Parenting

As with most aspects of a child's development, coordination is somewhat a natural ability that will develop with time.

That being said though there are still many ways for parents to improve upon their child's natural ability.

Coordination is a huge part of everyday life.  The ability to play catch, hit with a bat, run and even walk are all based on coordination.  For the most part hand eye coordination is the primary skill which needs assistance in developing.

Hand eye coordination refers to the brains ability to process what the eye is seeing and then transmit appropriate messages to the hands for a response.  For example the eyes see the ball coming, the brain then tells the arms and hands at what point they need to move, and where they need to move to in order to catch the ball.

Children learn and develop mostly through play and developing coordination is no exception.  The greatest way you can help your child's coordination is through playing with them in a range of environments and it is never to early (or late) to start.

For those want to help develop coordination from birth, Infant Massage can provide assistance.  It is believed that regular infant massage can help with the development of coordination.  Infant Massage Instructors are able to show parents a range of simple exercises to do with baby which involve movement of the limbs through the midline, an area responsible for coordination

Balls are probably the toy most commonly associated with coordination, and can be introduced as soon as your child is able to sit up.  Provided the ball is soft and light and easily held by baby it may even be shown earlier, however the fun really begins once sitting is mastered.

Sitting withing arms reach of your child you can start rolling the ball between you and baby.  It is surprising how quickly the child will learn to respond and attempt to roll the ball back.  Be sure to praise and encourage baby for every attempt that is made.

As baby grows you can gently start tossing the ball to them while they hold their arms out.  Most children take a few years before they can successfully master catching but having a ball land in their arms helps the concept develop quicker.

Other ball activities to help with coordination include

• Throwing the ball into a bucket or through a hoop (small bags of beans are also good for this)

• Pushing a ball along the ground with a stick or bat (similar to hockey)

• Kicking a ball

• Bouncing a ball off a wall and catching it on the rebound

• Dribbling the ball between two points

• Throwing the ball up and clapping before catching (ball skills need to be already established for this generally from the age of 4 or 5 this can be introduced)

• Juggling (ok so this takes a lot of time and patience and is obviously aimed at older children)

Be sure to provide balls in a variety of sizes and textures and even shapes.  Balloons filled with rice are very effective balls and fun to make.  They are quite heavy and firm so be sure they are not used for throwing at people.

More activities to help coordination include

• Balance beams or even walking on a chalk line for the very little ones

• Clapping games

• Block stacking and building

• Shape sorters (putting the correct shape block into the hole)

• Hammer and peg toys

• Dancing.  While you can pay for classes, turning a cd on and bopping away in your lounge room is a great alternative.

While excessive use is not encouraged and all use should be closely monitored, some computer games can actually aid coordination development.  Obviously though the other activities mentioned are preferable.

Tags: development