How to Improve Visual Motor Integration Skills

Visual motor integration (VMI) skills refers to the smooth coordination of the eyes and hands working together. The August-November 2005 issue of "The Indian Journal of Occupational Therapy" relates that your visual-motor skills help you translate visual perceptions into your motor or movement skills such as coordination. Children who have problems with VMI skills may need occupational therapy or additional help at school to improve their skills.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Puzzles
• Activity books
• Graph paper
• Tracing paper
• Highlighter pen

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Instructions

• 1

  Improve a small child's visual motor skills by involving her in activities that are aimed at improving her fine motor skills. Let her practice everyday skills such as buttoning, zipping, tying and cutting with (child safety) scissors to help develop her hand-to-eye coordination.

• 2

  Incorporate visual motor skills into play. Jigsaw puzzles can be a way to help improve visual motor skills that may be lacking, according to educational psychologist Dr. Rebecca Bell Branstetter. Coloring books that contain mazes, word finds and other activities may be introduced as well.

• 3

  Work with children who have a hard time writing by using special paper. Individuals with visual motor skills problems can have a difficult time with spacing when they write, according to the Chappaqua (New York) Central School District. Practice writing one letter in each box of the graph paper to get a better sense of how words should be spaced. Putting a small dot after each word before progressing to the next written word may also be an effective teaching tool. Lay a sheet of tracing paper over a workbook and copy the words to practice writing.

• 4

  Improve VMI skills by using tools that can help organize thoughts better. Highlight items in homework that individuals with VMI problems may miss, such as the operational sign in math problems, or margins on a page. Dr. Branstetter explains that visual information can be confusing and overwhelming, so limiting the amount of information seen on a single page may lead to improvement.