28. Hand-Eye Co-ordination

Alexis Ralphs Jan 24, 2021 • 7 min read

Being able to guide hand movements with your eyes is a vital skill, and not just in sport. Hand-writing, reading, playing with construction toys and making almost anything, requires hand-eye co-ordination. The more you can work on developing this key skill, the more confidence your pre-schooler will have in their own ability to master new tasks such as tying shoe-laces and using scissors. Greater self-belief helps everyone get more out of their school day.

Some games for developing hand-eye co-ordination:

Play ‘floor-catch’. Sit on the floor, opposite your child, with your legs apart and roll the ball back and forth to each other
Play object relays, where a few children line up and pass a ball, or any kind of object, to each other. It can be overheard or between the legs. Add a time element and get them to pass a certain number of objects in under a minute.
When there aren’t any friends to play with, garden ball games like swingball are great. If you don’t have a swingball, just tie a normal ball up in a netting bag and let your child hit it with a bat.
And don't forget the ultimate hand-eye activities: threading and needlework.

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Alexis

I'm Alexis, father of four and founder of One Hundred Toys. I taught in London primary schools for thirteen years, specialising in the early years. Now I write about all things play here on the blog. Read more