You’ve probably heard the terms ‘gross motor’ and ‘fine motor’ but what on earth is visual motor integration?
Occupational Therapy Australia describes this as ‘the ability to recognise, discriminate and interpret visual stimuli and to coordinate this visual information with motor output.’ That is, using your eyes and hands (or body) together to complete a task with precision.
There are hundreds of activities that can support visual motor integration, and the best part is that they’re all fun!
What are the benefits? Visual motor integration activities support orientation (eg knowing left from right). They assist with copying (which is beneficial for pencil grip and writing) and can help with foundation maths (understanding the concepts of left, right, clockwise, anti clockwise and diagonals). Activities that involve drawing or modelling are also calming for some children. Tip: it is better to start with big movements first. Once these are easy, move to smaller movements (working from gross to fine).
Activity ideas
- Modelling with clay or dough (my favourite – this can be used to teach shapes and forming letters; or can just be an outlet for imaginative little minds!)
- Dot to dots or maze worksheets
- Computer games – using a mouse (not all screen time is bad!)
- Drawing with finger paint, shaving cream or in sand
- Drawing a letter on a friend’s back and getting them to guess it
- Copying body shapes through a game of Simon Says
- Origami
- Mirroring a pattern on graph paper
The options are only limited by your imagination – and you could ramp up these activities by doing them to music. Have fun!
