Helping Your Child With Bilateral Coordination

Parents of toddlers leave no stone unturned to help them grow. However, they may be aware of the importance of bilateral coordination in toddlers. It plays a vital role in helping children develop motor skills and move on to more complex tasks.

Your baby is growing up quickly and is having a whale of a time making discoveries and exploring new things. Of course, your excitement too knows no bounds. However, for your child to master important motor skills, it’s vital that she has good bilateral coordination.

What Is Bilateral Coordination: The Definition

In order to accomplish a number of everyday activities, both sides of the body needs to work in tandem. This ability of controlling the functioning of both sides is known as bilateral coordination. Effective communication between the two sides of the brain results in good bilateral coordination.

Activities that Need Bilateral Coordination in Toddlers

Children engage in many activities that require sound coordination. They include:

• Pushing and pulling
• Throwing and catching
• Drawing and colouring
• Buttoning a shirt
• Cutting a paper with scissors
• Climbing stairs
• Stringing beads
• Joining building blocks

If a child lacks bilateral coordination skills, he becomes clumsy when he tries to perform such activities. He may also use only one hand to accomplish these tasks. However, bilateral coordination can improve with time, so wait and watch before hitting the panic button.

Bilateral Coordination Milestone for A 12-month-old Baby and Older Children

The development of bilateral coordination occurs in stages. Your child may start off by using both hands to hold an object. With time, he’ll be able to hold two different things and bang them together. This is one of the most important bilateral coordination goals of a 12-month-old baby. As he grows into a toddler, he’ll be able to use both hands to do different activities like holding a sheet of paper with one and colouring it with the other. By the age of 3 or 4 years, most children have good bilateral coordination and can complete ordinary tasks without any help.

Bilateral Coordination Activities for Kids

Whether your child has begun developing motor skills or not, you can help him improve his bilateral motor coordination with the help of interesting games such as:

1. Bouncing A Balloon

This is a game your little one will love. Give him a colourful balloon and ask him to toss it around. Make the game more interesting by counting the number of times he tosses the balloon without dropping it.

2. Bursting Bubbles

This is one of the best bilateral coordination exercises for your little one. Using a bubble blower and some soapy water, blow bubbles towards your child. Let him burst them using his hands.

3. Making Music

Get your toddler a drum and let him go bang-bang. Holding on with both hands will improve bilateral hand coordination.

4. Mr. Builder

Building blocks never go out of popularity. Present your child with a set and encourage him to create structures. This will also fuel creativity.

Don’t worry if your child’s coordination hasn’t developed as fast as other children. If, however, his skills are taking too long to develop or improve, consult a doctor.

Has your child perfected bilateral coordination? What did you do to help him along?