18/06/2025
Oculomotor Activities That Also Boost Executive Functioning
1. I Spy or Hidden Picture Puzzles
🔍 Supports: Visual scanning + attention + task completion- Kids must search systematically, stay focused, and remember what they’ve already found.
2. Mazes and Dot-to-Dot Pages
🧠 Supports: Planning, visual tracking, and inhibition- Encourages planning the best path, controlling impulses, and following steps.
3. Tracking with a Pointer or Finger
📖 Supports: Visual tracking + sustained attention- Use for reading or copying. This helps with staying focused and organized across lines.
4. Ball Toss or Balloon Volleyball
🎈 Supports: Visual tracking + self-regulation- Requires anticipation, inhibition (wait, aim), and eye-hand coordination.
5. Flashlight Tag or Laser Pointer Chase
🔦 Supports: Saccades + flexibility + working memory- The child follows a light quickly while adjusting to changes and remembering previous paths.
6. Target Games (like beanbags, Velcro darts)
🎯 Supports: Focused attention, inhibition, and decision-making- Helps with aiming, waiting turns, and adjusting based on results.
7. Tracing with Eyes Only
👀 Supports: Oculomotor control + mental focus- Have the child “trace” shapes or patterns with their eyes (no hands) then reproduce them.
Here is more information: https://www.theottoolbox.com/activities-to-improve-oculomotor/
Oculomotor control (how the eyes move, like tracking, scanning, and shifting focus) is tightly linked to executive functioning because both rely on frontal lobe activity in the brain. When kids engage in tasks that require coordinated eye movements, they’re also practicing:
🟢Sustained Attention- Looking at and following a moving object requires mental focus, just like sticking with a task.
🟢Inhibition (Impulse Control)- To track something accurately (like a moving ball or line in a maze), kids must slow down, resist distractions, and follow through, mirroring impulse control skills.
🟢Working Memory- Games like “I Spy” or flashlight tag require kids to remember what they’ve seen, hold it in mind, and act on that info, key to following directions and solving problems.
🟢Cognitive Flexibility- Oculomotor activities that involve shifting focus (e.g., scanning for different items) help kids practice adjusting their thinking and attention, a core executive function skill.
🟢Planning & Organization- Many visual-motor tasks (like mazes or dot-to-dots) require kids to mentally plan their next move and execute a sequence, skills used in homework, chores, and goal setting.
So while they seem like “just visual games,” oculomotor activities are actually training the brain to focus, process, and act thoughtfully, the foundation of executive functioning.
Here is more informaiton: https://www.theottoolbox.com/activities-to-improve-oculomotor/
