Summer Crafts for Visual Development (They Cure Boredom, Too!)

It happens every year. At a certain point in the summer, the doldrums set in. The kids are bored, you’ve run out of ways to entertain them, and it’s too hot to play outside. We’ve gathered some fun activities that will stimulate kids’ visual perception, improve hand-eye coordination, and help with focus and visual memory all while bringing a twinkle to their eyes.

Seek and Find Games

Kids always enjoy stickers, and if used the right way, the development of visual processing skills is a side effect that sticks with them! Bonus: This quick craft uses up all those sticker odds and ends you have.

The idea comes from Left Brain Craft Brain, where complete instructions can be found. Basically, parent and child take pairs of stickers and stick one of each on a large piece of paper, or game board, and stick the matches on homemade playing cards. Then, one or more players draw cards and find the matching sticker on the board.

You can take the search and discover concept into three dimensions by making an I Spy bottle using small toys and trinkets, and rice.

DIY Eye Candy

Kaleidoscopes are super colorful and can mesmerize little eyes for quite some time, but the real value of this Pringles can kaleidoscope project is in the kaleidoscope’s construction, which develops hand-eye coordination and motor skills. Note: We don’t mean the step requiring the use of a screwdriver and hammer, which an adult should perform. The instructions and materials differ between this blogger’s version and the video tutorial below. We’d love for someone to try both for comparison and report the results in the comments!

Need to bring the energy level down a notch? There is nothing more soothing than watching beautiful ocean waves roll and tumble.This calming ocean in a bottle provides for a soothing visual sensory experience. It also provides you with an opportunity to introduce some basic science principles to your preschooler by explaining why oil and water don’t mix.

By contributing writer Shay Phoenix