand-eye coordination. The child must manipulate both the clothing and the doll's appendages to successfully dress the doll. This activity allows the child to pick out the clothes, practice hand eye coordination through dressing the doll, then imaginative play after the doll is dressed.
Goalie
Balls make a great device for teaching and improving hand-eye coordination. Play the goalie game with your child, taken from the website OT Mom Learning Activities.com. Sit across from your child. Have your child sit with her legs apart, her stomach is the goal. Now, you roll the ball and your child needs to block the ball from touching her stomach with her hands. If the ball touches her stomach, you get the point. Play for a while, then reverse roles so your child gets to score on you.
Catch
Another great hand-eye coordination exercise that your preschooler will enjoy is catch. You can progress to playing catch once your child has gotten the hang of the goalie exercise. Start off with a large soft ball, such as a foam ball. As your child gets more coordinated, switch to a smaller ball and increase the distance between the two of you. Not only is this an effective exercise for hand-eye coordination, but you also get to have fun and get some exercise together.
Drawing and Coloring
Drawing is a fun activity that can help your child develop fine-motor and artistic skills, imagination and hand-eye coordination. No matter whether your child makes one mark on the paper or begins to draw an actual picture, he will be getting something out of it. You can start with large crayons that are easy for him to grab, then progress to smaller crayons or even a paint brush. Finger painting is also a good way for your child to see that how he moves his hands will affect the art on the paper. No matter what you choose to do, your child will be having fun and learning.
