KIDS Sensory Play Resource Sheets Playing with Sight

KIDS Sensory Play Resource Sheets Playing with Sight INTRODUCTION For those of us that can see clearly we tend to take sight for granted. We open our eyes in the morning and accept our sight without a thought. This Resource Sheet considers children and young people both sighted and those who may have a visual impairment, who would still benefit from visually stimulating sensory play. If you are working with someone who has a visual impairment, find out what kind of residual sight may remain (if any) and what type of colours, contrasts would be best to use. Visual information accounts for much of children's learning, children with a Visual Impairment have to acquire information by touching, hearing, smelling and tasting as substitutes for seeing so don t forget to look at the other Resource Sheets available. It is especially important that visually impaired children have rich and varied experiences so consider how suggested activities can be adapted to support the child or young persons individual requirements. Visually Impaired children need the same opportunities as other children for play and social interaction with other children and should be encouraged to run and play games even though their parents, as well as perhaps the children themselves, may be anxious. From birth, we give babies brightly coloured toys to encourage their visual sense, we continue this throughout childhood encouraging the child to engage and interact. One of the first things that children learn is the names of colours. Sensory play using sight happens all the time, it is more effective when we engage with children and young people by asking them about what they are seeing, telling them about the colours, shapes, names of objects, for instance when reading a book engage the child by asking questions such as can you show me the green frog? can you show me the blue car? Always talk about what you are seeing and use communication to explore sensory play. The ideas in this resource sheet offer an opportunity to stimulate your own ideas to consider how you can create sensory play opportunities that encourage the use of sight. CONTENT OF RESOURCE SHEET 1. Playing with water 2. Playing with reflections 3. Playing with things that fly 1

1. Playing with water Water is a fantastic sensory stimulant; it encourages sight, touch and some activities incorporate hearing. Try the following out for yourself and remember you can always use your own imagination to expand these activities! Fishing game Equipment: Bowl or dish half filled with water Metallic wrapping paper (holographic paper works well) String Blue tack Straws Cut out several fish shapes from the metallic wrapping paper and float them in the water. Attach a length of string to a straw and stick a blob of blue tack to the end of the string. This acts both as a weight to keep the string taunt and will stick to the fish allowing them to be picked up. Take it in turns to pick up a fish using the straw and string as a fishing rod. Instead of using blue tack you can stick magnets to both the fish and the end of the string. Small magnets can be bought from hobby and craft stockists. Involve the child or young person at all stages both in the making and in the playing of this activity. Challenge how else could you use holographic paper to create visual sensory games? Shake the bottle Collect a number of clear or coloured small plastic bottles, small water bottles are excellent for this activity. Consider what objects you could insert into the bottles that can be seen through the plastic. Some ideas may include: Glitter Beads Pieces of wool, ribbon, string Feathers Leaves (small pieces of evergreen trees work well) Buttons Foam or Styrofoam packing chips Now fill the bottles with water, experiment by using a range of food colouring or ink to colour the water. By using a solution of water and washing up liquid the liquid will become more viscous and the objects will move more slowly as the bottle is turned over or shaken. Try half filling a bottle with water and washing up liquid and shaking it to see the bubbles form. How does the inserted object perform in different types of liquids? Experiment by holding the bottles up to the light, for example by holding a blue bottle in front of a yellow bottle will create green effect. Consider how the bottles could be displayed, tie a piece of string to the neck of each bottle and hang them from a washing line, a tree, a bush, a door handle. 2

Making a rainbow This is a simple experiment using a torch and a bowl half filled with water in a dark room! Use a glass container for the water that has a rounded edge, a round glass coffee pot, or fish bowl works well. By holding the bowl up and shining the torch directly up through the water a rainbow effect can be projected onto the ceiling. Try adding colours to the water and shining a torch through the liquid, what other types of effects can you make? Challenge what other types of visual sensory play can you think of using torches to reflect light? What about: shadow puppets using your hands in front of light projected onto a white surface in a dark room using coloured plastics or coloured film in front of a torch lens to create different effects cutting out cardboard shapes and sticking them to the face of the torch before projecting onto the wall or ceiling Think of some more yourself! 2. Playing with reflections Everybody has a mirror in his or her house, young children tend to be fascinated when they see themselves for the first time, and particularly like looking at themselves when they dress up in dressing up clothes or costumes. Some Disabled children may have a poor body image of themselves so be sensitive to individual s feelings when playing with mirrors and always provide positive comments to raise self-esteem and confidence. Ideas for playing with mirrors: Mirrors offer a fantastic surface on which to write and draw with white board markers, additionally liquid chalk pens are fun to use. Experiment and play using the glass as a write on/wipe off writing surface. Try drawing a simple shape such as a star or heart, place your paper at right angles to the mirror and re-draw your image, not looking at your paper but looking at the reflection. It is really hard to do. Reflecting lights through mirrors many sensory rooms use a range of coloured lights, these can be as simple as Christmas lights or lights incorporated into bubble tubes, fibre optics and strobes. Use number of small mirrors and a simple torch to create multiple reflections. Try standing a number of small mirrors up in a zig zag pattern and shining a torch on the surfaces to see what kind of refraction you get in the light. Coloured cellophane placed over the torch lens provides interesting effects, or try shining the torch through the plastic bottles filled with coloured water as described above. Experiment with 2 or more mirrors to bounce the reflection back and forward, how many times can you see an object reflected? 3

What else reflects light? Find a drinks can that has a plastic wrapper, take off the wrapper so that the metal is exposed and use the can to act as a mirror. Alternatively use a roll of shiny paper and wrap it around a can to act as a reflective surface. Experiment by looking at reflections on the curved surface. How would you need to draw the picture so that the image in the reflection is accurate? With older young people experiment by cutting a *tin drinks can open with a pair of sharp scissors. It is quite easy to do, trim the edges and bind them with sellotape or masking tape so they are not sharp. You now have concave and convex mirrors to experiment with. *Note the cheaper the drinks can the thinner the metal and easier to cut. A secondary use for the open drinks can is to place it on a semi soft surface, such as a folded tea towel or piece of hard foam and draw into it with a ball point pen using a fair amount of pressure. When you turn the metal sheet over the image has been embossed. This can be used for decoration on its own, or as a printing stencil. Cut the can open with a pair of scissors and discard the top and bottom Draw firmly onto the painted side of the can using a ball point pen. Remember if you are writing, letters need to be written backwards! The image will be embossed on the reverse side (excellent for sensory play using touch!) Place the embossed side downwards onto an inkpad, use a printed stamp and hey-presto. A printed image of your drawing! Consider how you could expand this activity when working with children and young people who are blind or partially sighted. Challenge what else may reflect the light? Try creating a mobile using old CD s, shine a torch at them and watch the reflections. Think about how you could decorate your mobiles. Create a simple mobile using twists of silver foil, encourage the child or young person to be imaginative and think about what else they could use. 4

Don t forget water! Water is an excellent medium to use for reflections, when you are out and about look for water and chat to the child or young person about what they see reflected in the water. Try throwing in small pebbles to watch the ripples and see how the reflection distorts. Try making your own reflective pond, (if the child or young person is interested in Harry Potter refer to the Pensive Bowl). Use a flat bottomed dish or bowl and line it with silver foil (shiny side up). Fill with 1-2 inches of water to create a mirror effect. Try adding some food colouring to oil and dropping it onto the surface. It will float and by SLOWLY stirring, marbling effects will form. Marbling inks are very cheap and easily accessible and make an excellent Sensory Play experience for sight. This will work better if you add a few drops of vinegar to the water before using marbling inks. Consider what the water feels like and smells like. 3. Playing with things that fly Have you ever looked up at the sky to see a kite flying, a bird, an aeroplane, leaves rustling overhead? There are many sensory experiences relating to objects that are suspended or are moving. Take a quick look at the clip art above, each of these illustrate a sensory experience. The list is endless and the ideas below are designed to spark the imagination so that new ideas and experiences can be explored in sensory play. Making a simple kite Equipment needed: 2 strong sticks house plant canes are sufficient or find a couple of straight sticks from outside String Paper or thin fabric Items to decorate the kite with 1. Make one stick shorter than the other, lay them over each other and use glue or tape to secure in a cross shape. If using glue it is wise to let the glue dry before completing stage 2. 2. To make the frame more rigid, make a notch in each of stick ends and tie the string to one notch. Wrap the string around each stick in turn to create a kite frame. 3. Lay the frame down on the paper or fabric and draw around it, cut out allowing 2cm hem to stick over the string 4. Fold over the access edges of the paper or fabric and tape securely so that you now have your basic kite 5

5. Decorate the front of the kite, tie a long length of string to the bottom notch, add some ribbons or paper streamers and you are ready to fly! When flying the kite think about the sensory experiences, the pull of the string, listening to the wind the smell of the air the flight of the kite Plenty of other things fly, in the Resource Sheet for Touch we spoke about the use of ribbons. Gymnasts use ribbons as part of their routine, however simply waving or running along holding coloured ribbons is an excellent form of sensory play. Making paper aeroplanes There are literally hundreds of books available on making paper aeroplanes, some more complicated than others. Feel free to research options. However, the instructions below provide a guideline for a simple folded paper plane. Ask the child or young person for their own ideas and suggestions. Offer opportunities to expand their initial thinking and encourage their imagination. 1. take an A4 sheet of paper, and fold in half lengthways, open up and fold two matching corners inwards to create a nose cone 2. fold each side of the paper outwards to create the wings (fold on the arrow both sides) That s it ready to fly. Try decorating the plane with glitter, bright colours, holographic paper, consider how you encourage the child or young person to use their sight by watching the plane fly. 6

Making a paper windmill Equipment 20cm square of paper or thin card Plasticine or Blu-Tac Knitting needle or sharp pencil A paper fastener (split pin) One bead (the split pin should slide easily through centre of the bead) A drinking straw Fold the square of paper in half diagonally in both directions cut the paper from each of the 4 corners towards the centre, do not cut into the centre. Leave a 4 cm gap. Roll some plasticine or Blutac into a ball, place it under the centre of the paper and put a sharp pencil or knitting needle through to make a small hold, do the same on one side of each corner Pull each corner into the centre, so all 4 corners are slightly overlapping, this creates the sails of the windmill Push the paper fastener through all 5 layers and thread a bead onto the back of paper fastener. This will stop the paper sails rubbing against the straw and will allow it to spin faster. Measure 2 cm down from the top of your straw and make a hole using the same technique as above. Push the paper fastener through the hole and fold the ends of the fastener back over the straw. You may need to add a piece of tape to secure the back of the paper fastener in place. The windmill is now ready to fly. Try blowing gently on the sails to make them go round or take it outside and let it move in the breeze. Try decorating the windmill with glitter and bright colours, what about creating a forest of windmills in different sizes. Consider how this activity can involve other senses, you can feel the wind blowing, hear the wind blowing, see the windmill moving. Encourage the child or young person to think about all 5 senses when playing, help them by asking questions. Remember these activities may require adult support, but the Disabled child or young person should be given choice and control of what they do within their play. The next couple of pages focus on children with a visual impairment and provide some ideas for activities. 7

For most children play is spontaneous, children want to learn about the world around them, experiment and through play develop cognitive, physical, emotional and social skills. However, some children with impairments might find that their individual requirement interferes with their natural development and may need a supportive hand to help them experiment and play on their own. It is worth keeping in mind that we cannot make a child do want we want them to do in true free-play, they must be given opportunity to make their own choices. Even though we can support a particular requirement we must understand and respect the child, allowing them to feel secure and in control. My son, who has been blind from birth, has always enjoyed stories. We have exhausted the supply at local bookshops for audio books as there are so few in comparison to the books published in print. His sister can go to the library and come back with eight new books each trip, yet we struggle to find a new story for him. This is grossly unfair. Do not assume that all of the child s toys must be bought especially for him or her, there are many ways to adapt games and toys to support individual needs. Using textures, colours, sound, movement and good communication children will enjoy a range of activities that can meet their particular requirements. Ideas for play for children and young people with a visual impairment Provide an area with nothing in the way Use sound to guide the child to activities i.e. rice placed within a balloon will sound when rolled or kicked Use verbal observations - let him take his own decisions but support him by giving him information i.e. the ball is on your left just in front of you Put up a rope so that he may follow with one hand (can support a child to learn to run following the rope as a safe route ) Place a tactile reminder near the end of the area, so that he may slow down i.e. a knot in the rope or a change in surfacing Climbing activities require no adaptations but remember good communication is the key still allow the child have control Tactile collages and use of tactile surfacing and colour can augment a game i.e. raised dots on dominoes, interactive books with tactile pages Use colour definition ensure this is appropriate for the individual Play with partners encourage peer friendships and empower other children to be the eyes Using Sound Activities Provide a sound to aim for i.e. when playing indoor bowling the Visually Impaired child can aim the bowling ball towards a sound. A description of what skittles have been knocked down can follow so the child has an understanding of where to aim for next. Pitching a ball to a VI person is not always practical; instead consider a waist height batting tee. When playing rounders the children at the stops can call out to encourage the VI person to run to next stop i.e. one, two, three also the children themselves can call commands such as stop, run etc. 8

Try throwing a plastic clothes peg into a metal bucket using a conventional ball or beanbag and plastic bucket will not sound, or may not sound loud enough Consider the use of wind chimes outside to help define an outside area. I.e. the wind chime is at the end of the playground on the left These are just examples of how sound can enhance the play experience of a child with a Visual Impairment, many more can be considered try thinking of some yourself! Audio is a lifeline to many Visually Impaired people, consider how you are consulting with children & young people on their views/ideas and opinions is a graffiti board appropriate, maybe children asking their own questions recorded onto Dictaphone would be more appropriate? Tactile play Try using a tactile guide to define areas for a child i.e. colouring/drawing, it is difficult for a child with a Visual Impairment to know where the edge of the page is. Instead put the paper onto a piece of card, wrap rubber bands around the 4 edges and a boundary is formed. Or use a card with a aperture cut out placed over the paper so the edge is defined. Experiment with the child using plasticine to create outlines on paper, paint can then be added into the centre of the raised tactile outline providing a barrier to the brush but empower the child to be creative. Use bump ons tactile dots to help define items such as dice, dominoes. Use elastic bands to define areas such as tic tac toe or 3 in a row. Use a range of different tactile surfaces to engage the child i.e. a matching game of cards but matching tactile surfaces together, for instance, using double sided tape onto small pieces of card dipped into sand to create a textured surface. Consider what other types of texture you could use to create a tactile matching game. It is vitally important that Children with visual impairments are still allowed and encouraged to make choices and take the initiative in play. Listen to their ideas, hear what they want to do and think creatively to adapt activities to be inclusive. Remember the child is the child first, they just happen to have an impairment, this does not mean that they are isolated from play opportunities, we instead are asked to empower the child to play by thinking out of the box. Have fun! 9