I have two boys. Liam is 8 years old (third grade) and is deafblind. Finn is 5 years old (kindergarten) and has typical vision and hearing. They both attend the same school and both got to make Valentines boxes for their class party as homework. They had a great time creating their boxes and were very proud of their creations! I wanted Liam to have a box that was as fun tactilely as his brother’s was visually. It turned out that the two of them both had boxes that were fun to look at and touch! I always love it when we have projects that they can enjoy and do together.
Materials
- Box with a hole cut on the top for their classmates to put the Valentines in. We used a small cardboard mailing box and a shoe box — whatever we had around the house.
- Tactile stickers: They can be found at the dollar store, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc.
- Emoji’s: Finn wanted me to print off Emojis from my computer to add to his box. I also made Emojis that Liam could feel-using stickers for the eyes and black foam pieces for the mouths for his box. Liam and I also had a short discussion about what Emojis were. I think it’s important to describe things that Liam’s peers might like that he wouldn’t necessarily know or have experience with otherwise. I made the Emojis myself but if we had more time I think he would have been happy to help me make them.
- Glue: We used Elmer’s liquid glue and a glue stick.
- Braille label paper
- Construction paper hearts
- Container/bowl
Procedure
- Give your child their box. Place all of the stickers, hearts, Emoji’s, etc. in a large bowl/container. Allow your child to explore the materials.
- Have fun! Allow them to design and create their box the way they want. Help with placing items when needed or asked.
- Braille! Have your child put their name on their box (using the braille label paper) and whatever other phrases or words that they want to make their box their own!
Happy Valentines Day!
