Eye Health Starts And Infancy – Eye Exercises For Children Of All Ages

As a parent, you do everything in your power to ensure that your little one is happy and healthy. Have you thought about what you can do to ensure that your little one's eyes develop properly and are healthy? Here, you will learn a few exercises for infants, toddlers and children to help your child's eyes develop as they should.

Infant Exercises

It doesn't take long for an infant to begin following movement in front of him or her. Lay your infant on the floor and grab something that really gets his or her attention – a rattle, plush or squeaky toy will all work well. Move the toy around and watch as your infant follows it with his or her eyes. This will help with development in two ways – develop the muscles and focusing skills.

Toddler Exercises

Toddlers can be a whole lot of fun to work with. In fact, these exercises will be as much fun for you to take part in as they will be for your little one. Blinking, yes blinking is the exercise for toddlers. Blink a few times and have your toddler repeat the motion back to you. Blink three times – your toddler blinks three times. Add some body movement into the mix and you can create a really fun game that is helping with eye development, physical conditioning and counting.

Child Exercises

As your little one gets older and is more likely to follow instructions, you can get into some more complicated exercises. Get your video camera ready as you begin to work with your little one because the facial expressions that are made while he or she learns how to do these will be priceless.

Figure Eight – Draw a figure eight on a sheet of paper – large enough to cover an 8x10 inch sheet. Now, tell your child to follow the line of the figure eight with his or her eyes without moving the head. Go one direction four times, and then the opposite direction four times. This will help with eye flexibility and muscle development.

Focus Near and Far – Have your child hold an object in front of the face – roughly 12 inches away. Tell him or her to focus on the object and then shift the focus onto something in the distance without moving the object. Repeat this exercise a few times to help improve focus.

Exercising the eyes is important to ensure they grow and develop as they should. Starting now will help protect your child from problems in the future. For more information about eye health, contact an eye surgeon like Todd S. Kirk, MD.

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