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The development of your child´s vision


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At birth, your child’s vision is limited to a distance of approximately 30cm. However, your child’s vision, as with the majority of physical processes occurring during their first weeks and months, develops quickly and matures rapidly.

Your child’s initial inability to see greater distances is not due to physical development, but rather maturity. The reason for their delay in perception and visual clarity comes about simply because the brain and the retina take time to develop. Though the optics of the eye may be mature, a child must learn to use them (Hamer 1990).

At approximately eight months, your child will be able to see clearly across a room and begin to distinguish more readily between colors. However, your child is already able to clearly distinguish between two shades of gray that
differ by only 0.5 % brightness (Hamer 1990).

These findings tell us that while an infant may struggle to see objects outside of their initial focal length during the early stages of their development, their accuracy with respect to deciphering color, tone, and shade provides them with a wealth of visual stimulation and the ability to differentiate and interact.

Infants instinctively prefer to look at high contrast edges and patterns. At an age as early as two months their ability to see contrast has developed to the point where the baby is capable of perceiving almost all of the subtle shadings of our world. As Hamer notes, “a normal visual environment without black and white toys is quite rich and stimulating to your baby" (Hamer 1990).

Shapes, objects, and brightly colored toys all provide visual stimulus for your child. This stimulus not only helps develop their vision and sight, but also improves their capacity to learn.

Activities such as stacking blocks, point-and-tell games, coloring, and storybooks all encourage hand-eye coordination.

Actively engaging with your child, for example when seated at the table with them in their highchair, allows you to ask questions about objects and point to shapes, animals, objects, and colors. Provide crayons and pens for drawing. Read point-and-tell stories. Share and communicate better together.

Research tells us that children learn a lot about language from listening, watching and participating in conversations with their families (Beals 2001).

Encouraging interaction around the table not only helps your child develop their vision and hand-eye coordination, but also develops recognition, language skills, and greater social relations.

Sources:

Hamer, Russell D. 1990. “What can my baby see?” via ski.org

Beals, Diane E. 2001. “Eating and Reading: Links between family conversations with preschoolers and later language and literacy.” In Beginning Literacy With Language, Chapter 4, 75-92. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks Publishing.
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