VISUAL TRACKING AND SCANNING ACTIVITIES.

Visual tracking is a fine motor skill that allows us to control where we place our eye gaze. Babies can track with their eyes by 2-3 months. Visual tracking is the ability to efficiently move the eyes from left to right (or right to left, up and down, and circular motions). Otherwise focusing on an object as it moves across a person’s visual field. Visual scanning is the ability to use vision to search in a systematic manner, such as top to bottom and left to right. A child needs to use visual scanning to avoid obstacles when navigating their environment. As it develops, babies become increasingly better at accurately moving their eyes back and forth, up and down, diagonally, and in circular.

IMPORTANCE :

Visual tracking is important because it allows children to follow a moving object, scan their environment for information, direct hand movements, and accurately shift their eye gaze from one thing to another.

This skill gives us the ability to do things like read without losing our place, write in a straight line, catch a ball, or search for someone in a crowd.

VISUAL SCANNING :

Visual scanning refers to the ability for individuals to use ocular strategies to efficiently, quickly, and actively explore various relevant visual information. Visual scanning is a crucial skill for daily life, and helps individuals process information and complete a number of different tasks.

IMPORTANCE :

Visual scanning is important not only to be able to process visual information, but for mobility as well. Poor visual scanning skills can prevent an individual from avoiding obstacles when moving through their environment, causing collision.

It can also help individuals with daily tasks such as finding missing items, organizing a table or cleaning a room, or locating a friend in the middle of a crowd.

VISUAL AND SCANNING ACTIVITIES :

  • Complete puzzles.
  • Draw or paint pictures.
  • Find as many things as you can see of a certain shape (circle, square, rectangle, triangle) in the room.
  • Imitate a series of motor movements made by someone else. Perform dot-to-dot pictures.
  • Find the mistakes in “What’s Wrong with this Picture?” pictures.
  • Sort playing cards in different ways (color, suit, number), or use playing cards to find two with matching numbers.
  • Solve mazes.
  • Play “I Spy.”
  • Play balloon toss.
  • Use tracing paper to trace and color simple pictures.
  • Play flashlight chases.  Do this by getting a flashlight for you and your child.   Lie on your backs on the floor, and have your child chase your flashlight beam with his.
  • Have your child go through a page of print (according to reading level) and circle all the a’s, b’s, c’s or any letter he chooses.
  • Use a slant board for reading.
Activities for improving Visual tracking and scanning.
  • Painting with marbles
  • Finding numbers
  • Cup shuffle
  • Painting with a straw
  • Text tracking activity-read the first and last word
  • Trace the numerals
  • Finding the way,Mazes
  • Moving the object like a pendulam
  • Use laser pointer on a wall and watch the red dot while sweeping it across the wall,go up,down,left,right and diagonally.
  • Scan a letter, example:’A’,circling the letter
  • Read aloud-helps the eyes and brain to work together
  • colour pattern matching game
  • Fill the dot with colours
  • Hide and seek with toys
  • Scavenger hunt in a book-call out word that are used often such as the,and,who etc.