Hand-eye co-ordination

Hand movement

Using your hands to play and explore is an important stage in learning. When a child has limited movement, hand massages and sensory play can help to relax the muscles.

Encourage them to use their hands to squeeze, mould and shape clay or dough. It will help them strengthen their hand muscles and develop their hand-eye co-ordination skills.

As the child gains confidence, introduce tools to manipulate the dough. You will notice the child developing the pincer grip, pointing one finger or holding onto materials - all important skills for future independent play and exploration.

Activities to try

• Add bath foam to a bowl of water or bath and encourage splashing, clapping, blowing, smearing and patting into shapes.
• Fill a bowl with coloured water, jelly, cornflour paste, dried beans, lentils, sand or rice.
• Use squashy balls and toys to encourage hand movement and exploration of textures.
• Bright coloured gloves and mittens will draw a child’s attention to their hands. Sew small toys onto the back of a pair of old gloves or make glove puppets. Sew on noisy bells or bright materials, talk about them and make them dance or tell a story.

Children are learning to co-ordinate their hand movements when you see them exploring responding to different textures and enjoying sensory play.

Recording

Record favourite sensory games in a learning journal. Use photographs to remind the child about different activities, and to encourage them child to make a choices either by eye pointing, finger pointing, or facial expression.