Eye Hand Coordination Activities for your 1-Year-Old+

Congratulations on the arrival of your little one! As parents, we are always eager to witness our child's growth and developmental milestones. The first step in your baby's development is fine-tuning their hand-eye coordination. This skill is fundamental, as it lays the framework for various motor skills essential for their future. You might start sweating worrying about how to do it. But don’t worry, we’re here to help!

In this article, we'll dive into the importance of eye-hand coordination activities for newborns. So you can introduce engaging and educational hand-eye coordination activities in your little one’s playtime to help support their overall development. Let’s go:

Top 3 Benefits of Hand-Eye Coordination Activities for 1-Year-Olds

Hand-eye coordination is the ability to synchronise visual information with hand movements. It's a vital skill that promotes a child's cognitive and physical development. Introducing eye and hand coordination toys in your tiny tot’s playtime can yield numerous benefits such as:

1. Improved Motor Skills

Eye-hand coordination activities help strengthen the muscles in your child's hands and fingers. As they are learning how to control or move their muscles, such activities facilitate better control over their overall body movements and dexterity.

2. Cognitive Development

Engaging in hand-eye coordination activities lets children improve their attention span, enhance problem-solving skills, and develop spatial awareness. The better the hand-eye coordination, the more likely they are to take an interest in playing with eye and hand coordination toys. The more they play with such toys, the more focused they become and can easily develop problem-solving skills, spatial awareness, and many other essential skills.

3. Social Interaction

Many eye-hand coordination fine motor activities require little ones to interact with each other to achieve a common goal. Such interactions among peers foster social skills and promote stronger bonds like compassion, empathy and teamwork.

The Best 6 Eye-Hand Coordination Activities for 1-Year-Olds

As you’re now aware of how beneficial these activities are, let’s explore the best eye and hand-coordination toys and games for your little one:

1. Cloth Book Featuring Underwater Animals

Want to stimulate your 1-year-old while also introducing them to the fascinating ocean world? You've got this game at your fingertips! This tear-resistant and washable cloth book from Skillmatics features colourful underwater animals hidden behind soft flaps. With 8 pages, your child can discover different textures and crinkle pages with sounds to find the adorable moveable animals. Encourage them to touch and explore different textures while you narrate stories to them about the majestic sea life.

2. Reusable Activity Mats

Want your little ones to get acquainted with shapes, letters, numbers, and colours while also honing their fine motor skills? Skillmatics’ I Can Write | Reusable Activity Mats come with 6 double-sided activity mats, 12 repeatable activities, 2 skilly billy marker pens, and 1 duster cloth for endless fun learning anytime, anywhere.

3. No Mess Sticker Art

When creativity and hand-eye coordination activities come together, you get Skillmatics’ Dot It! collection. It’s a fun mess-free activity that lets kids bring the picture canvases to life using 500+ stickers in different sizes and colours. The 30 easy-to-peel sticker sheets in this activity set help in developing creative expression and improve bilateral hand coordination. It’s available in many themes like Wild, Farm & Underwater Animals, Outer Space, Unicorns & Princesses, Mickey and Friends, Mandala Art, and more!

4. Foam Art

Another one of our favourite eye and hand coordination toys that also sparks hours of creativity is the Fun with Foam collection. With 800+ colourful foam stickers and 6 picture boards, kids have various backdrops that they can bring alive. Your little ones don’t need to stick to the norms, they can create their artwork however they want. It follows a simple peel-and-press technique to create colourful patterns. The bright colours and easy-to-peel process make it a hit amongst kids.

5. Puzzles

Can a child's playtime ever be complete without a few puzzle games? One of the most popular board games, puzzles help influence kids’ spatial abilities. (1) But that’s not all! From honing your little ones’ hand-eye coordination to improving their problem-solving skills, puzzles are truly one-of-a-kind. And when you choose Skillmatics’ puzzle games, kids can also hone their general knowledge while putting the pieces together. Choose India Map Puzzle, Piece & Play, or anything else from our collection which will surely delight your little munchkin!

6. STEM Toys

When sharpening your kid’s fine motor skills, don’t shy away from adding STEM toys to their playtime as well. STEM games build the foundation in science and maths while also honing their creative and cognitive abilities. Skillmatics has a massive selection of STEM toys such as buildables, science kits, and a whole lot more! Let your little ones get busy with them to slowly master their hand-eye coordination.

As parents, nurturing your child's development is a rewarding journey that you don’t want to miss at all! Help boost their development by including various eye-hand coordination activities in their daily routine. From newborns to middle schoolers, we’ve got something for everyone! So whether you choose high-contrast flashcards or category board games for your kid, you’re helping them move one step ahead in their growth.

Remember, each child develops at their own pace, so be patient and celebrate their progress along the way. A little encouragement goes a long way! Don't forget to explore educational games for kids and infant flashcards to further enrich your child's learning experience. Happy playing!

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5002428/