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Activity and strategy

Art Project for Students with Multiple Disabilities: Create a Holiday Present

Ideas for creating a calendar or holiday greeting cards with students with multiple disabilities and visual impairments

This calendar was created with students with significant multiple disabilities and visual impairments as a holiday present for the families of the students. It includes some creative ideas that can be used throughout the year. Cards or projects can be created for a single holiday (such as Valentine’s Day) or a series can be made into a calendar for the whole year.  I found many of these ideas on Pinterest.

Materials

  • paint
  • Q-tips
  • balloons
  • photos (for photo art pinwheels)
  • dish brush
  • apples
  • paper
  • binding

Procedure

Students should be encouraged to participate as actively as possible in each step of this process. I have worked with students who write out the numbers of the dates, as practice for sequencing numerals. Students can also write out the month or match the written month to the corresponding page of the calendar. Braille can also be added.  These ideas can also be used to design cards for various occasions throughout the year, such as Valentine’s Day and other holidays.

Each month has an illustration at the top and a print-out of the calendar month below, as shown in the examples for January and February.

January

january q-tip drawing of snowman
January: Q-Tip drawing of a snowman
january painting and calendar
January with illustration and calendar printout

February

february calendar with food and hand prints in pink
February calendar page with hand and foot prints
february calendar
February calendar page with illustration

March

March calendar page
March calendar page with child’s photo and leprechaun hat

April

april calendar image with handprints and bunnies
April illustration with handprints and bunnies

May

may calendar picture with hands and fingerprints made into flower
May calendar picture with hands and fingerprints made into flower

June

Painting of caterpillar made with balloon prints
June calendar picture of caterpillar made with balloon prints

July

painting of red, white, and blue fireworks made with a dish brush
July calendar painting of red, white, and blue fireworks made with a dish brush

August

fingerpainted spirals
August calendar painting with 5 fingerpainted spirals

September

september calendar picture with apple stamps
September calendar picture with apple stamps

October

October calendar picture made with knuckle prints
October calendar picture of pumpkin vines made with knuckle prints

November

November calendar image made into a turkey with a dish brush
November calendar image of a turkey made with a dish brush

December

december calendar picture of mistletoe made with footprints
December calendar picture of mistletoe made with footprints
Collage of creating a calendar with students with visual impairments and additional disabilities
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