Binocular VISION: Use Games To Help Your Child

When I think about children walking around school all day with an eye patch, getting teased while they bump into things and struggle to catch a ball, it breaks my heart.

Especially because it doesn’t have to be this way.

I spoke with Orit Kruglanski., the author of two children’s books on vision, I See Clearly and I See Clearly with Two Eyes (co-authored with behavioral optometrist Fernanda Leite Ribeiro). Orit challenges the standard “all day patching” approach to treating strabismus (eye turns), amblyopia (“lazy eye”), and other binocular vision problems in children.

The Language We Use Around Binocular Vision Matters

“There is no bad eye,” Orit said, and I felt that in my bones.

“The eye that turns away, or that doesn’t see so well, is an eye that needs help. It needs to be integrated in the vision, not singled out as some bad component that needs fixing.”

When we talk about a child’s vision using terminology like “bad eye” or “lazy eye,” we’re not just describing a physical condition. We’re labeling a part of them as defective.

And emotionally, that rejected part often mirrors what’s happening physically. The eye turns away, stops participating.

The eye turns because the brain has stopped listening to it. It’s a processing problem, not a muscular problem.

That’s why surgeries that cosmetically straighten the eyes often don’t restore actual binocular vision or 3D sight. They’re addressing the wrong issue.

Binocular Vision Development Can Backfire with All-Day Patching

The standard prescription goes like this: patch the “good eye” all day so the “bad eye” has to work harder. Children are sent to school like that and told that they’ll adapt.

But here’s what actually happens:

Your child can’t see well, which makes them feel unsafe. They lose depth perception completely. You need two eyes working together for that.

They become clumsier, getting hit by balls, bumping into furniture. Other kids make fun of them. And they’re expected to learn how to read and write while functioning at this massive disadvantage.

When you talk to adults who were patched as children, they remember it vividly. “I hated it so much,” they’ll say. “I was made fun of all the time. I couldn’t see well, and I felt very bad.”

And here’s the thing: there’s no evidence that all-day patching works better than short periods of thoughtful patching done at home with family support.

Orit suggests parents try this: patch your own better eye and go about your day. Walk around. See how people look at you. Try to do your job with just one eye.

You’ll understand quickly why sending a child off to fend for themselves like that puts them at such a disadvantage.

A Different Approach to Patching for Binocular Vision

If patching can be useful, how should it be done?

Make it a family activity. When it’s time to patch, everybody patches. You’re all pirates together, tossing balls, playing games.

The child with the vision challenge might have more of a disadvantage, but at least they’re part of the family. Nobody’s excluded.

Keep it short and playful. You’re not trying to exhaust the eye. You’re waking it up, inviting it to participate and stimulating it so it wants to join in.

Be fully present. This isn’t something you do while making dinner or checking email. This is quality time where your attention is focused entirely on play and connection.

Make it the best part of their day.

The goal isn’t to make the “bad eye” as good as the “good eye.” The goal is to get both eyes playing together, with the brain listening to both. That’s what true binocular vision is all about.

Read more about other playful solutions for children

Play Versus Exercise: Why It Matters for Binocular Vision

“Play is really no different than anything else,” Orit explained. “It’s just how you frame in your mind what you’re doing.”

If you’re doing something for an external reason, waiting for the result, you’re working or doing an exercise. But if you’re present, curious about what’s happening and engaged, then you’re playing.

You could be jumping from letter to letter on an eye chart. If you’re curious about how the world moves around you, noticing what you see, you’re playing.

If you’re thinking “how many minutes until I’m done?” that’s an exercise.

This is why forcing exercises on children rarely works. They feel the obligation, the judgment, the boredom.

But when you tap into what naturally interests them (boats, dinosaurs, fairies, throwing balls at targets) and you weave binocular vision work into that play, everything shifts.

Understanding Principles, Not Just Following Protocols

Once you understand the principles of what you’re trying to do, you can find thousands of ways to do it that actually engage your child.

Maybe they like ducks. Maybe they like stars. Maybe they’re obsessed with rockets. Whatever interests them can become part of the practice.

And here’s something parents often overlook: your attention itself is valuable. Children want your presence. When you play together, that time is precious to them.

Use that. Don’t say to your child “go do your exercises while I do something else.” Be present and participate with them too.

The activities matter less than you think:

• Rolling a ball on the floor
• Tossing bean bags
• Playing with colorful cards
• Drawing with sidewalk chalk
• Blowing bubbles

The key is making it light and playful, not demanding or creating frustration. Find what works for that particular child to encourage their binocular vision development.

What About Different Ages and Binocular Vision Work?

I asked Orit about age, because parents often wonder if their child can improve their binocular vision:

Under 8 years old: Children are still very much in the parents’ world. You can bring them along, say “look at this, look at that,” and they’ll play naturally.

Around 11-12 and up: They have their own minds. They’re becoming their own person, so they’re not going to follow their parents blindly. They need to want this for themselves.

But here’s what’s interesting about teenagers: even when they seem like they’re not listening (facing the wall, looking away from you) they’re absorbing everything.

They’re listening to every word. If you teach the parent while the teen pretends not to care, and what you’re saying makes sense and is interesting to them, they’ll remember it all.

They just have to act cooler than you.

The best advice for any age? If you want your child to get out of glasses, get out of glasses yourself. Show them it’s possible. When they’re ready, they’ll know how to do it.

It’s Not Just About the Eyes: The Deeper Side of Binocular Vision Problems

When one eye turns or stops participating, it’s usually part of something bigger happening in the person and in the family.

There’s often a part of the child (maybe a sensitive part, a vulnerable part) that feels excluded or rejected in some way.

This doesn’t mean you’re failing as a parent. It means we’re all navigating complex family dynamics without always having the support we need.

Orit works with a method called Conversation with the Eyes, developed by Anat Axelrode. In that work, many children with squints or imbalances see the imbalance disappear when the parents work on their own emotional issues.

So doing your own emotional work around your child’s vision can be transformative.

What does it mean to you that your child’s eye turns? Do you feel they’re broken? That their life will be harder?

These are legitimate feelings, but exploring them can help you make decisions from a calmer place.

The Surgery Question and Binocular Vision

Many parents consider surgery to straighten a turned eye. The surgery shortens the muscle to make the eyes look cosmetically straight.

But here’s what’s important to understand: most of the time, these surgeries don’t restore binocular vision. They don’t give the child 3D vision or true depth perception.

And often, doctors can’t even tell you how many surgeries will be needed. They’re adjusting, readjusting and hoping to get it straight. And even then, not consider if the brain will actually integrate the image from each into a composite, 3D image.

If you’re considering surgery, ask specific questions:

• What are the probabilities of creating or enhancing binocular vision?
• What are the chances of needing another surgery?
• Will this require vision therapy to fully integrate the eyes?

Get all the information so you’re not assuming it’s a simple fix.

And know this: there’s no age limit for developing binocular vision. The idea that you have to intervene before age three is just not true. People can develop stereoscopic vision in their fifties or later:

American neuroscientist Susan Barry wrote Fixing My Gaze outlined her own journey to 3D vision in her 50s after a cosmetic eye alignment surgery at age 3 still didn’t give her any depth perception.

Combining alignment eye surgery with vision therapy or natural vision coaching work is often the best way to see optimal and long lasting results. Surgery alone, without addressing the processing problem, usually means the eyes eventually drift back.

Taking the Pressure Off

“For me, none of it is a tragedy,” Orit said, and I love this perspective. “Except for really extreme cases, having a squint is not a tragedy. Wearing glasses is not a tragedy. Not wearing glasses is not a tragedy.”

Your child is not broken, they don’t have a terrible disease. It’s okay.

Yes, it’s great to work toward improvement. But if your child wears glasses sometimes, or uses them for certain activities, that’s perfectly fine.

Sometimes parents get frantic when they discover natural vision improvement is possible. They feel like they have to fix everything immediately, like they’re bad parents if they don’t.

But you’re doing the best you can with the information you have.

Give children choice. Tell them: use the glasses when you feel you need them. Maybe for the blackboard at school, maybe when riding a bike.

Let them develop their own sense of when glasses help and when they don’t.

A Note About Pretend Glasses

Here’s a practical tip: if your child wants glasses because their friends have them (and this happens, kids want what other kids have), just get them “fashion” glasses with no prescription in them.

They’ll play with them for a bit and get bored. Orit has never seen a child with fashion glasses get hooked on them.

But if the child really wants glasses and you keep saying no, they might strain their eyes enough to actually need them. Exploring the root cause for their blurry, double or suppressed vision, is better than trying to improve fully developed vision problems.

Where to Start with Your Child’s Binocular Vision

If your child has binocular vision challenges, here’s what I’d suggest:

Trust your instinct. If something a doctor recommends feels wrong (like all-day patching), listen to that feeling. You have a sense of what’s right for your child.

Make it playful. Whatever you do, keep it light, curious and fun. The moment it becomes a chore, you’ve lost the magic.

Be present. Your attention is the gift. When you’re working on vision, be fully there.

Work on yourself. If you have vision challenges, address them. Show your child what’s possible.

Look at the whole picture. Consider emotions, family dynamics, stress. Vision doesn’t exist in isolation.

And remember: you’re going to make mistakes. Everyone does. No one’s parents did a perfect job and that’s just part of being human.

Looking at What’s Different with Love

Near the end of our conversation, Orit showed me an illustration from her book. A girl with a turned eye, and another child asking, “Is it okay to look at your eye that turns?”

The answer: you can look, if you do it in a loving way and ask for permission.

A lot of times, when a child’s eye turns, parents don’t even want to look at it. They’re avoiding it and rejecting it.

But when you look at that eye with acceptance (when you really see it without fear or judgment) something shifts. It’s an invitation for that eye to come out and look back at you.

“I see you. I recognize you. It doesn’t scare me that you’re different.”

When we accept what seems broken or not working, sometimes that thing turns back to us. And we can include it.

That’s the heart of supporting healthy binocular vision development. It’s about inclusion, not exclusion. Integration, not rejection.

Watch the episode of Balancing Your VISION with Simple Daily Practices!