Bilateral Coordination, craft, free, games, montessori, mr.Mintz, printable - August 20, 2022

What Is Bilateral Coordination And Why Is It Important?

Your baby is growing up quickly and is having a whale of a time making discoveries and exploring new things. Of course, your excitement to 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?

Bilateral coordination refers to the ability to coordinate both sides of the body at the same time in a controlled and organized manner; for example, stabilizing paper with one hand while writing/ cutting with the other. Good bilateral integration/ coordination is an indicator that both sides of the brain are communicating effectively and sharing information.

Why Bilateral Coordination Skills are Important?

Bilateral coordination skills are needed for motor development and brain development. These skills start when kids are young but continue as they grow.

Babies move their entire arms at the same time. They reach and grasp items that are closest to each hand. Hands are used equally.

As they progress into toddlerhood, hand preferences start to develop (between ages 2 and 4.) Kids will typically still switch hands for various fine motor tasks at this age.

Hand dominance typically is evident between ages 4 and 6. You will see kiddos consistently use one hand for a task. The other hand is the stabilizer or helper.

Bilateral coordination happens as the arms work together for symmetrical movements such as catching a medium sized ball or pulling up a sock.

Download the Handprint Alphabet template

Or, they work in opposition during reciprocal movements such as crawling or swinging on monkey bars.

Kids use more refined coordination skills when the hands perform different actions. For example, when fastening nuts and bolts or when tying shoes.

One hand stabilizes an object… the other does the work.

Children who have difficulty coordinating both sides of their body can have difficulty completing daily living tasks (dressing, tying shoes), fine motor activities (banging blocks together, stringing beads, buttoning), visual motor tasks (drawing, writing, cutting, catching/ throwing), and gross motor activities (crawling, walking, climbing stairs, riding a bike).

Why are Bilateral Coordination Activities & Games Important for Kids?

Bilateral coordination activities require both sides (hemispheres) of the brain to work together. The brain communicates effectively and automatically integrates movements of both legs and/or arms.

You can use our simple bilateral coordination activity for kids hands printable template at home to help develop your child's coordination skills! Download free template by Mr. Mintz here.