Let your child have fun listening and shaking things. Fill those colorful plastic eggs with things
that make different sounds. Some suggestions are sand, rice, rocks, bells, and perhaps leave one empty.
Let your child feel the bulbs breaking ground
in your yard, or at a park. Return at regular intervals to feel until the flower blooms.
Search out a new park or play space. Try to spend some time outdoors.
Summer Activities
Let your child enjoy being in the outdoors while
indulging in a full sensory experience. Set a picnic mat out in the shade at the park and
lay out a variety of fruit with different fragrances, shapes, textures and weights. Let your child
experience the sweet aroma of strawberries next to the sour smells of citrus;
or the intricate rough textures of a pineapple compared to the subtle furriness of a peach;
or the dainty smallness of limes contrasted to the bulky weight of a watermelon.
Spend more time outdoors and make a trip to the beach.
Walk along the water's edge and smell and feel the dampness of the salty sea air, feel
the cool water breaking against your bodies amidst the distant sounds of crashing waves, and the wet sand
squishing between your toes. Build sand structures and let your child explore the textures of sand, small pebbles,
and seashells.
Enjoy the outdoors further with a game of field hockey. Place two or
three bells into or on a large and brightly colored blow-up beach-ball. Use a toiletbrush or a similar object for a
hockey stick. Let your child have fun chasing after the jingling bells, and enjoy the satisfaction of finding the ball
and pushing it along with the added fulfilment of sound feedback with each interaction with the ball.
Fall Activities
Let your child experience the change
in season. Go for walks in the park or woods, and feel the tingly coolness of the fall
air while listening to the sounds of your feet shuffling through piles of dry, fallen leaves.
Pause to collect and physically explore leaves of various shapes, sizes and textures.
Find a tree with some acorns and let your child feel them and the tree. Explain where they
came from. Glue some oak leaves and acorns on some heavy paper to make an "experience book."
Put hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves in a box. Tell your child that they will be
wearing them when it gets cold. Let them put them on themselves, a doll, a stuffed animal, or you!
Make the most of the outdoor times now. The beach, or a lake can still be fun, even if it is
too cold to go in the water.
A good book about fall and Halloween is
"The Little Old Lady Who was not Afraid of Anything" by Linda Williams.
This is a perfect book for a
Story Box. Visit the link to Story Boxes on this site,
and get those shoes, gloves, a shirt, and a pumpkin to make this book a fun experience for you and your child.
Winter Activities
Winter is here. Time to bundle up yourself and your child against the cold. Don't get too discouraged about getting your child to wear mittens and a hat. Pick your battles, but remember you are limiting two of your child's senses - touch and hearing. Save your hats and mittens for a really, really cold day.
Enjoy the snow with your child, both inside and out. Scoop up a bowlful and let your child experience is as it melts. Sledding on a hill, or being pulled on the ice are great sensory experiences.
Holiday Toys - what to get for a child with visual impairment.
The Ropard Website has "opened the boxed and kicked the tires" and has a very extensive list of toys, including those that light up and do not make noise.
These activities were suggested by Ann Ross. Please
email us with your ideas.
Page updated: 05/01/2007
