Toys, Toys and More Toys!!

We have a lot of toys in our house! Having two children, a boy and a girl, we have an abundance. There are some in particular that I think are great for vision impaired children. I hope to offer some advice, toys that we enjoy and places to buy great toys and books.

ToysRUs puts out a catalog for differently-abled kids. We have some great ones under the auditory category. The Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set is great and Frankie loves to play with it while I make dinner. Each letter clicks into the main part and then when pressed tells the letter and the sound it makes. Another button on the bottom plays "ABC's". The Shake 'N Go cars are also great and easy to use. Frankie also loves play phones in general.

Frankie's TVI has brought us some great toys from The American Printing House for the Blind. There are 2 under the early childhood products that we have. The textured pegs are wonderful for visually impaired children. The base is blue and the pegs are bright yellow, easier to see the difference. The pegs are also textured to be picked up easier and held correctly. The other one that we have is the sensory cylinder set. There are 6 cylinders of various weights and textures.

I also sell Discovery Toys and have purchased a lot of great toys and books. From their website:
"Children with visual challenges may need special assistance in developing:
Tactile and auditory senses.
• Products which present sound and sensory variations.
BUSY BATH, BUZZY BUDDY, EARLY TWIRLY, ELEPHANT FUN TEETHER, FLUTTER FUN TEETHER, JANGLES, ROLL-A-RAMA, RAINFALL RATTLE, SONIC SIGHT, and TUB TUNES WATER DRUM.
• Toys that have interesting surfaces, textures and smells to explore.
BUZZY BUDDY, CURLY & PALS, ELEPHANT FUN TEETHER, FLUTTER FUN TEETHER, HIDE INSIDE Surprise, JANGLES, ROLL-A-RAMA, SHINY touchy SMELLY, SUPER YUMMY, and TANGIBALL.
• Sand and water toys.
BIG RED SHOVEL, BUSY BATH, and FIRE HOSE HERO Set.
Body movement, balance and coordination.
• Toys that move or handle easily may motivate movement.
6 in 1 PLAY CENTER, GET UP & STOMP!, GO GO CATERPILLAR, IT’S ALL IN THE RHYTHM!, JUMP TO THE BEAT!, LIGHT-UP LADYBUG, RALLY ROCKER, RIDE2ROLL™ SCOOTER, WEEHICLES™, and ZIP TRACK™ RALLY.
Language stimulation.
• CD’s can be excellent for language stimulation starting with slower-paced songs and lyrics based on more familiar concepts.
ABC SOUND BINGO, SOUND BINGO, SOUNDS LIKE FUN CD, and All DO RE ME & YOU® Book & CD selections.
• Books with large pictures and larger print may also be helpful.
1,2,3 OCTOPUS & ME, AHOY, PIRATE PETE, Baby Signs®, BUILD A BOOK, HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES AND TOES, MOO-RIEL and FRIENDS, Once Upon a time, PUT YOUR LEFT PAW IN!, SHINY touchy SMELLY, WIGGLE WAGGLE Loop-de-Loo!, ZANE THE TRAIN.
• Books with rhyming or poetry.
1,2,3 OCTOPUS & ME, COWBOY BABY, MOO-RIEL and FRIENDS, PUT YOUR LEFT PAW IN!, RUPERT THE WRONG-WORD PIRATE, WIGGLE WAGGLE Loop-de-Loo!, ZANE THE TRAIN.
Choose toys and games with:
a) sizable pieces
b) large, clear pictures
c) good contrast of light and dark images
d) non-glare surfaces (note: clear contact paper over game boards reduces glare)
e) concrete methods for teaching developmental concepts
ART FORMS, BUSY BUGS, CASTLE MARBLEWORKS®, COUNTDOWN RACER, CURIOSITY CUBES, DROP ‘N POP™ SHAPE SORTER, GEOVILLE™, GIANT PEGBOARD™, KLACKEROO,
Roll & Play, SUNSHINE MARKET, and WHAT’S GNU?™.
* CASTLE MARBLEWORKS® has balls with a jingle bell inside so a child can track the ball by sight and sound."
These can all be found in the Discovery Toys online catalog! Frankie loves the Water Drum, Shiny, Touch, Smelly, Tangiball, Go, Go, Caterpillar, Weehicles, Moo-Riel and Freinds, Baby Signs, Castle Marbleworks, and Sunshine Market.

Just a few more of my suggestions:
Touch and feel books -
Usborne Books: A few favorites: That's not my dinosaur, That's not my pirate
High contrast books -
White On Black by Tana Hoban
and Black On White by Tana Hoban