Easter Activities for Learners with CVI
Learners with vision impairments can sometimes feel left out when it comes to traditions, such as Easter Egg Hunts. There are auditory eggs hunts that learners with visual impairments can participate in, but what about those learners with CVI (cortical visual impairment), who need accommodations to participate visually? Many children with CVI are attracted to lights, so why not make some lighted eggs? These Easter activities are designed to provide inclusion for those learners who demonstrate the characteristics of CVI.
Many learners diagnosed with CVI are visually drawn to lighted targets. Easter Eggs can be easily modified to be lighted targets, which expands the variety of activities that learners with CVI can participate in. Use of preferred colors and reduced complexity also support visual functioning in children with CVI.
Glow in the Dark Egg Hunt
Having a Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt can be as simple as having an egg hunt in a dark room, basement, or an empty garage. It gives the teacher, parent, or caregiver a way to control the light. Learners can participate by using their vision to locate the eggs. Modifications can be made for children with complex needs, for visually locating, picking up, and placing eggs in a basket, including having peer helpers or using lighted targets in baskets. Small snacks or prizes can be added to each egg.
Lighted Easter Eggs
Materials:
- Plastic Easter eggs
- Small tea lights
- Glow sticks or glow bracelets
Preparation:
Place preferred lighting into the plastic eggs for children to search for. Glow bracelets will have to be bent to fit into the eggs.
Easter Egg Light Up Shakers
Add some beads for learners with CVI who need the added sensory stimulus of movement and sound.
Materials:
- Clear plastic Easter eggs
- Glow lights
- Clear colored pony beads
Preparation:
Bend glow bracelets to fit inside the clear plastic eggs. Add a few pony beads.
Lighted Easter Egg Tube Game
I found this "Tubes and Easter Eggs" idea on Pinterest and modified it for learners with CVI. Lights were added to the tubes to provide visual targets for learners to place the bright colored eggs in.
Materials:
- Plastic eggs (yellow)
- Various Tubes (paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls
- Black masking tape (Duct tape Brand)
- Red or yellow small duct tape for highlighting if needed
- Plastic basket container with yellow/red highlighting tape
- Small flashlights (must fit into the tubs)
- Tea lights
Preparation:
Wrap cardboard tubes with black masking tape until the cardboard is covered. Add yellow or red highlighting tape around the top of the tubes. Yellow tape can be wrapped around the edge of the plastic basket container to hold the eggs. Place flashlights in tall tubes and tea lights in smaller tubes. Colored eggs can be placed on top of the lighted target tubes.
Pegboard Lighted Easter Eggs
Learners with complex needs and CVI may need the added support of eggs being connected to a black pegboard. Learners can interact with the lighted Easter Eggs by touch or sight.
Materials:
- Plastic Easter eggs (preferred colors)
- Tea lights
- Elastic cord (cut into 8 inch lengths)
- Black pegboards
- 3/4 inch Washers (to attach elastic to the back of the pegboard)
Preparation:
- Attach elastic through the small holes at the top of each Easter egg and tie a small knot on the end to keep it secure.
- Then string the elastic through holes in the top of the peg board.
- Attach each elastic cord to a washer to secure the eggs to the pegboard.
- Open the eggs and place tea lights in the colored plastic eggs.
Modified Easter Baskets
Basket substitutes and modifications, such as a lighted shiny bowl, a lighted colander, or an Easter basket with color highlighting and lighting can be helpful to learners with CVI learners. This variety of lights can help learners to easily locate their baskets and place their Easter eggs inside.
Materials:
- Baskets or containers (silver bowl, plastic colander, plastic Easter basket)
- Duct tape (preferred color)
- Touch LED light, tea candle, or a flashlight
Preparations:
Identify the preferred basket for the learner. Highlighted it with preferred colored duct tape. Place a light source inside the basket.
Easter Themed Basket
Learners with complex needs and CVI might enjoy a lighted Easter theme basket. The learner can explore and/or identify the salient features of each object placed in the basket.
Materials:
- Black dish pan
- Easter objects (bunny rabbit, yellow chick, pin wheel, glitter Easter egg, slinky) in preferred color, texture, or salient feature
- Touch LED light
Preparations:
Highlight the edge of the black dishpan with duct tape of the learner's preferred colored. Add items that the learner is interested in, which have identifiable features, such as shiny, movement (hopping or spinning), soft, hard, rough, springy, etc. Place a stick on touch LED light to the side of the dishpan.
Caution: Do not use flashing lights, if a learner has a history of seizures.
