Whether its winter, spring, summer or fall, your eyes are the only set you get. Taking care of them and showing your kids how to take care of them is just as important as showing them how to take care of their teeth, hair and skin.
According to the American Optometric Association, children should first have their eyes checked at 6-months-old. Subsequent vision checks are then recommended at 3 and before beginning kindergarten, or at 5 or 6. Once children are in school the AOA recommends that they should get their eyes checked every two years. If they wear glasses or contacts the recommendation changes to once a year.
- Basic visual skills needed for learning include:
- Near vision
- Distance vision
- Binocularity skills
- Eye movement skills
- Focusing
- Peripheral awareness
- Eye/hand coordination
However in between checks there are a couple of ways parents can help to protect and preserve kids’ eyesight.
Limit screen time
You knew this was coming, right? For children 2 – 5 the AAP recommends that you limit screen time to 1 hour of high-quality programming per day. For 6 and up they recommend a more well-rounded approach to limiting screen time and advise that you balance it with other activates and make sure it doesn’t encroach on other activities and sleep.
From an increase in dry-eye syndrome in kids, which is most commonly seen in adults 50 plus and is often caused by blinking less often, to blue light exposure, scientists are just beginning to understand the impact of so much screen time on our eyes. Whether it is for enjoyment or for studying, the screen time is straining young and growing eyes.
Play outside
A study conducted by the University of Sydney found that exposure to sunshine as a young child is important for the development of healthy eyes. The study was published in the AOA professional journal and showed that kids who spend more time outdoors were less likely to be short-sighted or myopic, which means nearsighted. The research recommends that kids under 6 spend at least 10 hours outside in the sun each week.
The study says that exposing kids to sunlight at a young age “assists in the growth of a normal, healthy eyeball preventing it from growing too fast” and from becoming oval or egg-shaped versus round.
Watch for signs and symptoms
There are some telltale signs that your child might have some eye issues. If they have eyes that are slightly turned out or crossed, consistently sitting too close or too far from books or the TV, sensitive to light or excessive tearing, squinting or tilting their head to see better, and other issues outlined by the AOA, take them to the eye doctor for a check-up.
Get regular eye checks
Follow the schedule mentioned above to keep up with kids’ eye health. The American Academy of Pediatric and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthamology and Strabismus experts work together to develop recommendations based on scientific evidence and while the above guidelines are general you can a find a state-by-state guide here.
Provide kids with toys & activities that encourage visual development
According to the AOA there are many toys that can help your child develop visually and most parents probably don’t even realize it. Basically any toys that help hand-eye coordination will help promote eye health. Here are some examples from AOA.
- Newborn – 5-months
- Toys: Mobiles, baby gyms and bright rattles
- Activities: Peek-a-boo
- 6-8 months
- Toys: Stuffed animals and floating bath toys
- Activities: Reading to kids and hide-and-seek with toys.
- 9 – 12 Months
- Toys: Toddler books, blocks and stacking or nesting toys
- Activities: Reading to kids and rolling a ball.
- 1-year-olds
- Toys: Balls, zippers, blocks and riding toys that they can push with their feet.
- Activities: Reading and throwing a ball
- 2-year-olds
- Toys: Crayons, bean bag games, hammering toys, sorting shapes, puzzles and toddler books.
- Activities: Reading to kids and playing outside.
- 3 – 6-years-old
- Toys: Building with blocks or Legos, stringing beads, puzzles, crayons, finger paint, chalk, play dough or clay, sewing cards, matching shapes, bike/tricycle, connect the dots and sticker books.
- Activities: Playing catch, playing outside and reading.
- 7-yeard-old +
- Toys: Bike riding, jumping rope, roller skating or roller blading, target games, age appropriate puzzles, remote-control toys and sorting games.
- Activities: Riding your bike, horseback riding and outdoor sports.
Eat your colors
You need more than carrots for your eyes. According to WebMD food that contains specific key nutrients and antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids and lutein are all linked to good eye health. Some examples of these foods include kale, spinach, grapefruit, strawberries, Brussel sprouts, seeds and nuts.
Have them wear sunglasses with full UV protection
Only about 58 percent of adults make their kids wear sunglasses, according to WebMD, but UV exposure is just as harmful to eyes as it is to skin. UV exposure can cause short-term and long-term effects on the eyes and people with blue eyes are more susceptible to the damage.
Kids are outside so much more than adults and half of the lifetime sun exposure happens within the first 20 years of life, according to the Optician Alliance of New York. And kids’ eye lens transmit more UV than adult eyes, about 70 percent more. This puts their eyes at greater risk. Couple that with the rapid ozone depletion still occurring and kids’ eyes today need more protection right from the start than our’s did 20 years ago.
Protect their eyes while at play
With so many kids now playing sports at younger and younger ages, protecting their eyes has become imperative.
According to Prevent Blindness America about 40,000 sports-related eye injuries occur each year and are bad enough to require a trip to the ER. About 90 percent of these could be prevent with protective eyewear.
For kids a lot of these injuries occur during sport activities. Anything with a ball, puck or projectile (including the human hand/fist) can be a sport that can damage their eyes.
For a full list of sports and to find out more about the type of protective eyewear you can chose for your child visit allaboutvision.com.
My kids are on screens all day at school, so I try to limit them once they are home. It’s not easy, but I try.
Great post! We always find eye care important. My soon the be 4 year old has a stigmatism and will soon be getting glasses I’m pretty sure.
Growing up my mom always made sure that if I was outside that I wore sunglasses. She grew up in the 50’s where she would look at the sun a lot, because she thought it was beautiful. She developed macular degeneration which the eye dr told her it was all that looking at the sun!
This post is great! I really love that you included a list of toys and activities that encourage visual development.
This is great! Especially the eye exercises and activities based on the age group of the child. Eye health is definitely important.
Regular eye checks are so important… sometimes it’s not obvious if you’re child is having trouble seeing.
I had no idea that sunlight was necessary for good development of the eyes. I find that really interesting. Thanks for the great tips. Taking care of the eyes is so crucial!
Great tips and information. Both my kids wear glasses so I always get them checked yearly. Sunglasses or transitions are essential when in the sun.
Great tips! I see more and more parents now limiting screen time, which is great. And also in my neighborhood, there are more kids playing outside. At first it was kind of odd, but now I love how everyone is used to them being outside and riding bikes! I guess I should recommend to them that they wear sunglasses when hanging outside though!
Sunglasses are so important for everyone! Whenever I have to head outside, I always bring my sunglasses with me!
I remember my friends getting glasses as a kids after months of squinting at the board. You would think that kids who are old enough would say something when they’re having trouble seeing, but they don’t always. I think it’s great that so many foods and activities really help vision. Might as well give your kids the best shot at good vision possible. Part of it, of course, is genetics, but every little bit helps.
So many people forget the importance of protecting their children’s eyes. This is a great post that I will surely be sharing.
Eye care is definitely important especially for the kids who have developing eyes. I think this is a helpful guide for parents who have no idea where to start when it comes to taking care of their child’s eyes.
Ug, I worry about this all the time. My kids will already be inheriting terrible vision from me, but who knows how much worse it can get if I don’t follow these tips!
This is a great post! Eyecare is so important, but I feel that not enough people pay attention to it for their kids. ESPECIALLY the sunglasses. I live in Texas, and it’s a big pet peeve of mine to see about 90% of kids outside not wearing them (while the parents are, of course).
These are fantastic tips to help protect our kiddos eyesight! I got my son transition glasses so he automatically has sunglasses on when he goes outside…
Such good reminders about eye health and safety. I wear sunglasses year round – and I live in Oregon!
These are great tips for keeping our kiddos eyes safe and protected ! For my little boy I got his prescription glasses as transitionals so he always has sunglasses on when he goes outside 🙂
My daughter always wears sunglasses when she is outside. These are tips. Thanks!
Having them checked regularly is really important. I make sure that the kids have their eyes checked at least every 6 months. These tips are very helpful as well. Screen time should be limited.
I struggle with terrible vision so it’s something I’m hyper vigilant about with my kids. You’ve shared so many great tips here thank you so much.
It’s so important to take care of the kids eyes but it tends to be the ones that everyone forgets about! Eye checks are so important
Unfortunately my son had weak eyes and need glasses when he was young. It really had an impact on his fine motor skills.
Love these tips. My oldest has been wearing glasses since she was about one so I learned pretty early the importance of good eye care. Thanks for sharing!
Great tips! I shared this will all my Mommy friends.
Eye health is often forgotten I think, yet essential. These are excellent tips to help ensure kids eyes are getting the care they deserve.
These are definitely some great ways to protect your child’s eyes. We take our kids to get their eyes checked on a regular basis.
I read somewhere that kids need to have at least 40 minutes of distance looking (such as being outside and looking down the street, up at the sky, etc) for optimal eye health. I can’t remember where I read this but it was a long time ago!
This is actually really helpful. Thanks! I just wish I could keep my kid’s sunglasses on.
Great tips for protecting kids’ eyes! We definitely limit screen time. High quality sunglasses are great for protecting kids’ eyes from the sun.
I am in chicago and I swear the skies are gray all winter, like literally gray. I wish we needed sunglasses all year round
Man, this post was really informative!! We try to limit screen time, too, but sometimes it’s all that will keep my 8yo from terrorizing the whole house… Another thing I’ve been reading about lately as well is the specific light emitted from the LED light bulbs and how it doesn’t contain the same blue (I think?) that sunlight does, which is what keeps our eye cells healthy. Great post!`
I actually think I could even use some of these tips for myself. I definitely need to limit screen time that is for sure x
Eye health is something that goes forgotten until there is an incident. I am a hawk with my kids when they are playing to wear eye protectors. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way about not using eye protection, and have sworn ever since that I am going to make my kids learn the easy way.
Thrifting Diva
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We were literally saying that we haven’t had our eyes tested this year. Need to make that appointment! So true about screen time, I know I feel like I have tired eyes if I look at the screen too long
This is so important. Kids these days aren’t outside as much as they used to be.
We limit screens and try hard to get the kids to wear sunglasses. They won’t wear them for very long.
This is so important! We live in Arizona where it’s very sunny everyday. Sometimes my daughter forgets her sunglasses when we’re on vacation away from home simply because it’s not as sunny as we’re used to. Definitely not okay!
I love this! I need to make sure my kids are always protecting their eyes. I think it gets overlooked amongst everything else but it’s vital!