As your child develops, it’s important to incorporate
activities into their daily routine that will increase their hand-eye
coordination. From writing with a pen, to catching a ball, many simple tasks
require strong hand manipulation and healthy fine motor skills. Weaving, either
with yarn or with other household materials, is a great option to help
strengthen coordination between your child’s hands and eyes, and is a fun way
to create something new. Here are a few simple steps to teach your child how to
To first teach them how to weave, try this easy activity. For
this, you’ll need an oven cooling rack and either some string or some pipe
cleaners (your rack should have evenly spaced wires running parallel to each
To begin, first place the string or pipe cleaner over the
first wire, and then under the second. Once again, place it over the third,
under the fourth, and continue until you’ve reached the entire length of the
rack. Have your child watch as you do this, and let them try for themselves
once they understand the concept. Use different colored string or pipe cleaners
to entertain them, and have them fill the entire rack if they can.
This is a great activity to help strengthen the muscles in
their hand as well as develop hand-eye coordination.
Weave With Paper
Once your child understands the concept of weaving, have
them move onto another fun and creative activity. For this, you will need
construction paper in different colors and a pair of scissors – cut the
construction paper into one-inch wide strips.
Begin by laying out flat eight strips of the same color.
Once you’re finished, place eight strips of a different color perpendicular on
top of the previous strips. Now, with one of the top strips, place the first
part on top, and then slip it under the strip below. Place the next part above,
and after that another piece below. You should begin to weave the top strips
through the strips of paper below, creating a woven paper design.
Show your child your example, and have them follow suit by
weaving as much as they can. If they finish quickly, cut out different colors
to have them weave a colorful quilt of paper.
Developing hand-eye coordination in your child is a great
way to increase their fine motor skills and increase their physical
capabilities. These great weaving activities will give them a new skill to
create fun kids arts and crafts, and will keep them busy during a summer full