| Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp |
| Copyright 2006 by Julie Shepherd Knapp. All rights reserved. |
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| The Homeschool Diner's Homeschooling Special Situations Specific Skills Help Simple Games to Exercise Your Child's Visual Perception and Visual Motor Integration compiled by Julie Shepherd Knapp, copyright 2005, 2007 Some activities that help your child practice short term visual memory skills, visual perception, attention to visual detail, and visual motor integration... Choose activities from these list that seem appropriate for your child’s age, abilities, and interests. Keep playing them until your child finds the games too easy or gets bored with them, then move on. If these games are too hard or too complicated for your child, try to modify them to suit your child’s ability and interests... or save them for next year. Visual Memory Games: Follow the Leader Copycat Steam Drawing Back Drawing Change Sorting Which is Different? Where's Waldo? and I Spy Memory Matching Game Close Your Eyes Let’s Have a Picnic More free games online Game Descriptions: Follow the Leader Walk behind the person who is It. Go where they go and do what they did when you get to the same spot. For instance, step onto the sidewalk and wave your arms, walk across the grass taking giant steps, stop at the driveway and spin, hop three times at the fire hydrant. Take turns being It. Child learns to pay attention, remember, repeat. Copy-cat (Also Called Mirror-Mirror) Like Follow the Leader, but played while sitting or standing. Do a series of actions that your child must repeat. Think fun and silly. Alternate large and small gestures. Take turns being "It". Steam Drawing Can be played on a mirror or shower door in a steamy bathroom (or, if it's not bath time, play this while finger painting). On a large steamed-up surface makes shapes, letters, and pictures for your child to copy. Make patterns that require you to use a part of your hand or elbow -- to make it funnier and more challenging to copy. Back Drawing Use your finger to "draw" a shape, letter, or number on your child's back. Have them guess what it is. Take turns drawing and guessing. Change Sorting Dump a bag of loose change in front of your child and have them help you sort it into stacks of the different coins. For older children - have them place them in coin wrappers to take to the bank and change in for paper money. ;-) (Of course, be aware of and prevent choking hazards with young children.) Which is Different? Xerox, print, or hand draw 5 to 20 copies of a single, simple picture. Cut them out, and make a small change to one of the copies (draw an additional line or color in an area... or add a moustache ;-) and have your child pick out which is the different picture. Add more copies as your child gets better at finding the different picture or add another difference, to make it harder. It doesn't matter what change you make -- searching, and comparing the details to identify the changed picture is the skill. Where's Waldo and I Spy Both of these books require children to search for a certain picture amidst a bunch of clutter. Here are some free I Spy activities and a free Where's Waldo game you can try, too. Memory Matching Game There are many versions of the Memory Game sold at toy stores. The game consists of pairs of matching cards that are laid face down. Players take turns turning over two cards – if they match, the player keeps the matching cards and continues to play. If they do not match, the cards are turned back over and the other player takes a turn. There are many themed sets ranging from pre-school to fine art. Search for a set your child will enjoy. Here is an online version using rhymes. Here is a cool online version for older kids (6 x 6). Close Your Eyes Show your child a photo or illustration. Tell them to close their eyes, then ask them questions about the picture. Begin with simple questions, that your child will find easy, such as, “What animal is in the picture?” or, “Is it day or night?” When your child is comfortable with the activity, move towards asking them harder, more detailed questions. This can be played in real-life, as well as with pictures. While standing in line, tell the child to close their eyes, then ask questions such as, “Is there a man or woman in front of us?” or, “What color shirt is the cashier wearing?” or, “How many glasses are on the table?” or, “What is laying on the seat next to you?” Let’s have a picnic This game requires the child to remember and repeat a string of items to be brought on an imaginary picnic, using visual memory clues. Begin by saying, “Let’s have a picnic”. Then create a rich imaginary setting for the picnic, to help your child create a mental picture… mention the time of day, the weather, the scenery. Start the game by saying, “We’ll bring… ” then name an item with memorable, descriptive adjectives. For example, “We’ll bring a red, juicy apple”. Instruct your child to see it in her head (to visualize the red apple – on a picnic blanket, perhaps?). The next player then repeats what has been said before, and adds her own item, such as “We’ll bring a red, juicy apple and gooey brownies.” Instruct your child to see it in her head – the red apple next to the gooey brownies (maybe sitting on a paper plate?). The game continues, until the list is too long to remember. Players are encouraged to help each other with hints. You may continue adding items, then repeating the list by yourself, if your child is having trouble, or is reluctant to play. Ask for their help in remembering items. The point is to create a mental image of items to be remembered. More free games online -- the Eye Can Learn website has some fun online games similar to those above that may help with visual skills. If these activities seem too hard for your child, try: Simple Activities That Require Pattern Discrimination and Attention to Visual Detail Or try out these activities: Simple Games to Exercise Your Child's Short Term Auditory Memory Or go back to: Short Term Memory Skills |
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