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Activity and strategy

Christmas Ideas for Children with Visual Impairments

These creative holiday activities for Christmas or Hanukkah for children who are blind or visually impaired encourage the development of basic skills and social interaction, while having fun!

By Gwyn McCormack

Watch these three videos full of holiday ideas for children who are blind or visually impaired to support your child’s learning and development at home in a fun way!   

Christmas Basket of Magic

  • Fill a picnic basket with Christmas magic (any box, bag or other container will work well).
  • Invite the child to decorate the basket, box or bag.
  • A variety of items in the basket can be used for tactile discrimination, role play, multi-sensory experience, positional concepts, comparison, matching, sorting, counting, initial letter identification and more!
  • Items in the basket may include:
    • Father Christmas (Santa Claus) hat with beard
    • Gift bags with textures
    • Christmas stocking with bell
    • Rudolph’s carrot
    • Matching braille words to objects
    • Cookie cutters
    • Pom poms
    • Beads
    • Father Christmas’ boots (the twoness of two!)
    • Foods and smells of Christmas
    • Tinsel
    • Bells

Christmas Spinner

christmas activity on spinner
Christmas activity on a Lazy Susan spinner

The activities in this second video use a Lazy Sue (or Lazy Susan) from IKEA that has been covered with silver paper.  Make your own game for the entire family to enjoy playing together!  Spin the spinner and match the object.

Christmas Hanger

christmas tactile mobile
Tactile Christmas mobile

The third video uses a scarf hanger from IKEA as the base for holiday activities.  Add sensory materials to make this festive for Christmas!

positive eye christmas ideas collage


 

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