Skill: Eye-Hand Coordination

The way the eyes guide the hands to do a task. This helps your child catch a ball, write on a line, or stack blocks without knocking them over.

Basket Sock for Eye-Hand Coordination

This game is all too familiar for many of us: Laundry Basketball.

Challenge your child’s core muscles by having them stand in a tall kneeling positioning.

Place about 10 laundry items on the ground, to the child’s left and right. Have them side bend to retrieve the laundry items from the ground.

Position the basket in front of the child and have them shoot the laundry items into the laundry basket.

Increase the challenge by:

  • Moving the laundry basket further away from the child.
  • Scattering the laundry items further around the child.
  • Holding the laundry basket while moving around the room.
  • Tilting the laundry basket away from them, then toward them.
  • Having the child kneel on a more unstable surface (such as a pillow or dyna disc).
  • Having the child kneel on one leg.
  • Having the child shoot smaller laundry items/laundry items that weigh less.
  • Placing a timer.
  • Setting a goal for how many baskets to make.

Cutting Dr. Seuss’s Hat

DrSeuss hat and materials

Use the provided Dr. Seuss’s Hat shape template (download here) or draw your own on a construction paper with markers.

To work on snipping, cut long strips of red construction paper, and mark short lines for the child to snip (see image).

Provide the child with the hat template and the red paper stripes.

Instruct the child to snip on the lines.

Have the child glue the pieces that he cut into the hat template. If needed, provide the child with visual cues where to glue the pieces.

Grading Options

  • Work on hand strength by asking the child to tear the paper into small pieces, instead of cutting.
  • Use pieces of tissue paper and have the child crumble them, then glue them to the paper.
  • If the child is able to cut on a line, or to practice cutting on a line, draw long lines for the child to cut and match to the size of the stripes on the hat.

 

Tracing Stencils

Stencil Trace

For this activity, you can use many different types of stencils to trace.

Provide the child with different stencils and have him/her trace inside or outside the stencil.

The child can also finger-paint inside these stencils.

Helpful Tip:

If the child has difficulties with bilateral hand use, you may want to tape the stencil to the surface the child works on.

Crumples

Crumples glue

On a piece of construction paper, draw a simple shape or a simple picture.

Let the child tear out small pieces of tissue paper and ask him to crumple the pieces into a small ball, using his fingers. If the child is too young or if his hands are too weak, you should provide him with smaller pieces of tissue paper

Older children should be encouraged to use only their thumb, index finger, and middle finger.

Have the child glue the little balls he crumpled on the drawing.

In addition, this activity allows you to work on eye-hand coordination and visual integration as you may ask the child to glue the crumpled balls on a straight line, circle, or a simple picture.

Candy Cane

For this activity, we used colorful paper straws and cut each straw into 1-inch pieces.

Ask the child to string the cut straw pieces onto a pipe cleaner.

Bend the top of the pipe cleaner to shape it like a candy cane.