Do you have any birthday party or play date ideas for children with vision impairment?

Playing and socialising are important for the development of all children. For children with vision impairment, interacting with their peers allows them to develop vital social and communication skills. 

Many games and crafts can be adapted to make them more exciting and fun for children with vision impairment.  

Crafts could include tactile elements such as dough modelling, pasta or big bead jewellery making, spaghetti art and tactile collages. 

Party games could include pin the tail on the donkey (everyone should wear the blindfold, so they have the same experience), tactile bags (guess what’s in the bag by feeling) and pass the parcel (relies on sound and touch, so is a great option). 

If you take the party outside, you could consider treasure hunts (if you place a bleeper with the treasure, it can be located by sound) and outdoor art (you could use sand or mud depending on how much mess you want). 

As children get older, they may want to go to the cinema or bowling.  

Cinemas frequently offer: 

• audio description  

•  viewings with soft lighting and sound 

• concessionary tickets for a carer 

Bowling centres frequently offer:  

• ramps to help aim and roll the ball 

• bumpers to keep the ball in the lane 

• adjustable lighting on lanes 

Further information on these activities and more can be found in our Parties and Playdates resource: 

www.rnib.org.uk/parties  

The Paths to Literacy website is full of creative activity ideas.