Eye Development

There’s so much for your child to see and experience during their first years. And while the eye’s greatest physical development occurs during the first year, children continue to hone their vision skills throughout childhood. Eye muscles strengthen. Nerve connections multiply. And your child’s eyes become stronger and work together more effectively.

Between the ages of one and three, co-ordination between eyes, hands, and body allow children to pick up objects, walk or run from place to place, and throw and catch a ball. You will even see the refinement as their hand/eye co-ordination improves.

Pre-schoolers – ages two to five – are eager to draw and look at pictures. By connecting stories with illustrations, you can help coordinate your child’s hearing and vision.

You can help your child to develop strong connections between their eyesight and their interaction with the world in a variety of ways:

• Play “I Spy with my little eye”
• Snap together building bricks and other creative toys
• Get creative with drawing and colouring pictures
• Assemble puzzles
• Throw and catch a ball or bean bag
• Look at and identify pictures on a page while reading to them.

Interacting with your child in these sorts of ways doesn’t just help their vision to grow stronger. You’re also aiding their overall development. Co-ordination, reading, and associations between words and objects are all important functions for every child – and vision affects them all.