Thursday, October 13, 2011

Felt Books


Today: a little bit of show and tell!! One of my three "day jobs" (yes, I have three jobs and yes, I know I'm crazy) is working with sensory impaired babies and toddlers. I am currently going through additional training to work with blind tots, and one of my homework assignments is to create a felt book, to introduce them to pre-Braille "reading" techniques. Felt books allow little ones to explore new textures, get used to the left-to-right orientation of books, and - when possible - use their residual vision by discerning between brightly contrasting colors and shapes. Above is my felt book, with the top page partially turned so you can see the second yellow page; the third page is blue.

I had a good deal of fun putting this together, and was surprised at how easy it was to make (once I actually dragged out the sewing basket and started cutting out little felt shapes, and reviewed my color wheel). I guess the love for authoring interesting books runs into all areas of life - literally. At least for me. :)

Do you have any visually impaired children in your life? Do they read print or use braille? I would love to know if you have any experience or insights.

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