Blind Babies, Toddlers, and Children

There are many toys I did not mention here because space is limited. I highly recommend educational toys. The blind child will not tire as easily with toys that have sound, texture, vibration, smell, or that interact with them. Toys that teach skills like gross motor, fine motor, spatial relations, object permanence, manual dexterity, cause and effect, creativity and imagination, logical thinking, vestibular motion, etc. are wonderful.

Encouraging Movement With Sound:

I have seen wearable arm/leg bands, socks, or mittens that interact with the child to let them know that if they move, something neat will happen, and therefore they will move more. I have heard of a few called: wrist/foot/feet rattles, mitten/sock/bootie rattles, jingle socks/booties, rattlin' toes/mittens, footfinders, wrap around teether rattles, etc.

There are also some great websites that sell shoes and sandals called Pip Squeakers, Kid Squeakers, Squeaker Shoes, and Happy Shoes that squeak every time your child walks providing them with a positive feedback when doing so. Squeaky baby shoes have been around in China for a long time...just a few years ago they were introduced to the USA. Their purpose is to amuse babies. Squeaky shoes can also serve as motivation for blind and visually impaired babies and toddlers, who learn that moving their feet causes the amusing sounds. As a result they are encouraged to move, explore, and take their first steps. Blind and visually impaired parents use squeaky shoes to track their baby’s movements by sound.

Exploring Textures:

Finger paints, play dough, shaving cream, rice, sand, macaroni, shells, beads, etc. are only a handful of things you can use to help your child feel the world around them. At first you will have to help them explore their surroundings. Always let them know what textures or items they are feeling so they can later associate the object or texture with a word. They might be a little tactile defensive at first. Help them into play with the texture slowly. You might need to expose them to it more than once to get a desired effect.

Sand and water play activities are useful sensory experiences for children who are blind and tactally hypersensitive. It is also useful for encouraging two handed play for pouring and filling containers. We have the Naturally Playful Sand and Water Activity Center by Step2 and it is wonderful. We had tried the Little Tikes Easy Store Sand and Water Table first, but we didn't like it because the hinge was too hard to put together and it easily fell apart. Instead of sand you can use a variety of other things to fill the insides with. Rice works just as well, but cleans up easier.

You can make your child their very own tactile things: Make a texture blanket/quilt for your child with different textured fabrics. My daughter has one with fabric called Minky/Minkee Dimple Dot, Minky/Minkee Swirl, Minky/Minkee Chenille Stripe, Minky/Minkee Curly Poodle, etc. Have them lay on it and tell them what the different textures are (soft, spongy, velvety, fuzzy, furry, wooly, feathery, downy, fluffy, hairy, smooth, silky, satiny, slick, slippery, rough, bumpy, lumpy, gooey, sticky, grainy, sandy, gritty, scratchy, course, fine, wet, hard, stiff, flexible, jagged, sharp, pointy, prickly, spiky, spiny, bristly, corrugated, ridged, ribbed, grooved, wavy, wrinkled, etc.). Use puffy paints, string, yarn, pieces of shell, macaroni, sand, corn starch, felt, pom poms, feathers, corrugated cardboard, faux fur, velvet, foam, wool, pieces of sponge, mesh, cotton balls, beads, pipe cleaners, Wikki Stix (waxy, flexible sticks that kids can shape into tactile patterns, pictures or letters again and again), etc. to create a texture book or picture. Just make sure they don't end up putting the pieces of it in their mouths.

I have also found that there are tactile drawings called Tactiles out there that are supposed to help the visually impaired or blind child visualize a picture that one might see if sighted by touching it. Usually the drawings are raised outlines of the actual drawing, but with less detail. Children not acostumed to using these will have a hard time with them unless the proper teaching is done ahead of time. You may also use rubbing plates or tracing plates to have the same effect.

Exploring Smell:

There are many things you can do to help your child learn different smells and what they are. Here are some great activities: Mix aromatic oils or extracts into tempera paints and use to paint pictures. Rub a piece of sandpaper with a cinnamon stick to give it a cinnamon smell. Draw or trace and cut out pictures of flowers. In the center of each flower, glue a cotton ball or fabric dipped in aromatic oil or extract. Make some smelling bottles. Use scented: play dough, finger paint, paint pens, markers (make sure you get the washable kind), stickers and books (scratch n sniff), candles, bubbles, potpourri, aromatic oils or extracts, etc. when teaching about smell. There are even pencils that have fragrance called Smencils.

Teaching Color:

Color might sound like something that totally blind people wouldn't be able to grasp the concept of since they wouldn't be able to see it. But there are ways to help the totally blind around this obstacle. In the exploring smells section I mentioned smelly markers. These are useful in helping the totally blind associate a smell with a certain color and come in washable so they clean up easily too. Of note: Don't get the dry erase kind unless it specifically says that it is washable. Also, Nickelodeon and Dora the Explorer has come out with a product called i-crayons. I-crayons are crayons that talk. They have one topper that you put on the top of each crayon and it will say the color of the crayon in both english and spanish with a press of a botton. You can get them online at amazon.com or target.com. You can also help by separating colors of clothing they wear with braille in their drawers or closets so that when they can dress themselves they can know what matches and goes well together.

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