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Including children with multiple disabilities in Holi festivities
Five fun ideas to engage children with multiple disabilities and visual impairment meaningfully in Holi festivities.
Holi is one of the most vibrant and colourful festivals of India. Children with multiple disabilities and vision impairment (MDVI) or deafblindness (Db) eagerly await the festival of Holi as they love to play with their friends, teachers and family using colours and water. Here are some fun ways to engage children with MDVI meaningfully in your Holi celebrations this year:
1. Teach children about colors
Holi is the one of the best ways to teach children about a variety of colors. By learning through play with so many different colours, children tend to learn and recognize their colours better.
2. Make natural colours
Making natural colours using vegetables and flowers is a fun multisensory activity for children with MDVI/Db.
3. Encourage social interactions
Celebrating with others is an important part of festivities. This provides natural opportunities to encourage children to interact with different family members, friends, and other people in the community.
4. Make new arts and crafts
This is a perfect time to teach children new art and craft activities related to the festival. You can support children to make greeting cards and colourful flowers using fun Holi colours.
5. Preparing and sharing sweets
Sweets are relished during Holi festivities. By including children in the preparation of festival sweets, you can encourage children to learn a variety of cooking skills. Be sure to share the sweets with friends and family that the child knows!
Holi brings happiness and cheer. Everyone around is in a happy and playful mood – a perfect opportunity for children with MDVI to learn as they have a lot of fun!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, please take precautionary measures during festival celebrations to prevent the spread of the virus, such as proper social distancing and hand hygiene, if meeting with others outside your household.
Images courtesy of Helen Keller Institute for Deaf & Deafblind
