Toys and Play

for Children with Visual Impairments or Blindness

It is often said that play is a child's work, and in fact, children learn essential skills through play. Communication, motor skills, cognition, and social interaction are a few of the developmental areas that are stimulated by play activities. In this section, parents and teachers will learn how to select playthings, adapt them when necessary, create play space, encourage play, and provide appropriate structure and support.

Below is a list of topics you'll find in this section. Click on a title to jump to a specific topic.

• Toy Selection
• Adapted and Switch-operated Toys
• Learning through Play
• Creating Play Spaces
• Active Learning

Toy Selection

Choosing the Best Toys for Your Blind Baby, WonderBaby.org
This page offers a sampling of toys and a list of tips to help parents select the best toys for children with blindness or visual impairments.

Choosing Toys and Creating a Play Area for Your Child, Family Connect for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments
This article lists some of the features to look for when selecting toys for a child with visual impairment, as well as suggestions creating a play area.

Finding Appropriate Toys for a Child with Vision Loss, Lighthouse International
Learn what to consider when selecting toys, and find out how to facilitate the enjoyment of play in children who are blind or visually impaired.

Good Toys for Blind Kids: Suggestions From Parents, National Federation of the Blind
This list is made up of regular commercial toys that can be purchased through local shops or toy stores. The age categories are suggested by the parents, not the manufacturers.

Ideas for Selecting Equipment and Toys for Blind Babies, Future Reflections, National Federation of the Blind
This articles has tips for choosing equipment that can enhance a child's development, including commercial toys and household materials, and ideas for activities to enhance a child's enjoyment of play. This article is reprinted from the Overbrook School for the Blind's Parent Early Childhood Education Series.

Let's Play: A Guide to Toys for Children with Special Needs, American Foundation for the Blind
Toy Industry Foundation (TIF™), in partnership with Alliance for Technology Access (ATA) and American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), has researched and tested hundreds of toys, and produced this comprehensive guide of the best toys for children with all types of special needs, of all ages, with different interests kept in mind.

Our Favorite Toys, Overbrook School for the Blind
Early Intervention teachers share a list of their favorite toys, with photos and a description of each one.

Quick and Easy Home-Made or Home-Found Toys, Future Reflections, National Foundation of the Blind
This article by Terri Connolly offers creative ideas for activities using household materials as props for play.

Really Fun Toys for Blind Toddlers, WonderBaby.org
This page recommends specific toys for toddlers who are blind.

Toy Ideas for Blind Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers, Future Reflections, National Federation of the Blind
Terri Connolly and Jill Brody share ideas for toys that enhance developmental skills at different age levels, such as movement, visual awareness, and object permanence.  A list of questions to ask when selecting toys is included.

Toy Safety: A Critical Balance, Lighthouse International
This article discusses the necessity of creating a balance between encouraging exploration and protecting children from undue hazards.  The authors offer a list of safety considerations.

Adapted and Switch-operated Toys

Securing Switches (and Mouth-able toys), Special Education Service Agency (SESA)
This document explains how to mount toys for students who do not have use of their hands or arms. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Switch Adapted Battery Operated Toys, Alliance for Technology Access
Learn how to adapt a toy with a battery-operated switch using these step-by-step instructions. 

Toys and Adaptive Play, Special Child
Parents share practical tips on adapting toys and play activities for children with special needs.

Toys for Children with Special Needs, Family Center on Technology and Disability (FCTD)
This issue of the FCTD newsletter has numerous articles on toys and adapted play, including what one can learn by observing children play, toy selection, and adapting toys with common household supplies; includes an annotated list of resources and toy vendors.

Organizations and Resources to Explore: Adapted Toys

AblePlay
Toy evaluations by an independent nonprofit agency that fosters play for children with disabilities. The online database rates the toys for suitability for children with cognitive, physical, sensory, or communicative disabilities (searchers may combine two categories).

Adaptive Toys, Family Village
Family Village has links to directories and vendors of toys for children with special needs.

Enabling Devices
Enabling Devices is dedicated to developing affordable learning and assistive devices to help people of all ages with disabling conditions.

National Lekotek Center
The National Lekotek Center is a source on toys and play for children with special needs. Lekotek uses interactive play experiences, and the learning that results, to promote the inclusion of children with special needs into family and community life.

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
Oppenheim is the only independent consumer review of children's media.  Recommended toys are grouped by age level (infant, toddler, preschool) and by type of toy or equipment, e.g. active physical play, pretend play, bath toys, etc.

Special Needs Toys
Special Needs Toys are providers of carefully selected games, toys, and other lesisure products aimed at people of all ages with special needs.. 

Toys and Play, ADVISOR (Assisting the Development of Visually Impaired Students through Online Resources)
This page has numerous online resources, including toys for the infant/toddler with visual impairments, toy vendors, puzzles and games.

Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids , Toys 'R' Us
The free Toys 'R' Us Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids lists 85 great accessible toys that are available nationally.

Learning through Play

Adapting Play and Communication: Enhancing Interaction and Cognitive Skills in Young Children, Simplified Technology
Linda Burkhart outlines the many skills that can be reinforced through adapted play, including cognitive, communication, and fine and gross motor skills.  She also offers suggestions for expanding communication skills and interaction through play.

How We Play!  A Guidebook for Parents and Early Intervention Professionals, Let's Play! Project
This 20-page guidebook helps parents and early intervention professionals encourage play in the lives of children with disabilities.  Included are descriptions of six types of emerging play, advice on play materials, positioning options, and adaptations. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Learning Through Play with Homemade Toys, Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind
This 63-page is full of instructions for toys to make and ideas for family activities.  It includes extensive introductory information on safety, creating the play environment, considerations for children who are deafblind, adapting toys to the child's needs, and much more. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Play from The Deafblind Disabled Baby, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
This chapter from Peggy Freeman's book for parents of the deafblind baby with multiple disabilities discusses the importance of play and outlines six stages of play, with many simple activities to try at home. (Microsoft Word Document)

Teaching Your Baby to Play with Toys, Family Connect for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments
This article presents many practical tips to help your baby learn to play.

Topic Spotlight: The 12 Features of Play Approach, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
Linda Hubbard, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, shares a list of suggestions when teaching a child to play.

Organizations and Resources to Explore: Learning Through Play

Learning Through Play, Hadley School for the Blind
This online course offers suggestions for toys and activities that teach children about themselves and the world around them.

Play, Blind Children's Resource Center
This section of the BCRC site contains four articles: Learning to Play, How Does a Blind Child Play, Adapting Play, and Adaptive Aids Equipment and Toys.

Play and Recreation, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
This section of the NCDB website has several articles about play and recreation for students who are deafblind.

Creating Play Spaces

Hold Everything! Twenty Stay-Put Play Spaces for Infants, Preschoolers, and Developmentally Young Children with Sensory Impairments and Other Special Needs, The Ohio Center for Deafblind Education
This 48-page guide has instructions for creating play spaces that encourage exploration and learning for infants and young children with sensory impairments and other special needs. The play spaces are easily and inexpensively created in the home or classroom. Guide also available in Spanish. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

How To Make And Use Playboards and Position Boards, Special Education Service Agency (SESA)
Andrea Story presents a variety of play boards for children with visual and/or mobility impairments. Toys attached to boards stay in one place, allowing a child to explore and manipulate them easily.

Make Your Own Mini Play Area! WonderBaby.org
This article is full of practical suggestions for creating a play area in a small space, such as a laundry basket.

Make Your Own Sensory Play Area, WonderBaby.org
Learn to design play areas that stimulate the senses of babies with visual impairments while making them feel safe and inviting them to explore.

See also the Assistive Device Center and learn more about how to design these spaces and adapted play equipment at Perkins.

Active Learning

About Active Learning - LilliWorks
This introduction to Active Learning explains Dr. Lilli Nielsen's approach of creating environments that provide feedback and support the child, thereby encouraging exploration and self-initiative.

Active Learning and the Blind, Multiply Disabled Child, Future Reflections—National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
This is an abridged excerpt from Dr. Lilli Nielsen's book, Early Learning Step by Step: Children with Vision Impairment and Multiple Disabilities. It outlines her Active Learning Approach and explains the importance of the learning environment.

An Introduction to Dr. Lilli Nielsen's Active Learning, Future Reflections—National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
Stacy Shafer outlines some of Dr. Lilli Nielsen's recommendations for designing a learning environment for a child with visual impairments and multiple disabilities.

Active Learning PlaySpace, ADVISOR (Assisting the Development of Visually Impaired Students through Online Resources)
This site offers video tutorials about the Perkins PlaySpace, a modification of Dr. Lilli Nielsen's Little Room. Topics include an introduction to PlaySpace theory, usage, parents' role, construction, additional resources, and other homemade constructions.

Some Thoughts On What Makes "Little Rooms" Good Learning Environments, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Millie Smith and Stacy Shafer list some of the key considerations in the design and construction of "Little Rooms," enriched learning environments that encourage exploration and interaction with a child's environment.

Dens, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Dr. Lili Nielsen's den is an active learning technique that encourage a child's tactile exploration. Millie Smith describes their use and outlines factors to consider when creating a den.

What my Daughter Taught me About Active Learning—or, Whose Goal is it Anyway? Future Reflections—National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
Jean Bugbee shares her experiences using the Active Learning Approach with her adopted daughter, Renee.

Connecting with Jimmy, Future Reflections—National Federation of the Blind (NFB)

Sue Elan Holmes writes about her experience with the Little Room, and what the Active Learning approach has meant for her son, Jimmy.

Organizations and Resources to Explore: Active Learning

LilliWorks
LilliWorks is the provider of Dr. Lilli Nielsen's specially designed Active Learning Equipment for North America, and also educates and consults on Active Learning topics.

See also Recreation: Toys, Games, and Recreation