Visual Perception refers to the brain’s ability to draw conclusions from the information absorbed through the eyes. Visual perception is necessary for reading, writing, and movement.
Figure Ground
Figure ground is the ability to filter out irrelevant visual information so that you can concentrate on what matters. This enables a child to locate precise visual information amid a cluttered context.
Exercises
- ‘Where’s Wally’: Books that require your child to find objects within a busy scene.
- Where is it?: Ask your child to find a certain crayon in a box, book on a shelf, marble in a tin, lego piece from a pile.
- Encourage your child to do activities which require cutting, colouring, pasting, tearing and matching.
- Puzzle building
- ‘I Spy’: Discriminating objects such as round things, red things or wooden things etc.
- Overlapping shapes: Overlap a series of shapes and ask your child to draw around the outline of each shape in a different colour (increase the number of shapes as the child progresses).
- Get dressed: Verbally coach your child through dressing and undressing. Ask your child to pick out a specific shirt, shorts etc. individually from the pile.
- Room find: ask your child for an item in the room.
Visual Discrimination
Visual discrimination is the ability to detect differences and similarities in size, shape, colour and pattern.
Exercises
- Spot the odd one out: ask your child to spot an item that does not belong in the category. Categories could be animals and objects, colours, shapes, etc.
- Puzzle building
- Sort objects into categories
- Spot the difference!
- Sorting cutlery by type
- Putting shoes into pairs
- Match socks
Visual Memory
Visual Memory focuses on one’s ability to recall visual information that has been seen. Visual memory is a critical factor in reading and writing.
Exercises
- Copy patterns using various media, including beads, pegs, blocks, letters, or numbers. Have your child determine what comes next or have them recreate the pattern themselves.
- Play memory games: For example, ask your child to describe objects or pictures after they have been removed.
- Play “I-Spy”: Have them guess objects within the environment based on your verbal descriptions.
- Play the game “What’s Different.”: Place three objects on the table. Ask your child to close their eyes and while you replace one object, ask your child which one is different.
- Ask questions throughout the day like, “What did you have for lunch today?” or “What game did you play at free time today?”
Spatial Awareness
Spatial Awareness is a complex cognitive skill that tells us our position relative to objects around us, and the relative position of objects to each other. It involves understanding the concepts of direction, distance, and location, and it’s at the heart of learning and performing countless tasks. This skill helps us do things like read a map, trot up spiral stairs without bumping ourselves, and follow an instruction like: The keys are inside a basket under the table next to the door.
Exercises
- Build Puzzles
- Obstacle Courses: The ability to negotiate an obstacle course requires a significant amount of spatial awareness. Vary the courses grading them according to your child’s ability to move over, under and around objects.
- Build and Create: Use Legos, blocks, and puzzles. Try Tangam puzzles.
- Practice completing patterns.
- Movement Games: Participate in any type of movement games where your child has to move around obstacles or friends. The ability to move around stationary objects is quite different than around moving objects which are unpredictable.
- Provide verbal descriptions. Offer many opportunities for your child to hear descriptions of where they are or where objects are in relationship to each other. For example – “The pencil is on the right side of the desk” or “Let’s step over the log”. Play games that require children to follow directions – ie Be A Robot.