Making Books Meaningful and Motivational

This entry is part 3 of 21 in the series Dots for Families

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You and your family can make braille books for your child that will be motivational to read.

Homemade Books

Haylee reading a book that has pictures she has colored.

Tactual Pictures

Books can be homemade with tactual pictures. Here’s a page from a children’s book made for a child who enjoys the ocean. The water is blue “puff paint,” there is actual sand on the page, the sand dollar is a piece of cardboard (brown) with “glitter paint” used for the orange star. Below the print on the page is braille.

Tide pool tactile book — *Click to enlarge tactile book about sand dollars.*

Story Boxes

Story boxes can be made for books that your child enjoys. Objects can be gathered to represent things discussed in books. These can be stored in boxes or bags. Even if you don’t have the braille in the book, sharing the objects with your child will make reading more meaningful and motivational.

The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel is a wonderful children’s book. To make it more meaningful for a child who is blind actual objects including a jacket, a sweater, slippers, a hat, a wooden sled, and other objects are gathered to be shared as the book is read.