Page 33 - SEN107 SEN Magazine July-August 2020

filled with rice to create a shaker. Create several using different grains or pasta shapes inside to experiment with different types of sounds. Bubble-wrap is a lovely material for children to fiddle with or walk around on. Crafts Messy play allows children to discover what different objects and materials feel, smell and look like. It also takes the emphasis away from being ‘good’ at something. There’s no right or wrong with messy art and crafts; it’s just about having a go and letting the imagination run wild. Choose the colours of your materials carefully and try to introduce contrast so that a child with vision impairment can pick out individual items. For example, choose bright coloured buttons and place them against a black background and avoid pastel shades on light coloured backgrounds when picking paints and other arts materials. Introduce elements that appeal to different senses, such as bells, rice or pasta for sound or materials with a tactile quality. If a child is unable to distinguish colour, adding different textures to objects will help them identify and sort them, as will using scented materials. Remember that messy doesn’t have to mean wet. Some children may be in the process of becoming comfortable with wet or sticky materials and may enjoy dry textures first. In the garden Outdoor play is important for all children and, particularly in the case of children with vision impairment, can provide real life, concrete experiences from which they learn about the world around them. Eating outdoors can be great fun and offers the chance to practise knife and fork skills without worrying too much about spills and mess. Even young children can start to learn independent living skills by helping to prepare simple picnic food. Talk about weight, measurement and number: How many sandwiches shall we make? Have we enough plates for everybody? Which apple is bigger – how can you tell? Collect leaves, stones, twigs and other natural materials and use these in craft activities such as collage-making. You could set up a sensory path outside using plastic trays with different outdoor materials inside – sand, leaves, water, stones and soil all work well for this. Create a story to go with it, e.g. going on a bear hunt. All these activities encourage imaginative play whilst helping your child develop tactile awareness. About the author Karen Hirst , Early Support, Education and Training Manager at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). First, combine these dry ingredients: • 2 cups plain flour • ½ cup salt • 1 tablespoon cream of tartar Then add: • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil • Food colouring • Few drops glycerine (optional but gives a lovely shine and stretch) • Slowly add 1 – 1½ cups of boiling water until the dough comes together (how much depends on how ‘wet’ the other ingredients were i.e. food colouring and glycerine) Make your playdough ‘sensory’ by adding scent or texture: • Substitute the vegetable oil for baby oil or coconut oil • Add kitchen herbs or spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice • Add natural extracts such as almond, vanilla or peppermint • Substitute a tablespoon of flour for custard or cocoa powder • Use essential oils if there’s a fragrance you like (these can be very strong so add just a little) • Add oats, rice, rock salt and lentils for texture • Use textured rolling pins alongside your usual cutters and rollers. No cook play dough ■ Using contrasting backgrounds can help a child with vision impairment pick out individual items. senmagazine.co.uk SEN 107 33 Visual impairment