VISUAL DISCRIMINATION

What's Missing Game: Put 5 – 6 simple objects on the table then tell your child to close his/her eyes. Then remove one object. Ask the child to now look at the table and tell what is missing.

Color Recognition in Environment: Talk about the use of colors in the neighborhood- red fire trucks, red stop sign, yellow warning signs and danger signs, colors of traffic lights etc.

Picture Sequencing: Find an old child's book. Cut out the pages and try to save enough to use as a sequencing activity. Allow the child to set the pictures in the order of the story. Then ask the child to share the story with the class.

Letter Matching: Write several pairs of letters, some pairs being the same letter and some two different letters. Allow your child to circle the matching letters and X out the non-matching letters.

Letter Matching Cards: Use index cards to write one lower or capital letter on each to be used as a simple "match the letter to its mate" game.

Dot-to-Dot Pictures: Let your child complete dot-to-dot pictures (start with simple object puzzles).

Jigsaw Puzzles: Get out the jigsaw puzzles. Puzzles, tabletop or floor puzzles are a wonderful activity to promote visual discrimination and motor skills. It does not matter how many pieces are in the puzzle, it's the concentration and building skills that count.

Picture Memory Game: Find a picture book with 'busy' pictures (a lot of things in each picture). Ask your child to look at the picture for a while, then close the book and tell you about the picture.

Sock Matching: Pull out several pairs of socks. Untie the pairs and have your child spread them out on the table. Then have your child match like color socks. Once the socks are matched, start to teach your child how to knot the pairs of socks.

Color Card Activities: Next time you are at a Home Depot/Lowes hardware store. Pick up a few color cards in the paint department. Maybe take a few of the same cards and a few singles. Then come home and cut up the card into individual color cards. The cards you have two matching sets use for matching colors. The cards you have one of each color mix in and see if your child can differentiate between the colors. If you took all of one color, have your child spread the color cards on the table from lightest shade to darkest or vice versa.

Complete the Figure: Draw an incomplete figure and ask your child to complete it. Adapt your drawing to match his/her ability.

What Is It Game: You can use flash cards (letters, number, shapes, simple objects) or pictures cut from magazines and glued to index cards. Completely cover the card with a piece of paper. Tell your child you will slowly lower the paper (you can lower it at an angle or straight down) and your child is to guess what is being revealed. Have fun and see how quickly your child can guess the correct answer. Also observe if your child makes grossly wrong guesses. Then this activity may still be too advanced for his/her understanding.

Same or Different Game: Make two sets of letter cards with two cards for each letter that can be reversed or look very much alike such as d, b, p, q. Start with only two letters. At first you can ask, are these the same of different? Continue with two cards at a time. A few months later, as your child understands there is a difference in shape, start to ask do they have the same sound or different?

Advanced Missing Object Game: Place five small objects on a table in front of your child. Ask your child to look away and remove one object. Ask your child to then tell which object is missing. Now try a twist to the game: ask your child to look away while you remove one object and replace it with another object. Now ask which object was removed and what was it replaced with.

Real vs. Cartoon Discussion: Look through pictures book together and discuss which books have "real" people and animals and which are drawn or cartoon figures.