Eye Exercises For Kids

Dr. Saida Yasmeen, Specialist Ophthalmologist, Aster Al Raffah Hospital, Oman

Eye muscles are the busiest muscles in the body. Just the way our arms, legs, neck and back muscles require movement and stretching, our eye muscles benefit greatly from targeted movement exercises.

For a child’s eyes, any outdoor activity becomes the perfect visual workout.  Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the scenario has changed and with the online schooling and excessive use of gadgets, children are no longer getting the amount of outdoor eye muscle exercise needed to correctly develop their vision into young adulthood.

The following is a simple eye exercises for kids:

• Look up and hold for 3 seconds, then look down and hold for another 3 seconds. Repeat 3 times in total.

• Look right and hold for 3 seconds, then look left and hold for another 3 seconds. Repeat 3 times in total.

• Look to the top left corner of your eye and hold for 3 seconds , then look to the top right and hold for another 3 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

• Rotate your eyeballs 3 times to the right and then 3 times to the left. Blink several times to relax.

• Close your eyes tight and hold for 10 seconds. Relax.
• Open your eyes wide and hold for 10 seconds. Blink repeatedly to relax and complete the workout.

In addition to these eye exercises:

• Limit your child’s screen time and replace it with gross motor play to stimulate their nervous system. Gross motor play activities would include those which involve whole body movement such as hopscotch, trampolines or maybe helping out with chores of the house.
• Follow the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
• Blink the eyes frequently while watching any screen.

Picture credits: https://codeexercise.com/top-5-android-apps-for-eye-exercises/