Building Eye-Hand Coordination

We first begin to learn eye-hand coordination (sometimes also called hand-eye coordination) when we are infants, with the greatest amount of development occurring during childhood. But it is never too late to improve eye-hand coordination skills. It is important to maintain this function as we age, since it is central to so many of our daily tasks, such as driving or chopping vegetables.

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According to a study published in the journal Communication Research, playing video games for as little as 20 minutes can improve your eye-hand coordination. Researchers found that college students who played video games for 20 minutes using a special controller demonstrated nearly twice the accuracy in shooting at a real target as the students who did not play the video game first.

Improved eye-hand coordination can help when fast reaction times are needed, such as when driving a car or playing with children. It can increase productivity at work and is useful for leisure activities as well, such as reading music and computer gaming. Following are a few activities that you can practice that will allow you to improve your eye-hand coordination.

Play video games – Either online or using a console like a Wii, playing video games that require a sensitive touch and precise timing has been shown to improve accuracy skills.

Do some coloring ­– Grab some markers or crayons and a coloring book and color away. Our hands are beginning to lose their fine motor coordination abilities now that more and more of us use a keyboard to write. Coloring will help to preserve those fine motor skills.

Play a racquet sport – Any sport involving a racquet and ball will help to improve your eye-hand coordination, in addition to it being a great aerobic workout! You have to react quickly to your opponent’s moves and quickly judge where they will hit the ball.

Take up juggling – Start juggling two balls from hand to hand, then gradually introduce a third (and even a fourth if you can manage it). It will improve both coordination and focus.

Do a jigsaw puzzle – Useful for improving both eye-hand coordination and reasoning, a jigsaw puzzle is a fun way to hone these skills, particularly if it is a 3D puzzle.

Play catch – A great activity that can help improve both your and your child’s hand-eye accuracy, a simple game of catch using a tennis ball or other type of small ball is a great way of sharpening your skills while spending time with your kids.

Create something – Doing crafts such as model building and knitting can be creative ways of improving your eye-hand coordination, and you’ll have something to show for it to boot!