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DR 3: Children show physical and motor competence
⇣ Indicator: MOT—Children demonstrate an increased proficiency in motor skills
⇣ Measure 43: Eye-Hand Coordination—
Child uses eyes and hands together to perform or accomplish a task
	Descriptors	Examples
9	Integrates visual and fine motor skills to complete complex tasks	Uses keyboard and mouse with accuracy. Attempts to copy a square (may be lopsided with rounded corners). Uses an eyedropper filled with food coloring to stain an ice cube.
8	Integrates visual and fine motor skills to replicate a model (i.e. structure or pattern)	Strings small beads following a simple pattern. Connects LEGOTM-type blocks to construct simple structures.
7	Integrates visual and fine motor skills to complete simple tasks involving use of tools	Copies simple drawing such as horizontal lines, vertical lines, or circles. Experiments with use of scissors. Moves computer mouse. Uses hammer to pound nails into soft wood.
6	Watches and coordinates the movements of both hands together to accomplish a task or do an activity	Holds two cups while pouring water from one to the other. Holds butterfly net with two hands while trying to catch a butterfly.
5	Watches and manipulates an object with one hand while stabilizing the object with the other hand	Uses crayon to make up-and-down or side-to-side strokes while holding paper with the other hand. Turn pages in a book while holding the book with the other hand. Adds an object to a stack of objects, while stabilizing the existing stack of objects with the other hand.
4	Watches and guides the movement of one arm and hand to accomplish a task	Puts objects into container. Puts one object on top of another (block). Places objects in defined space (e.g., large pegs in pegboard).
3	Watches while moving arm and hand toward object or person	Attempts to grasp things that are moving. Bangs two toys together. Transfers something from one hand to the other. Pokes with finger.
2	Watches objects	Tracks objects when held in sitting position or when lying on back. Looks at hands. Plays with hands at midline. Reaches toward objects.
1	Regards objects	Looks at mobile. Briefly follows object by looking and moving head when lying on back as object is moved from side to midline.

Measure 43 — MOT 4

Eye-Hand Coordination

Child uses eyes and hands together to perform or accomplish a task

Eye-hand coordination involves using eyes and hands together in an integrated way to perform a task. For most children, hand movements are informed by visual input. For example, if a child is attempting to place puzzle pieces in a puzzle board, she must use vision to guide her movements. Young children who are visually impaired or blind are an exception to this, as they might use other sensory systems, such as tactile input, to guide their hand movements.

Newborn infants look at objects briefly. For example, they will look at mobiles or the faces of their caregivers. Infants watch objects and begin to move their eyes, their mouths, and their bodies toward people and objects that interest them. They watch their own hands when they play with them. They practice skills that allow them to move their arms and hands toward people or objects, and they might swipe at objects they can see. Eye-hand coordination continues to be refined in infancy. By the second half of the first year of life, most infants begin to coordinate looking and arm movement and can reach for an object without repeatedly looking at their hand. They might bang objects together while looking at the objects. Infants are able to look from hand to object, to hold one object while looking for a second object, and to follow the movements of their hands with their eyes. Older infants watch and guide the movement of one arm and hand to accomplish a task. For example, they might put an object into a container or place one object on top of another.

Toddlers continue to refine their eye-hand coordination skills. They can watch and manipulate an object with one hand while stabilizing it with the other hand. For example, they look at pictures in a cardboard book and turn the pages with one hand while holding the book with their other. Toddlers spend a lot of time practicing eye-hand coordination skills as they put objects into and take objects out of containers, nest objects, twist dials, push levers, and scribble. Older toddlers can coordinate the movements of both hands together, which allows them to perform such actions as pouring water or sand from one cup into another.

Young preschoolers continue to improve eye-hand coordination skills, and they watch and coordinate the movement of their hands to accomplish tasks or activities. They integrate visual and increasingly refined fine motor skills to complete tasks, including those involving the use of tools, such as using a crayon to copy simple marks or lines or moving a computer mouse.

Older preschoolers have advanced eye-hand coordination skills that enable them to integrate visual and fine motor skills to copy a model. For example, they might string beads following a simple pattern or connect blocks to replicate structures. Later, preschoolers will be able to complete increasingly complex tasks involving eye-hand coordination, such as using a keyboard and mouse on a computer or copying shapes on paper.

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