Board games to work on visual acuity with children 2026

Vision develops in a learning process that begins the moment we come into the world. Like all learning, it can be stimulated through games and activities that work on visual-motor, sensory, perceptual skills and the integration of vision with other senses and with the motor system.

If visual motor and sensory skills are adequate, the eyes “send” sharp, well-coordinated images to the brain, so that we see a single, perfectly focused 3D image. From there, it is the visuoperceptual skills that are responsible for organizing and processing the visual information that reaches the brain (children with good motor skills – who see very well in visual exams – may have learning difficulties if their visuoperceptual skills are not well developed); coordination with other senses allows us to expand the information received visually by relating it to the information received by the other senses; and the coordination of the visual system with other motor systems allows a motor response to be given to visual information if that is necessary.

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A few days ago we talked to you about 'visual therapy' or visual training as a treatment to strengthen eyesight from childhood. We told you that it is a series of exercises carried out by a specialist and that it can even end with learning difficulties or eye symptoms associated with certain tasks that can cause poor academic, work and sports performance.

Well, as Ana María Calahorro, optometrist at CECOP and Centro Óptico Paracuellos, explained to us, to carry out the therapy, a personalized exercise program is first prepared based on the results obtained in a visual effectiveness test. “The exercises are aimed at developing and maximizing the compromised visual skills and the integration of these skills with the rest of the senses.”

But, in addition, beyond these exercises, the specialist commented that it is also possible to work on acuity and visual training at home in a simple way. To do this, consider board games a good tool.

And did you know that most traditional children's games and board games work on several of these motor and visual skills at the same time? This is what Elena Garcia Rubio, optometrist and director of INOP, says.

They are great to play with the little ones at home because, in addition, they will help us have a very entertaining time. Both she and Ana María Calahorro offer us a lot of board games to work on visual acuity with children of different ages:

Piece fitting puzzles

The puzzles of fitting pieces in both 2D and 3D can be used from a very early age and played with them throughout development, increasing their level of difficulty. With them, visual discrimination skills, figure-ground perception, shape closure, and eye-hand coordination are worked on.

Find hidden drawings

It is another game that can be played from early to advanced ages. With this game you work on eye movements, visual attention, visual memory, visual discrimination, figure-ground perception, shape closure, spatial orientation and eye-manual coordination.

Construction games

Whether invented or Lego-type constructions, these games stimulate almost all visuoperceptual skills: visual discrimination, shape constancy, organization, spatial orientation and visuospatial relationships, visualization, visual memory, as well as logical and creative thinking.

Find pairs of drawings

Whether through card games or tablets or on a sheet of paper, it is about matching images that are either the same or complement each other. This game works on tracking and saccadic eye movements, visual attention, visual memory, spatial localization and gross oculomotor coordination among other skills.

Double

It is a game to play between several children or with adults; It has cards in which, depending on the age of the child and what we want to work on, there are only drawings, drawings and letters or drawings and numbers. Cards are placed on the table two by two and there is always a drawing, letter or number in both of them that is on both cards, whoever finds it first takes the two cards, and whoever has the most cards when the cards on the board run out is the one who wins.

This is one of the games that I like the most, for children from six years old, especially if they want to reinforce their ease with letters and numbers. It is a very complete game in terms of stimulation, as it works on attention, tracking eye movements, visual discrimination, visual memory, spatial location and orientation, shape constancy and reaction speed.

Make necklaces with pasta

It is a game that can be done with children of different ages depending on the size of the objects we use as beads. Works on attention and visual fixation, shape constancy, spatial organization, hand-eye integration through fine eye-hand coordination.

For younger children we can use large pasta that has large holes (ditali, ditalini, chiocciole, rigatoni, etc...) and reduce the size as age or skill increases until we reach star soup. The first step is to paint the pasta with markers, tempera or the paint that we believe is most appropriate for the age and ability of the child in different colors and spread the colored pieces on the table, and then string them, alternating colors, on a nylon thread (fishing) that has consistency (thicker at the beginning and finer as the hole in the pasta becomes smaller).

Finally, there are very bright and fun colored necklaces that children can give to whoever they want.

Robot Face Race

In addition to these, Ana María Calahorro completes the list:

Improves visual discrimination (skill that allows us to differentiate the different properties of the objects around us such as size, color or symmetry) and concentration.

Parquetry Block

Helps develop logic, symmetry and the recognition of colors and shapes.

Tricky Fingers

It helps us improve fine motor skills as well as logic and planning.

Dig Up

It helps us work on spatiality and ocular motility (the automatic and coordinated movement of both eyes).

Ghost Blitz

This game helps us work on processing speed, as well as attention and reflexes.

Jungle Speed

With this we stimulate discrimination, reflexes, and help maintain attention for longer.

Chocolate Fix

In it we can work on logical reasoning.