"Endless Possibilites for Individuals and Families"
Kathie has more than 40 years of experience working with children and adults of all ages and abilities in Texas, Pennsylvania and Indiana. She received her CTVI and COMS training through the University of Texas at Austin and has recently established her own educational consulting venture to serve the community of people with VI. She wrote the book, Where in the World Am I?, has mentored others in the field, and has increasing passion for serving those with VI. While living in Pennsylvania, she founded a program, Keystone Kids, which served students with VI in all areas of the ECC and is still thriving today.
Because of Kathie’s special love of young children, she spends as much time as possible working (actually playing) with "littles". She owns and is president of her private consulting business, Bluebonnet Services for Visually Impaired located in Katy, Texas.
Sassy Socks
Materials:
Socks (old, but clean, fuzzy, soft, long, short—whatever you have around the house)
Rubber bands, yarn, ribbon, jute
Things to stuff in the sock (plastic bags, empty cereal bags, beans, rice, beads, mylar, fiber fill, clean pebbles or marbles)
Embellishments if you want them (buttons, ribbon, bells, pipe cleaners, etc.)
Procedure:
1.Stuff the sock with desired filler.
2.Tie off sections with rubber bands, yarn, ribbon, or jute.
3.Add embellishments.
*Sew or glue on buttons or bells
*Sew or glue on extra textures (ribbons, pipe cleaners, cotton balls)
*Attach strings or ribbons to make fringe
4.If your child tolerates smells, add a bit of essential oil to the sock.
How to use a Sassy Sock:
1.Let your student help stuff the sock. The student could assist in making the choice of which thing to put in the sock.
2.Use describing words (soft, hard, rough, smooth, squishy, crunchy, loud, soft, etc.) as you make or play with the sock toy.
3.Put the Sassy Sock on “top of,” “under,” “beside,” “over,” “below” another object.
4.Throw the sock. What kind of sound did it make when it landed?
5.Squish the sock. Talk about how it feels when it is squished.
6.Compare 2 different Sassy Socks. Use words to describe each one.
7.Put a Sassy Sock on top of different body parts and then identify that body part. Put the Sassy Sock on your arm (head, leg, hand, foot, etc.) and ask the student where the sock is on you.
8.If your child is able, use markers to decorate the sock either before or after it is stuffed. How is coloring on it different when it is flat from coloring on it when it is stuffed? This would be a great time to involve siblings. Let them make and/or decorate the Sassy Sock and help with presenting it to your child with VI.
9.Make the Sassy Sock as complex or as simple as you want to. Tailor it to the needs of your child.
10.If you really want to get fancy, put a different filler in each section of the sock!
11.Hang the Sassy Sock from a mobile for self-discovery.
Modification: Sew fabric into squares or rectangles, fill with the same fillers and embellish as desired. Fun fabrics could be burlap, shelf paper (yes, you can sew it), felt, cotton fabrics, thick plastic bags (like the ones pet food comes in), and lacy fabrics.
NOTE: As before, always supervise your child when the Sassy Sock is in use. Especially if it has small decorations or hanging ribbons (string, etc.) on the outside. Always be aware of possible choking hazards!
Sensory Boards
Materials:
Stiff cardboard or other sturdy, flat material
Duct tape, various colors
Fabrics
Textures
Small items that are fun to explore (buttons, cut up sponges, pompoms, netting, ribbon, lace, corrugated cardboard, fun foam shapes, cotton balls, small toys)
Glue or your favorite adhesive
Procedure:
1. Cover the cardboard with duct tape or a fabric texture. Use both sides of the cardboard. Use one or more textures on each side.
2.Add other items or textures on top of the first layer of texture.
NOTE #1: Some adhesives have an odor, so be sure this will not be irritating to sensitive or fragile students.
NOTE #2: It is difficult to glue a plastic item to a plastic surface because no air can get through to dry the glue. Just FYI.
How to use the Sensory Board:
Use the Sensory Board to introduce new or reinforce previously introduced concepts.
For example:
1.Put a specific texture or item (like a button) in each corner of the board. Discuss the features of "corners" and what corners are. Talk about upper corners, lower corners, left and right.
2.Glue a unique item in the middle of the board. Then glue a different item above, a different item below and different items to the left and right. Help student / child locate the item in the middle, to the left or right, above (over) and below (under) the item.
3.If your student has vision, use colorful items and practice locating colors.
4.Make Sensory Boards for a variety of concepts like rough, smooth, soft, hard, scratchy, fluffy, or bumpy.
5. Use items a varying sizes. Find the "big one, little one, medium-sized one." Look at which one is "bigger, smaller".
6.Be as creative as you want to be! Use items in your own home and try to just have fun!! If you are having fun and intrigued by your invention, your child will also have fun and be interested.
7.Depending on the level of the student, keep sessions short, but frequent. Just 5 minutes a day two or three times is great. Longer can be fun, if the child can tolerate it.
*** Be sure to use the "hand-UNDER-hand" method of guiding a child's hand. The hands of a child with VI are like their eyes and we want to be gentle when guiding their hands. If the student is resistant to being guided, just wait and let him or her decide when the time is right to explore.
****DISCLAIMER: NEVER, EVER, EVER leave a child unattended with a Sensory Board! A supervising adult must always be present during Sensory Board Exploration time. Please be vigilant in this!!
SHAKERS
Supplies:
Plastic container (water bottle, pill bottle, small take out container, etc.}
Items to fit inside the container (bells, lids from other bottles, beads, beans, rice, coins)
Decorations and textures to cover the container (felt, aluminum foil, yarn, ribbon, jute, puff paints)
Glue or adhesive
Procedure:
1.Clean container thoroughly. Let dry.
2.Add noise makers to the container. Your child can help put the items into the container.
3.Glue lid on very securely.
4.Add embellishments to outside of container. Make it tactually interesting. Be creative and use your imagination! If your child is easily overstimulated, then put fewer embellishments on and use fillers that make a softer sound (rice or sand.)
How to use a shaker:
1. Make sure the child is awake, comfortable and in an aware state. Present the shaker to the child’s best field of vision and give him / her time to react.
2.If needed, help him / her (hand under hand) to explore the textures No words are necessary yet. Children with unique sensory channels may need longer to take in information and respond to it. Repeat two or three times if he she is interested.
3.SHAKE the shaker! Move the shaker around to see if the child can locate the sound.
4.Throw the shaker to see what kind of sound it makes.
5.Make multiple shakers with different fillers and compare the different sounds. Match any that are similar.
6.Roll, scoot or shuffle the shaker around the table top or floor. Does it move easily does the child have to push it?
7.Hide the shaker under or behind another object and see if your child can locate it.
8.Pair specific shakers with specific activities. For example, a shaker with bells could be a symbol for music time.
DISCLAIMER: Always supervise a child while using a shaker!! Never leave a child alone with one!!
SWAT THE DOT
Materials:
Large old sheet
Fly swatter
Large flat dish or plate
Tempera paint (A bit of baby shampoo added to the paint will make clean-up much easier!)
Paint shirt
Procedure:
1.Hang the old sheet on a fence, wall, or lay on the ground. Paint some dots the sheet. Make them any size you want them to be.
2.Put paint shirt on.
3.Pour paint into dish.
4.Dip fly swatter into paint and “SWAT” the dots on the sheet. Repeat as often as desired!
How to Use:
1.Use a white sheet and use red paint for the dots. Then use a different color for the fly swatter. Notice how the different colored paints blend.
2.Use several different colors of paint and fly swatters to experience how colors can change when mixed.
3.Encourage movement and lots of laughter! Other concepts to incorporate could be: up, down, hard, soft, in, out, over, under, top, bottom, loud, soft, behind, forward, around, first, next, high, or low. Use a lot of describing words while the child plays but make the words “real”, so they relate words to the activity.
4.Feel the cold paint on different body parts (feet, hands, legs, arms). Let the child experiment putting the fly swatter covered with paint on the paint shirt for a cool design. It’s OK to be messy and embrace the mess!
4.”Swat” once or twice on a piece of construction paper or card stock and save to put in an experience book about the activity.
5.Turn on the water and clean everything up! That will probably lead to some good clean water play fun!!
Adaptations:
1.Use a large cardboard box instead of a sheet to accomplish the same goals.
2. CVI adaptation: Use a black sheet and paint white dots or yellow dots on the sheet. Then use any color to “SWAT” the dots on the sheet.
3.Wheelchair adaption: shorten the handle on the fly swatter and put paper on the tray of the chair. Or, let the student use a hand to dip in the paint tray and “SWAT” on the paper on the tray.
** DISCLAIMER: NEVER leave your child alone when enjoying an outside painting activity. Adult supervision is always recommended!
Homemade Sand
3/4 cup coffee grounds (used and dried thoroughly)
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup salt
Mix together well.
How to use:
1.Let your child feel the texture of the sand on his/her hands, feet, arms, etc. Identify each body part as the child explores.
2.Provide containers, scooping devices for exploring and practicing the skills of pouring, scooping, and digging. Simple items can be reused for this (small and large plastic food containers, plastic spoons, forks and measuring cups.)
3.Hide small toys in the sand for your child to find (small dinosaurs, plastic insects or bugs, shells, pebbles, finger puppets, etc.) Count the items you find and sort them into groups or match the ones that are the same.
***CAUTION: Be sure those small items do not end up in a small mouth! Choking hazard!
4.Use describing words to help with concept development (rough, smooth, bumpy, grainy, under, in, out, and more...)
5.Since this sand recipe has flour in it, mixing it with water makes a large, gooey mess that once dry is difficult to scrape off a surface (think of salt maps Geography teachers like to make). So, unless your goal is a gooey mess, save the water for a different activity or use water with commercially made sand.
6.Make an experience book about how the sand was made. Sprinkle each ingredient on a separate page and some of the sand all mixed up on one of the pages. Then glue some of the items used to play in the sand like a plastic spoon, small insect, or dinosaur. Children with vision love to look at pictures of activities, so take some pictures along the way.
Adaptations:
1.CVI adaptation: Put the sand in a yellow or red bowl to help focus attention. Use red or yellow or other very brightly colored objects to hide in the sand. Or....use a black bowl with red or yellow items to play with in the sand.
2.Use hand under hand guidance to assist a child with exploring if necessary.
3.If a child has sensory issues and does not want to touch the sand, sprinkle small amounts of it on the back of the child's hand to give them a less intense experience.
POM-POMS
Materials:
Yarn (preferred colors or interesting textures)
Scissors
Wrapping tool: A piece of cardboard, wood, or sturdy item 3-4 inches wide (I used my cell phone) for wrapping the yarn around
Embellishments (bells, rattles, spoons, etc.)
Procedure:
1.Choose the yarn to be used.
2.Cut one piece of the yarn about 6 inches long.
3.Lay this piece of yarn lengthwise on top of your wrapping tool.
4.Then wrap the yarn around the wide part of the wrapping tool many, many times. Fifty or more. The more yarn that is wrapped around, the fluffier the pom-pom will be. Cut the yarn when the pom-pom is fluffy enough.
5.Pull the one piece of yarn that was laid lengthwise up and over the rest of the bundle and tie tightly.
6.Use scissors to cut the yarn on the OPPOSITE side (bottom or back) of the wrapping tool. Now it is a POM-POM! Trim the ends to make them even.
7.Cut a longer piece of yarn to add embellishments. Tie bells or rattles one end of the yarn. Attach the other end of the yarn around the top (middle) of the pom-pom.
8. Other tips: Use glittery or shiny yarn, use two or more types of yarn for one pom-pom, make several different pom-poms and string them together like a garland, or attach a finger light in the middle.
How to use:
1.Hang the pom-pom over the child’s crib, stroller, or bouncy seat within arm’s or foot’s reach. Then, the child can bat at it or kick at it to make it move. It can also be placed on the side of the crib or favorite play area.
2.In a darkened room, shine a flashlight on the pom-pom to direct the child’s visual attention to it.
3.While holding the child, gently move the pom-pom across the child’s field of vision. Watch for any tracking or reaching behaviors.
4.Hide the pom-pom under a blanket or towel while the child is watching and see if he or she can pull the cover off to find the pom-pom.
** DISCLAIMER: NEVER leave your child alone with a homemade pom-pom. Adult supervision is always recommended!
Boxy Box
Materials:
A large cardboard box
Tempera (washable, non-toxic) paints with a bit of baby shampoo added to make clean-up easier
Cups, bowls, or plates to hold the paint
Painting tools (brushes of all sizes and types, sponges, potato mashers, feathers, pinecones, leaves, pom-poms, toothbrushes, fly swatters, etc.)
Paint shirts
Procedure:
1.Prepare paints by pouring a small amount of each color into separate containers. If using painting tools other than small brushes, a flat dish or bowl will work better than a small cup.
2.Introduce the box to the child and explore it inside and out.
3.Put paint shirt on.
How to use:
1.Paint the box all over! Inside and out! Swat it with a flyswatter. Throw damp sponges at it or in it. Finger paint on it. Use a spatula, hairbrush, comb, feathers, leaves or toothbrush to paint with.
2.If everyone agrees, let the child paint on his / her legs, arms, hands, feet, toes, and fingers. Washing up when the activity is finished is a great time to review those body parts again.
3.Save the box because this activity can be repeated multiple times using the same box.
4.Concepts to review: inside, outside, rough, smooth, top, bottom, over, under, corners, sides, back, front, around, beside, left, right, and more.
5.Use meaningful words to describe the activity and the actions of the child.
6.Let the box become anything the child imagines it could be (a restaurant, a spaceship, a car, a house, or anything else!)
7.Combine the painted dry box with sand play and sand play toys.
8.Put a sheet over it or under it and see what ideas the child has about it.
9.Take pictures and save a piece of painted cardboard to put in an experience book about the activity.
10.If paint is too messy, use chalk or crayons to color and decorate the box.
11.Add lights to the inside top of the box for the child to enjoy later.
12.Fill the box with favorite stuffed animals or pillows for a quiet, calm “den.”
Adaptations:
1.CVI adaption: Find or make a red box (these can be found during the holidays sometimes). Paint black dots or stars (or any other shape) on the box. Swat the shape with a flyswatter, throw a sponge or bean bag at it or paint on the shape with a unique tool.
2.Wheelchair adaptation: Use a smaller box that will fit on the tray of the child’s wheelchair tray. Paint, color or decorate as above. Then the box could be used as a home for a stuffed animal, doll, or puppet. All the same concepts can be covered.
** DISCLAIMER: NEVER leave your child alone when enjoying a box activity. Adult supervision is always recommended!
