Visual Perceptual Activities
Visual perceptual skills enable a child to make sense of and interpret what they are seeing.
These skills include:
Visual discrimination - matching two objects that are the same
Visual memory - the ability to remember visual information
Form constancy - the ability to notice that two objects are the same even if they are different in size, color, etc.
Figure ground - the ability to find an object when it is hidden in a busy background (e.g. “Where’s Waldo”)
Visual closure - the ability to identify two objects that are the same even if part of one is missing
Visual-spatial processing is the ability to tell where objects are in space. That includes your own body parts. It also involves being able tell how far objects are from you and from each other. ... For example, when you practice dance moves you see in a video, you're using visual-spatial processing skills.
Activities to strengthen perceptual skills
copy shapes with popcycle sticks, Wikki Stix, straws or pencils
navigate through an obstacle course
cut out shapes and assemble them to copy a picture (ie a train or a house) see pic. below
copy 3-D block designs
place plastic letters into a bag, and have the child identify the letter by “feel”
identify numbers or letters that have been made incorrectly in several places, and the child has to identify each place the letter has an error (you can do this on a chalk board and the child can erase the errors and correct them).
complete word search puzzles that require you to look for a series of letters
Play games such as Bingo which require you to look for a specific form.
make flash cards with a correct letter on one side and an incorrectly formed letter on the other side. Have the child try to draw the letter correctly, then turn over the card to see if it is right. (Have them write in sand or with finger paint to make it more fun)
use a popsicle stick with marks on it to help the child figure out what is good sized space in his writing.
have the child identify letters spaced incorrectly on the lines (tall, small, dirt diggers), and circle the errors with red pen.
work on size by having them identify words with incorrect capitals inside them.
Practice building block designs according to a diagram or a model.
Complete construction-type activities such as Duplo, Lego or other building blocks; K-Nex, or Erector Sets.
playing games such as Memory.
if working on recalling formations for letters, have them try to draw it with their eyes closed to remember the shape of the letter.
Use bendable things such as pipe cleaners to form letters and shapes (because feeling a shape can help them visualize [see] the shape). The letters can then be glued onto index cards, and later the child can touch them to “feel” the shape of the letter.
Work with puzzles of any kind. Begin with simple ones and then increase the number of pieces or the type of puzzle (3-D). Make sure the child has the concept of finding and describing the sameness and differences between puzzle pieces (flat, cornered or curved edge, type of color, words or objects on the piece.)
Complete mazes of increasing difficulty
Play games such as Bingo which require you to look for a specific form.
Find hidden pictures in books such as Where’s Waldo, I Spy, or in the Highlights Magazines.
Find objects in a cluttered room or in a cluttered picture. (I spy with my little eye...)
use a flashlight in a dark room, have the child track the light with their eyes as you move the light in different directions slowly (take turns)
play balloon volleyball
hit the balloon with a paper towel tube
Games that promote visual perceptual skills
Perfection
Spot It
Memory
Pattern Blocks
Blink
Qbitz
Simon
Lite-Brite
I Spy
Tangrams
Rush Hour
interlocking puzzles
Connect four (look for diagonals)
tic tac toe
Guess Who
Sequence
Qwirkle
Ticket to ride
Dominoes
Bingo
word searches
Paint by numbers
Rubiks Cube
Tricky Fingers
Perplexus
