Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Speech and Language Therapy Advice
EYE CONTACT
GENERAL POINTS
Very young children with communication difficulties may have poor or fleeting eye
contact. Good eye contact is important for normal social interaction.
Looking at people helps children to get more information about language as they see
facial expressions and are more likely to notice gestures or signs.
When working on eye contact, place toys near your face to encourage your child to
look at you. If your child looks away, stop the activity and call your child before
starting again.
Try to encourage your child to want to look at you, but never force him to.
EYE CONTACT GAMES
Peep-po games
Peep-po games can be played from behind the furniture, the curtains, or another
person, under the table, or when getting dressed. Use a fun sounding voice and lots
of laughter.
Ball games
Pass a ball slowly from the left to right so that the child can follow it with his eyes.
Make it disappear behind your back or behind your head and wait for eye contact.
When playing games of throw and catch, wait for the child to look at you before
throwing the ball, or hide it behind your back until you get eye contact.
Face masks
Make face masks from paper plates and cut out holes for eyes, nose and mouth.
Use the mask to play peep-po or ‘boo’ games. Stick your tongue out through the
hole for the mouth.
Squeaky toys
Hold a squeaky toy near your face and press it to make a noise. Stop the noise and
wait for eye contact before you start again.
Scarves
Put a coloured scarf over your face and play peep-po games.
Silver cake cases
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Try to attract the child’s attention by putting silver cake cases over your eyes and
playing peep-po games.
Sunglasses
Try putting dark sunglasses on and off to encourage the child to look at you.
Finger puppets
Draw faces on your fingers or make finger puppets. Wiggle them near your face and
hide them.
Hand games
Wave your hands and wiggle your fingers. Hide your face behind your hands and
play peep-po games.
Binoculars
Look through two old toilet tubes to encourage eye contact.
Songs and rhymes
Pat-a-cake, clapping games, round and round the garden, tickling games, row-theboat, rocking games. These can all be a fun way to encourage a child to look at you.
Hats
Put hats on and off or hide your face behind a hat and play peep-po games.
Wink games/pass on faces
Play winking games or make funny faces and wait for the child to copy you.
Face paints
Using face paints (which can be bought in toy shops or joke shops), paint faces on
the child’s face and on your own face. Make clown faces, animal faces and anything
else you can think of. (Make sure you check for possible allergies before putting face
paints on.)
Toys
The following are just some of the toys that can be used to help improve eye contact:
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Posting boxes
Stacking rings and beakers
Inset puzzles
Give the child one item at a time, eg. one of the posting shapes. Encourage him to
look at you before handing the shape over. If the child is reluctant to look at you, try
and get his interest by playing with the shape in an unusual way. For example:
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Put it on your head
Throw it and catch it
Hide it behind your back
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