Get Crafty for Active Learning!

New shelves

Here's Tommy clapping in front of his custom built shelves. (Thanks Great Uncle Ken!) Last spring we spent so much time in the same day surgery playroom of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHOP) that we took note of the long row of low shelves they used for toy storage.

We also noted that they didn't have any braille or touchy feely books in the playroom. I wrote an email about the books and provided them with some braille book sources. We haven't been back to the same day surgery at CHOP since last spring so we don't know if they got any braille books yet. Tom has an evaluation under anesthesia (EUA) coming up in February or March to monitor his glaucoma and retinas so we will find out then.

But back to the fun stuff! We are completely spoiled because we have so many relatives making things and on the look out for cool stuff for Tommy. Thanks to Uncle Nick and Great Uncle Kevin & Great Aunt Barb we have more glow sticks than we can use in a year. Time for some more glow stick baths!

Playing with a fluffy dog that dances and sings.

So what's next on our list? Making some cool sensory/texture toys. Check out this PDF of Playspaces for the Blind for a bunch of amazing ideas that you really can do yourself. You may have heard of a "little room." It's a small playspace designed to encourage independent play and exploration. You can read more about the "little rooms" and about Lilli Nielsen, who invented the concept along with "active learning." Dr. Nielsen was the second of seven children, four of whom were blind! She pioneered the idea that blind children and children with disabilities need to actively participate in learning. It is a very empowering method of learning.

Child playing in a "little room"

You can purchase a little room (at great cost) or your can make one yourself. The link I posted above has so many ideas to create little playspaces using household items like boxes, clothes baskets and even hula hoops. When Tommy was an infant I made him a "little room" using a clothes basket. I attached lots of textured and sound toys to the sides of the basket and put him inside. Everywhere he touched something was happening! It was a lot of fun for him.

So how do the shelves at the top of this picture help Tom participate in active learning? I think it helps by giving Tom a dedicated play space where he is free to choose his toys and safely explore. I have to balance my desire to have a clean home with the need to have a stimulating home for Tommy.

We are still working on creating an interactive texture wall to put near Tom's shelves. That's the next big project. This is the idea. Whoa, EXPENSIVE! So we are going to make a homemade version. I'll let you know how it goes.