Ideas from the Field: Materials

Materials do not need to be expensive or fancy, and not everything needs to be ordered from a specialty catalog.  There are many great options available at local stores, such as hardware stores or garden centers.  We invite you to share examples of Active Learning materials that you have created for the students you work with!

We welcome your ideas!  Please email us if you have something you’d like to share.

Brochure to Share

Elizabeth Wallace, M.Ed², TSVI*, TDB*, Jill Smith, M.Ed, TSVI, COMS*, and Gwenn Burud, DHH* Parent Advisor, who work in the Region 11 ESC area, created this great brochure about materials for family members and professionals. Download the Around the House brochure.
 

Brochure of Page 2 of Around the House brochure

Crushed Water Bottle

Vision teacher Iris Maxwell from Thunder Bay, Ontario shares this simple, but fun idea of a crushed water bottle with small beads inside Elastic Board Tray.

A young girl plays with a crushed water bottle with beads.
A young girl plays with a crushed water bottle with beads.   

Materials Menu

Materials

Attractive Objects

Example of Selecting Materials for a Position Board

Ideas from the Field

Kinetic Sand

Loop Turner, Tubing and Elastic

Match Materials to Goals

Points to Consider When Choosing Materials

Sources for Materials

Elastic Board with Lip

A young girl plays with an elastic board with a lip.
A young girl plays with an elastic board with a lip.

Vision teacher Iris Maxwell made this simple elastic board with the directions found on this site. Using a wooden tray with raised edges, she drilled holes along the sides and strung elastic cords across the tray.  Items such as beads, hair curlers, and buttons were placed on the elastic cords and secured for the child to explore.

This vertical elastic board shows another design.  Straws, beads, bells, and other small objects can be strung on the elastic for students to explore.

A vertical elastic board.
A vertical elastic board.

A student uses a horizontal elastic board on her wheelchair tray.

A child uses a horizontal elastic board.
A child uses a horizontal elastic board.

Position Board with Black Background

Iris Maxwell created this position board to attach to the student’s wheelchair tray using C-clamps.  She didn’t have polypropylene pegboard available, so she used regular pressboard and spray painted it black.

Young girl playing with items on a black tray attached to her wheelchair with clamps.
Young girl playing with items on a black tray attached to her wheelchair with clamps.

A variety of materials are attached to the board, including a sponge, strings of beads, and mylar crinkle paper.

Sand and Water Tray

A plastic bin is zip-tied to a pegboard.
A plastic bin is zip-tied to a pegboard.

This tray is a plastic container is zip-tied to a pegboard and can be used for sand, leaves, snow.  The possibilities are endless!  Vision teacher Iris Maxwell, who made it, notes that they don’t trust it with liquids, but there are lots of other option.

In these photos a student in a wheelchair plays with small toys in a sand tray.  The other children love to come up and play with this student when she has these or other toys on her tray.

Two images of a child playing with objects in sand using the sand tray on pegboard.
Two images of a child playing with objects in sand using the sand tray on pegboard.

Another teacher of student who are visually impaired, Liz Eagan, utilized a sand tray with shells and fossils in it for a science unit on fossils.

A young girl holds a magnifying glass and uses her hands to dig for fossils in a sand bin. There is also a paint brush available for her to use as well.
A young girl holds a magnifying glass and uses her hands to dig for fossils in a sand bin. There is also a paint brush available for her to use as well.

Position Board for a Table

Liz Eagan made a free-standing position board for a table that can be used by a child in a wheelchair without a tabletop. She used cable ties to create a triangle of three pieces of pegboard. This allows for different materials to be placed on each side of the position board.

Girl plays at a free-standing position board on a table.
Girl plays at a free-standing position board on a table.

CVI Tray Liner

This tray liner was made by Iris Maxwell from flooring tiles for a student who has a clear wheelchair tray that is clear. It was easy to cut with tin snips, and has a slightly rough texture which the child loves to scratch with her fingers.

Black tray liner for use with a student who has CVI.
Black tray liner for use with a student who has CVI.

This bead curtain was made by vision teacher Iris Maxwell using necklaces from the dollar store.  She used dental floss wrapped around the dowel to keep them in place. The rubber bands allow for some “bounce” if the beads are pulled and allow them to use the toy bar for other toys.

Bead curtain.
Bead curtain.

Texture Path

TVI, Liz Eagan, added texture to these rubber mat puzzle floormats to encourage a child to move and explore while on the floor.

Textured floor mat puzzle encourages movement on the floor.
Textured floor mat puzzle encourages movement on the floor.

See also Ideas from the Field: Activities.