Songs, poems, and stories are a fun way to cuddle, snuggle, and play with your child while promoting early literacy and social/emotional connection. “Young children with visual impairment may not make eye contact or be able to observe a face, so social contact must be physical and auditory,” reports Virginia Bishop, Ph.D.in her handbook “Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairment.” Rhythm and rhyme activities are also a way to introduce imitation and independent play.
Duration
Increase connection between the child and the caregiver through body-to-body contact and mutual engagement.
Build body awareness through movement and naming body parts.
Increase use of available vision by visual pursuit, watching actions, pointing to pictures.
Improve hand-eye coordination through engagement in actions.
Expanded Core Curriculum Areas Supported
Social Skills: Bonding and communicating with caregiver during the activity; turn-taking.
Recreation and Leisure: Discover leisure-time preferences like music and what makes it enjoyable.
Sensory Efficiency: Use senses to explore, understand, and interact with the board books and possibly objects to pair with the books, poems, or songs. Focus will be on functional vision, touch, and hearing.
Self-Determination: Choice making, decision making, and problem solving. What are the child’s preferences and how can they communicate what they like and want.
Orientation and Mobility: Body awareness, labeling body parts, body to other body/object awareness.
Everyday Routines Supported
This activity supports the use of literacy activities and bonding in everyday play routines.
Suggested Next Steps to Use This Activity With Caregiver and Child
Discuss activity with caregiver to determine appropriateness and relevancy to family.
Forward the caregiver version of the activity to the caregiver.
Remind the primary caregiver one to two days before the home/virtual visit to gather the materials required.
Introduce the activity, discuss the objectives, and provide an overview of the possible steps.
Be prepared to break down the activities into a smaller subset as the child and family may not have the time or tolerance to complete all activities.
After completing this activity, consider extension activities that may be appropriate and relevant to the family.
