VISUAL DEVELOPMENT:

1 – 2 YEARS

Exploring their surroundings

By 2 years of age, your child’s eye-hand coordination and depth perception should be well developed. This allows them to eagerly explore their environment[1] and scribble with crayons or pencils.

Clarity of vision (“visual acuity”)[2] and depth perception continues to develop until your child is approximately 5 – 8 years of age. There are still eye problems that can occur during this time that can affect how their vision develops. Before starting school, your child should have an eye examination by an optometrist to check their eye health and make sure their vision is developing properly[3].



Children playing
Babies looking at each other

Other visual skills…

  • Placing shapes in proper holes[4]
  • Showing interest in and recognizing familiar pictures[5]
  • Knowing their own face in the mirror and, when asked, they can point to parts of their body, for example their eyes and ears[6].

LEARN ABOUT EYE & VISION PROBLEMS IN INFANTS & CHILDREN

[1] Eye Concerns in New Babies, About Kids Health (Oct 2009), https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Article?contentid=456&language=English
[2] Siu CR, Murphy KM. The development of human visual cortex and clinical implications. Eye Brain. 2018;10:25-36. Published 2018 Apr 24. doi:10.2147/EB.S130893
[3] Pre-school Vision: 2-5 years of Age, American Optometric Examination, https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-health-for-life/preschool-vision?sso=y
[4] Shutts K, Ornkloo H, von Hofsten C, Keen R, Spelke ES. Young children’s representations of spatial and functional relations between objects. Child Dev. 2009;80(6):1612-1627. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01357.x
[5] 20 Things to know about Children’s Eyes and Vision, American Academy of Ophthalmology (Dec 2019), https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/tips-children-eyes-vision
[6] Stanford Children’s Health, Age-appropriate vision milestones, https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=age-appropriate-vision-milestones-90-P02305

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