Perkins School for the Blind
Tactile Journals
I absolutely love this idea. Children with visual impairments create tactile journals which describe an event from the previous week in an artistic way. They verbally describe one event from the previous week and then use a wide array of...
Perkins School for the Blind
Learning to Identify Sounds Made by the Body
Sneeze, snap, tap, and whistle; Did I do that? Explore the parts and sounds of the human body with your learners with visual impairments. First you'll name the parts of the body, make a sound with each part, and then have the class...
Perkins School for the Blind
Teach Personal Possession and Pronouns with Simple Objects
The concept of what is mine and what is yours seems simple, but for children with visual impairments, it is a concept that must be taught. Each child in the class puts one of their shoes in a single box, they take turns choosing a shoe,...
Perkins School for the Blind
Learning to Express Myself
Expressing one's wants and needs is vital for learners of any age or ability level. Young children with visual impairments and intellectual disabilities practice asking for preferred items, foods, or activities in a structured manner....
Perkins School for the Blind
Taking Turns
For small children or learners with disabilities, learning to wait patiently and taking turns is very important. In pairs, two children with visual impairments take turns asking for, waiting for, and playing with a musical...
Perkins School for the Blind
The Country Egg
Because most children with visual impairments don't reach and grab things at a young age the way sighted children do, they need additional supports to build up their fine motor skills. Here, they work on the pincer grasp, using their...
Perkins School for the Blind
Encouraging Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired to Express Their Feelings and Explore Imagination
Being expressive in a creative, empathetic, or imaginative way is not only fun, it builds good pre-writing and communication skills. Learners with visual impairments have a roundtable discussion session where several sentence frames...
Perkins School for the Blind
Learning Names of Articles of Clothing
What to wear today; such a vexing question. Spend some time introducing the names, fabrics, types, colors, and functions of various articles of clothing to your class. Each child will take turns asking each other what they are wearing....
Perkins School for the Blind
Prepositions
When most children learn about prepositions, they are provided with a visual to show them the concepts of on, in, near, and beside. For learners with visual impairments, concepts need to be constructed in a very concrete way. A stuffed...
Perkins School for the Blind
Counting Book
Here is a wonderful way to teach children with visual impairments how to count and build number recognition skills. Included, you will find a set of instructions on how to create a counting book from card stock, jump rings, and cotton...
Perkins School for the Blind
Telephone Skills
What kid doesn't love talking on the phone? Learners with visual and intellectual disabilities get comfortable using several types of telephones. They begin by examining the phone, dialing, answering the phone, and then they work into...
Perkins School for the Blind
What Do I Hear?
Being able to give positive reinforcers to a child starts with knowing what the child likes. Intended for children with blindness, this lesson gives you a way to determine the types of music your learners like best. You are given a...
Perkins School for the Blind
Safety Skills
Learning how to stay safe in a dangerous situation is of utmost importance, especially when you have a visual impairment or special need. The teacher makes up a set of dangerous scenario cards based on the provided set of guiding...
Perkins School for the Blind
Left Versus Right
When you can't see, it is extremely important to be able to reorient yourself. Learners with visual impairments work though an activity to build spacial awareness based on moving left and right. A marker (bracelet, bell, or weight) is...
Perkins School for the Blind
Memory
When you are blind, your hands become your eyes, so learning how to discriminate between various objects through touch is a very important skill. Make a memory game by gluing common items onto cardstock. The kids feel, identify, and...
Perkins School for the Blind
Familiar Sounds
To foster concept development and auditory discrimination skills, learners with visual impairments listen to identify a variety of common sounds. The teacher makes recordings of various sounds, including those found in the home, at the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Assessing Sequencing Numbers
Assess whether your kindergartners can identify numbers in random order using two sets of numeral cards 1-10 and 11-20. Starting with a small group and the 1-10 deck give your learners the task of putting the cards into order from...
Illustrative Mathematics
Color Week
Practice counting by ones up to 20 with your kindergartners using this colorful class experiment. There are two versions for the lesson. Version 1: The Friday beforehand, send home a notice for the week assigning a different color for...
Mr Gym
Toilet Tag
Don't let the name of this game throw you off because kids will love this tag game! Start off with a couple of players being "it". When they tag a player, the player must kneel on one knee with the other one up, and one arm straight out...
Mr Gym
Aerial Soccer
Take a look at this game! It sounds like so much fun. Players throw soft balls at a large ball that is suspended on a rope between two basketball hoops. The goal is to throw the smaller soft balls at and hit the larger ball to propel it...
Mr Gym
Parachute Skills
Flutter, dome, mushroom, tent, jell-o, popcorn, volcano, floating cloud, and mashed potatoes. What do these terms have in common? They are all things to do in a parachute activity. Check out this activity, the pictures included with the...
Bright Hub Education
All about Owls
Art projects are great ways to stimulate all the senses. Learners with visual impairments create art to better grasp the concept of day and night. They'll discuss the ways they know the difference in the time of day, the animals that are...
Illustrative Mathematics
Assessing Reading Numbers
Youngsters develop their number sense by rote counting from one to ten. Over time, they identify the numbers on their own and no longer rely on fixed recitation. Using numerical flashcards, a teacher will randomly choose numbers from the...
Denver Art Museum
My Animal Symbol
Here is an art instructional activity that combines visual arts and language arts into one very nice package. In it, youngsters study a fascinating painting called Painting of Bear and Sun Dances. They begin to understand the...