Using Containers

• Use small and medium containers in a variety of ways to encourage bilateral development. Empty oatmeal or yogurt containers double as building blocks. Give your child an empty container to place on a sturdy table or floor. Have her hold onto the container while adding a smaller container to the top of the first container. She is using one hand to steady the base object and using her other hand to add to it. If you have several containers close in shape and size have her "nest" the objects together by placing one container inside of another.
  
  

Art Activities

• Use the art supplies you have on hand to help your preschooler develop her bilateral coordination. Use small safety scissors and have her practice making "snips" or cuts into construction paper. She holds the paper in one hand while cutting with her other hand. Give her a paint brush or crayons and a coloring book to practice her coordination. She will rely on both hands to complete her artwork.
  
  

Food Activities

• Have some fun at snack time while working on her bilateral coordination. Let her frost a cookie using a child-safe knife and frosting or peanut butter. This activity uses both hands since she holds the cookie in one and the utensil in the other. For a different snack give your child some crackers and cheese slices. Show her how to tear the cheese slice in half or in quarters to "fit" onto the crackers.
  
  

Sensory Activities

• Use medium-sized bowls filled with different dry items like beans, rice or sand. Before giving her the bowls, bury a small treasure like a sticker or a wrapped piece of candy in the sand. Tell her that there is a "buried treasure" she needs to find. Your child uses both hands to sift through the sand looking for her treasure. Reverse the activity by asking her to bury a treasure for you to find.