How Your Baby’s Vision Shapes Brain, Movement & Emotional Growth

BACC.PHYSIOTH., JASNA DONADIC

How baby’s Vision Develops in the First Year of Life

The development of baby’s vision is a fascinating and complex process that impacts overall development.

Vision is crucial for babies as it helps them learn motor milestones for both gross and fine motor skills, explore and understand the world around them, form emotional connections through eye contact, and develop cognitive functions.

Although vision (skills) continues to develop throughout childhood, the most intense growth happens during the first year.

Why Baby’s Vision Matters for Overall Development

Vision is crucial for babies as it helps them learn motor milestones for both gross and fine motor skills, explore and understand the world around them, form emotional connections through eye contact, and develop cognitive functions.

During the first six months, it is vital to establish strong neural pathways by connecting nerve cells and creating synapses between the eyes and brain.

This is why babies need visual stimuli and practice in visual skills.

Key Visual Skills and How They Progress

Binocular Coordination: Moving the Eyes Together

The first skill babies learn is control over the eye muscles to move and work both eyes together (binocular coordination).

Focusing and Tracking Objects

Next, the ability to focus and visually track objects becomes important.

We can help babies develop these skills by stimulating them with black-and-white images, black-and-white objects, mirrors, and later, bright colors (especially red).

Developing Hand-Eye Coordination Through Play

As babies learn to reach for objects, they develop hand-eye coordination. This ability allows them to perform activities that require the simultaneous use of hands and eyes, facilitated by smooth communication between the brain, eyes, and hands.

Depth Perception and Eye Accommodation

When babies are placed on their stomachs and later begin crawling, they develop depth perception—the ability to distinguish whether objects are close or far from one another—as well as eye accommodation, which involves learning to shift focus between nearby and distant objects.

Activities to Support Visual Depth and Focus

Activities like rolling colored balls and blowing bubbles help support this development.

The Long-Term Impact of Early Visual Development

When a baby has the opportunity to experience all these visual skills, their development is enhanced, leading to better outcomes in school and sports later in life.

Bacc.physioth., Jasna Donadic

Owner of Center Fizio Gym
Center for education and promotion of healthy development of children and quality of life of adults

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