Practical exercises for hand-eye coordination

A toddler between the age of one and three is learning to master many bodily tasks, motor, cognitive and social skills. Activities that stimulate hand-eye coordination are especially important to help the toddler gain a sense of independence and responsibility.

One of the early activities that involve hand-eye coordination is the pouring activity. It’s best to start pouring using dry stuff like peas or rice. You start with two containers placed in front of the child, one holding a handful of dried peas and the other empty. The containers should be small enough for the toddler to hold with both hands. Teach the child to wrap his fingers around the container comfortably. The child picks up the container with the peas and pours the peas into the empty one. The child may repeat the act but stop before he loses interest. In the course of this activity he is likely to spill some of the peas. Laughingly help him pick them up and fill them into the container. Do not chide him.

The above activity can be further expanded to pouring water from a little jug or cup into another. Preferably the cups or jugs have handles and spouts. Now the toddler can use his fingers to grip the handle and the other hand may be used to support the jug of water. He pours from one jug into the other. If he spills water onto the surface, give him a piece of cloth to mop the water up. It will inculcate a sense of responsibility and the child would exercise more care during the pouring activity. This is a practical life exercise where concentration and coordination is required. The child goes on to pouring his own drink at mealtimes.

You may introduce threading activities to improve hand-eye coordination. Initially big, colourful beads can be threaded onto bendy straws. As the child’s fine motor skills improve, replace the straws with thick cotton or raffia strings. This time instead of beads use some penne pasta, or even some colourful macaroni from your kitchen and observe your toddler threading these pasta pieces diligently into a necklace. All these activities do not require any special equipment – just source the items from your kitchen.

The best toy a toddler can ever have is a ball. The minute your baby starts to move, get a ball of suitable size and material. A crawling baby can push a ball with his hands and crawl towards it eagerly. For this purpose a soft ball that does not roll away is required. By the age of two, most children learn to kick a ball reasonably well and enjoy it. An older toddler of three years and above can throw and catch a ball. He has to use his eyes to accurately judge distances and work his muscles adequately to reach the target. This is a fulfilling activity that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

These hand-eye coordination activities help children to acquire practical life skills as they grow older. Drawing, colouring and writing require hand-eye coordination. Various sports like tennis and softball, as well as professions like surgeons and dentists demand good hand-eye coordination. Hand-eye coordination activities should be encouraged from young.

Dr Sindhuja Rajadorai