As an itinerant TVI who also did assessments on new students, Wikki Stix has been a staple in my “bag of tricks” for many years. They create instant raised lines to make adaptations for students with visual impairments. I appreciate the simplicity of them and the fact that there is never a mess to clean up after using them. They help pictures come to life, are great to use on maps, game boards, coloring pages, and can be made into 3D art projects.
![Flower and butterfly made with wikki stix for raised line drawing.](https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Wikki-ideas-1024x433.png)
As Reported by Research
Wikki Stix are non-toxic and bring a fun and colorful approach to challenging issues. Because Wikki Stix are easy to peel up and reposition, they are virtually “mistake-free” with the soft wax, bendable coating.
Using Wikki Stix as a tactile sensory toy will help create new opportunities for fun learning and the development of fine motor skills. Many children are tactile learners and need this hands-on involvement to become engaged in the learning process.
Wikki Stix are ideal for tactile learning. For example they can be used to demonstrate math concepts (more/less), and prepositional awareness (over/under). They are ideal for making borders, showing where to start and stop on the paper, and as a border to color within the lines. As a tactile toy, they provide hands-on creativity with no right or wrong connotation.
Soft and pliable, Wikki Stix tactile sensory toys can be used by small fingers for all kinds of fine motor skills and tactile activities, from learning to form letters and numbers to simple grip and finger strengthening exercises.
Resources
For families and staff that work with students in need of tactile learning, Wikki Stix has developed some learning ideas and adaptations worth checking out.
Wikki Stix
![The Wonderful World of Wikki Stix title and a picture of the wikki stix.](https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/WikkiStixPin-232x300.png)