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Visual Motor Activities

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated June 9, 2019

Visual motor skills are the skills to coordinate eyes and feet as well as eyes and hands. It is the coordination of vision with the movements of the body. A student with a visual impairment may need assistance in developing and facilitating gross motor movement, pointing to a destination or object, and in performing fine motor activities. Visual motor skills help coordinate eyes and feet as well as eyes and hands.
Be aware that some of these activities can be very visually fatiguing for students with visual impairments. It is important to reserve the student's energy so they will have the stamina for completing required classroom activities. Although frequent practice building visual efficiency skills are important, keep in mind that these skills should be practiced outside of the academic performance of these skills.  The goal is to work on a student's visual skills to improve their visual efficiency, but the student should not be expected to use these skills to complete academic tasks until they occur with more ease. ​

Copy drawings, shapes and lines

Copy drawings, shapes, and lines presented up close and at a distance. Encourage the student to copy different shaped lines and shapes. You may need to first provide a dotted line and encourage the student to connect the dots to form the shape. For some students, this can present more challenges, so it is important to understand the student's vision. This will provide the student with the skills to copy numbers and letters which will allow them to copy words and sentences.  The Doodle Pro can be a fun way for students to practice drawing shapes, and lines.

Accurately draw line between two parallel lines, one inch apart

Reduce the width as the student perfects their skills. Make the activity more challenging by presenting different shaped paths and encourage the student to follow the paths. Consider placing a sticker at the end of the path and have the student cut toward the sticker. Provide them with a matching sticker to wear if they are able to stay between the lines! This Highway letter set is another fun option to help students practice drawing between lines.

Cut between lines and on a broad line

Once the student is able to do this successfully, encourage them to cut out simple outlines and pictures. Provide broad lines, if necessary, for the student to cut on. Students may have fun practicing with craft scissors that cut in different designs.

Place an object in an open container or other designated location

You may need to use a sharpie (or other material) to draw around the opening to create high contrast. For younger students, you may choose shape sorters that are paired with sound and lights like this Cookie Shape Sorter by Fisher Price.

Scribble or color within a designated space

Consider placing a Wikki stick or creating raised lines using tactile marking devices to provide a tactual border. Alternatively, use a marker to make the lines bolder. If the coloring tasks require certain areas to be a particular color, create a bold line in a matching color around the space. There are many apps that encourage students to color within a designated area.

Accurately insert a string into beads

If the student has difficulty, provide a reinforced string or use a pipe cleaner. It is easier to start with larger beads and then gradually reduce the size of beads presented. There are other materials that can be used such as Cheerios or Fruit Loops. These fun colored wooden beads from Melissa and Doug can provide motivation for the student.

Complete form boards, simple puzzles, or pegboard designs

You may need to draw with a sharpie marker around the perimeter of the form board to provide high contrast. This Number Puzzle Board from Lauri not only works on the skill of placing pegs in a pegboard but helps the student learn their numbers too.

Replicate a three-dimensional model through visual imitation

Present a block model or Lego model to the student and provide them with a duplicate set of blocks. Encourage the student to replicate the structure.

Accurately draw line between two parallel lines, one inch apart

Reduce the width as the student perfects their skills. Make the activity more challenging by presenting different shaped paths and encourage the student to follow the paths. Consider placing a sticker at the end of the path and have the student cut toward the sticker. Provide them with a matching sticker to wear if they are able to stay between the lines! This Highway letter set is another fun option to help students practice drawing between lines.

Motor Maze

Create a maze on a tray or in the lid of a box. Tape straws on the surface to create a maze. Provide the student with a marble or a pompom and encourage them to tilt the board and follow the maze to get the marble or pompom from the beginning of the maze to the end of the maze.

Color It! ​

Provide the student with a unit related picture and encourage the student to color within the lines.  Some students may need you to create bold lines with a sharpie around the area to be colored.  ​​If the coloring tasks require certain areas to be a particular color, create a bold line in a matching color around the space. There are many apps that encourage students to color within a designated area.

Connect The Dots  ​

Provide the student with dot to dot pages of unit related pictures and encourage the student to connect the dots in sequential order.

Gross Motor Movement

Students who are visually impaired may need motivators and assistance in developing movement milestones. Holding their head up may be unnatural to a student who has low vision or is blind. The student should be encouraged to hold their head up and develop a good posture. The student may need visual and auditory cues to develop gross motor skills.

To develop gross motor movement, encourage the student to:
  • visually locate objects and visually direct hand or foot toward the object.
  • locate people and objects to be avoided when moving toward a goal, and locate a path visually and move through it. A fun way to work on this goal is to create an "obstacle course" for students to move through.
  • imitate a variety of body movements.
  • use their vision to coordinate gross motor activities and make judgments about them.
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