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Activity and strategy

Tactile Art Station

Tips to make art projects accessible using tactile symbols at home or at school.

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Finding activities all my children can do together can sometimes be tricky.  One activity that seems to be a hit (right now) is crafting together.

I needed a way to store all our bits and pieces so that my blind daughters Anelia and Mabel could find the items they wanted. I wanted it to be fun for my daughter Olive who is sighted and loves to join us for crafting!
 
After watching some amazing videos by a family in the UK (who have fabulous ideas!) I decided to recreate their tactile art station for my girls.
 
two young girls playing with arts and crafts materials, one of the girls is sitting on the table
 
I like that this make crafting accessible to Anelia and Mabel, that it is fun for Olive, and that it keeps the craft materials organized and off my floor!  The first try was a big hit!
 
  • This is the drawer unit I used but there are many different choices available.

a young girl is touching a plastic set of drawers on top of the table. the drawers are full of arts and crafts supplies.

  • Various tactile stickers, foam stickers, acrylic jewels and pom poms found at my local craft store.

a young girl playing with different shaped foam stickers

  • I decided which items would go in which drawers and I just stuck a preview item (or tactile symbol) on the front of the drawer. You could also add braille or just a braille letter to make it even easier to identify. 

Close-up of tactile art station

  • I introduced it to Anelia and I invited her to open each drawer and feel the contents. I then pointed out that each drawer was labeled with the item that was inside. She liked the foam stickers the best!

a young girl feels the labels on a set of plastic table top drawers containing arts and crafts supplies

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