Eye-hand coordination development typically occurs through movement, beginning at a very young age. The visual components of oculomotor skills (how the eyes move) include visual fixation, visual tracking (or smooth pursuits), and visual scanning. These beginning stages of child development play a big part down the road in taking in visual information and using it to perform motor tasks.
Eye Hand Coordination Development
{These are general guidelines of development based on approximate development of the visual motor skills needed for play, motor skills, and visual motor development.}
Holding and talking to baby in the very young ages plays such an important part in the puzzle of visual motor skills.
Additionally, tummy time and as the baby gains head strength and control, they eyes become stronger in their ability to fixate, track, and scan from the prone position. This is why we place toys around a baby on a baby blanket and encourage reach. That pivotal stage when baby begins to roll is a social media-worthy time in the parent’s life. But there is more to celebrate than baby’s new rolling skills. Control of the eyes with movement is a big accomplishment and something that baby strengthens with movement.
Hand and Eye Coordination
These skill areas are broken down by months, all the way up through the preschool years.
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ONE MONTH:
Tracking a rattle while lying on back
Tracking a rattle to the side
TWO MONTHS:
Infant regards their own hands
Tracks a ball side to side as it rolls across a table left to right and right to left.
Tracks a rattle while lying on back side to side
THREE MONTHS:
Extends hands to reach for a rattle/toy while lying on back
FOUR MONTHS:
Reaches to midline for a rattle/toy while lying on back
While lying on back, the infant touches both hands together.
Crawling on the hands and knees plays a vital role in eye hand coordination, too. When baby positions themselves up on all fours, they are gaining awesome proprioceptive input, strength in the shoulder girdle, core, and neck. When crawling, baby is gaining mobility, but also using targeted movement toward a goal they visually process. Research shows that hands-and-knees and walker-assisted locomotor experience facilitate spatial search performance. Spatial awareness and visual skill development is needed for coordinated use of the hands in motor tasks.
In fact, crawling improves so many areas needed for refined eye-hand coordination, including the fine motor skills, gross motor skills, balance, and strength needed for tasks like precision of in-hand manipulation, positioning in activities, and sustained endurance.
SIX MONTHS:
Brings hands together to grasp a block/toy while sitting supported on an adult’s lap
Extends arm to reach up for a toy while laying on back
SEVEN MONTHS:
Transfers a block/toy from one hand to the other while sitting supported on an adult’s lap.
Touches a cereal piece with index finger
Bangs a toy on a table surface while sitting supported on an adult’s lap
NINE MONTHS:
Claps hands together
TEN MONTHS:
Removes loose pegs from a Peg Board
ELEVEN MONTHS:
Removes socks
Releases a cereal bit onto table surface
Places blocks
Development of Eye Hand Coordination for Toddlers
TWELVE MONTHS/ ONE YEAR:
Turns pages in a board book
Imitates stirring a spoon in a cup
THIRTEEN MONTHS:
Imitates tapping a spoon on a cup
Begins to places large puzzle pieces in a beginner puzzle
FOURTEEN MONTHS:
Scribbles on paper
SIXTEEN MONTHS:
Imitates building a tower of 2-3 blocks
NINETEEN-TWENTY MONTHS:
Builds a block tower, stacking 4-5 blocks
TWENTY THREE-TWENTY FOUR MONTHS:
Imitates copying vertical lines
TWENTY FIVE-TWENTY SIX MONTHS:
Removes a screw top lid on a bottle
Stacks 8 blocks
Begins to snip with scissors
TWENTY SEVEN-TWENTY EIGHT MONTHS:
Imitates horizontal strokes with a marker
Strings 2 Beads
Imitates folding a piece of paper (bending the paper and making a crease, not aligning the edges)
TWENTY NINE MONTHS:
Imitates building a train with blocks
Strings 3-4 Beads
Stacks 10 blocks
THIRTY ONE MONTHS:
Builds a “bridge” with three blocks
THIRTY THREE MONTHS:
Copies a circle
THIRTY FIVE MONTHS:
Builds a “wall” with four blocks
Eye hand Coordination in Preschoolers
THIRTY SEVEN MONTHS:
Cuts a paper in half with scissors
FORTY MONTHS:
Lace 2-3 holes with string on Lacing Shapes
Copies a cross
FORTY TWO MONTHS:
Cuts within 1/2 inch of a strait line.
Traces a horizontal line
FIFTY MONTHS:
Copies a square
Cuts a circle within 1/2 inch of the line
Build “steps” with blocks
FIFTY FOUR MONTHS:
Connects two dots to make a horizontal line.
Cuts a square within 1/2 inch of the line
Builds a “pyramid” with blocks
FIFTY FIVE MONTHS:
Folds a piece of paper in half with the edges parallel
Colors within lines
There is so much happening through regular play, interaction with babies and toddlers at each stage. What’s important to know is that the development doesn’t stop there!
Studies have shown that eye-hand coordination impacts learning, communication, social-emotional skills, attention, and focus. Wow!
Coordination Skills
Here are some ideas to work on eye-hand coordination for preschooler kids and older:
This Letter Eye Hand Coordination Activity helps with bilateral coordination and the visual processing skills needed for reading and so many other skills.
Try this scooping and pouring eye-hand coordination activity that can be adjusted to meet the needs of many ages and abilities.
More visual processing activities
For even MORE information on eye-hand coordination and activities to use in your occupational therapy practice, you will want to join our free visual processing lab email series. It’s a 3-day series of emails that covers EVERYthing about visual processing. We take a closer look at visual skills and break things down, as well as covering the big picture of visual needs.
In the visual processing lab, you will discover how oculomotor skills like smooth pursuits make a big difference in higher level skills like learning and executive function. The best thing about this lab (besides all of the awesome info) is that it has a fun “lab” theme. I might have had too much fun with this one 🙂
Join us in visual processing Lab! Where you won’t need Bunsen burners or safety goggles!
Click here to learn more about Visual Processing Lab and to sign up.
References:
Kermoian, Rosanne & Campos, Joseph. (1988). Locomotor Experience: A Facilitator of Spatial Cognitive Development. Child development. 59. 908-17. 10.2307/1130258.
