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Unwrap joy with 100+ gift ideas for kids with CVI

Find CVI gift ideas for kids of all ages and stages! Here's our guide to out-of-the-box ideas, educational gifts, fidget toys for tactile lovers, and much more.

Henry’s love and passion for riding our public transportation trains and buses is going on three years strong now. So we’ve been able to get gifts connected to this love. A few favorites: MBTA train toy models and MBTA t-shirts and sweatshirts. For his recent birthday, a fellow CVI friend got him this train toy with music, lights, and movement, and he loves it. We also got some gifts outside this interest. The DRIVEN toy vehicle line has been great to go back to again and again. Fidgets and sensory toys are always a win because he can get into them immediately: keyboard fidgets and a cheap light-up spinner at Walgreens. We got him the Pop It! Pro last year, and while the light-up game goes a bit too fast for him, he really likes engaging with it. Honestly, the best gift is a train ride to get his favorite dairy-free ice cream.

When searching for gift ideas for a child with CVI, take a whole-child approach. What does your child enjoy? What motivates them? What upsets them? What provides calm?  

To help get you started with gift-giving, we created a guide with over 100 ideas—all informed by parents and caregivers from our CVI Now community. This guide is meant to offer inspiration and by no means is exhaustive or definitive, just a place to find some CVI gift ideas. 

And be sure to check out the CVI parent’s guide to the holidays to learn more about why holidays and celebrations are challenging for many with CVI and eight questions to consider to help approach gift-giving for your child with CVI.

CVI parents/caregivers, how have you made the holidays accessible for your child? What gifts are on your list? Join the CVI Now Parents Group to be a part of the conversation.

100+ gift ideas to support your loved one with CVI

For the sensory seeker

A few CVI gift ideas for those who seek sensory input (swinging, vibration, tactile, pressure, fidgets) to support their learning and regulation.

For the music lover

Many with CVI and their parents/caregivers report that there is a serious love for listening to and making music, and we include a few CVI gift idea options for different instruments and music-listening toys and systems.

For light and motion

Some with CVI are drawn to light and motion to support visual attention and recognition. Light-up items may offer needed visual sensory input, and items with motion may help a child with CVI track the item, but the motion might also offer some type of vibration. 

For the setup

CVI gift ideas for items to help adapt and create an accessible environment in the home and for learning, for example adding tactile elements to appliances, bring learning to accessible visual fields, ways to add light or color, and supports for the sensory environment.

For play, exploration, and games 

CVI gift ideas to support sensory exploration and play, along with game night ideas.

Play and exploration

Games

For literacy and math development

The path to literacy and numeracy is rooted in the unique needs of your child with CVI. Below are just a few CVI gift ideas for some fun and accessible items that may support literacy and math concepts at home.

For cause and effect

Cause and effect toys can be engaging for some with CVI, where pressing a moment or giving some type of input causes the toy to do something (light up, move, make a sound). 

For outside-the-box-but-really-helpful gifts

Some of the most thoughtful gifts can be the ones that help keep other items running, a gift card to help you stock up on much-needed items, or a donation to a disability non-profit.

For adapted play

Some with CVI also have motor complexities (up to 70% of kids with cerebral palsy have CVI). Below are CVI gift ideas to make interaction and play accessible. 


For more ideas, read the Perkins’ gift guide for children who are blind or have low vision, and check our guide to what CVI parents never leave the house without.

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