For parents, carers and teachers

How the three levels work

Each age group covers the same six ideas: how the eye works, why sight tests matter, glasses, colour vision, people who see differently, and when to tell someone. The words, the pictures and the games change with the age.

• Ages 4 to 7: written to be read together. Tap the eye diagram, make the room blurry, flip the cards. Ten minutes is plenty.
• Ages 8 to 11: can be read alone. The eye as a camera, what happens at a sight test, a matching game and a quiz with reasons under every answer.
• Ages 12 to 15: the science of sight, why so many teenagers become short-sighted, contact lens safety, screens, and honest facts about colour vision and driving.

A perfect quiz score offers a printable certificate. Nothing on these pages collects data, nothing autoplays, and every game works with a keyboard and a screen reader.

Signs worth checking

From the NHS guide to children's eye care. Any of these is a reason to book a free sight test.

• Sitting close to the television, or holding books and tablets close to the face.
• Rubbing the eyes a lot, frequent headaches, or tiring quickly when reading.
• An eye which turns in or out, even some of the time, after three months of age.
• Tilting the head or closing one eye to look at things.
• Clumsiness, bumping into things, or falling behind at school.
• A white reflection in the pupil in photographs. This needs an urgent check.

Sight tests are free on the NHS for every child under 16, and for 16 to 18 year olds in full-time education in England. A child does not need to be able to read letters. Vision develops until about seven or eight, so a squint or an unequal prescription found early is far easier to treat.

In the classroom

Small changes help a child with glasses, a patch, colour vision deficiency or low vision, and cost nothing.

• Seat the child where they can see the board and the teacher's face, and check the glare from windows.
• Say what you write on the board as you write it, and read labels and colour keys out loud.
• Do not let colour carry the whole message: add words, shapes or patterns to colour-coded charts and maps.
• Print worksheets in a clear font, with good contrast and space between lines. Ask the family what size works.
• Give extra time for reading, and let the child use a ruler or a finger to keep their place.
• Treat glasses and patches as ordinary. A class which sees them every day stops noticing them.
• A child who is registered as sight impaired, or who has a diagnosis, may be supported by the local authority's sensory or visual impairment service. Ask the SENCO.

Lesson ideas with this site

• Science, ages 7 to 11: use the eye diagram on the 8 to 11 page, then the matching game. Finish with the Follow the light lab.
• PSHE, any age: open the vision explorer on the high street scene, pick an effect, and ask what would be hard and what would help.
• Design and technology: use the colour vision studio to test a poster or a map through the three colour models.
• Science, ages 12 to 15: the 12 to 15 page, then the Sharp is not the whole story lab on contrast, and a discussion of why time outdoors matters for myopia.

Where the facts come from

Every fact on the children's pages is taken from the adult guide on the same subject, which links to its NHS, GOV.UK or charity source. The children's pages simplify the words, not the facts. If you spot something which does not match the source, tell us.