[Nfb-krafters-korner] Hello everybody!

Fri May 20 18:31:06 UTC 2011

Hi there Dick!
What about drawing your pictures on a screen of some sort? This would allow him to feel the lines and color in them. You could also usea  tracing wheel on a surface withsome give  to trace the picture. Also, though a little pricy, there's a device called the Draftsman from APH (http://www.aph.org) that produces raised lines on plastic film using a stylus. I believe there's also a site that actually has tactile coloring books. I could be wrong, butI  think it's somethinglike  http://www.brailleshop.com. 

Terrence

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On May 18, 2011, at 11:42 PM, "Dick Carlson" <dick.carlson0428 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Well, how about a bit of a longer report now that I have some time.
> 
> First of all, as I said, Willy just turned seven years old, and it's been a
> busy three months for him.  I've been able to spend some time with him as
> he's stayed some with me while on vacation or when school's been out.  His
> mom also travels for work, so this has worked out well.
> 
> First things first.  Willy has begun to not be so leery about exploring or
> trying new things.  This winter, we've had more snow, and I taught him what
> snow was and he actually played in the snow.  I taught him about making a
> snowball.  I actually had a bit more fun than was necessary, as I kind of
> guided Willy's hand to throw the ball right as his mom was coming our way,
> and like a true champ, he hit her.  She was not happy, because I did the
> same thing.
> 
> He was interested in how wet the snow was, but he didn't seem to mind.  One
> thing we're working on these days again is not worrying so much about
> getting his hands dirty and into things.  If you recall, last summer, when I
> first came on, Willy would not get his hands dirty or into many things.
> We're working on that now.
> 
> Someone also talked about doing crafts with nature.  Well, it's not a craft,
> but I do have different plants and flowers in the garden, so I had him
> outside with me and we smelled and touched plants and flowers.  He liked
> some of those smells and now that spring is here, it's great!  In fact, I
> taught Willy how to plant some seeds, and he's begun seeing them grow.  I
> chose beans because they grow fast and can be planted anywhere.
> 
> Willy had an interesting experience at school which I think sparked his
> interest in trying things.  He found that some of what the kids did were
> somewhat visual.  For instance, they were coloring some pictures, which he
> couldn't do.  Also, the teacher had them drawing pictures as well.  Again,
> he couldn't really do that.  It wasn't the same to tell the teacher what
> kind of picture he wanted to draw.  It also wasn't the same to just give him
> a piece of blank paper and a crayon and just tell him to scribble or color.
> 
> Willy came to me and asked two things.  He knows that I like to draw and he
> wanted to know if there was any way that he could color one of my pictures.
> It was so darn cute.  So, I've got to find a way to see how he could do
> that.  I want him to be able to feel the picture and maybe just color inside
> the lines.  I don't know.
> 
> Finally, he has taken the initiative to ask if we could do a project he did
> before but in his words "better!"  He wants to make another collage, and I'm
> all for that.  However, I know that I want things to go differently than
> before.  For instance, I want to use some kind of thick cardboard to put the
> stuff on so that it's easier to handle.  Also, I told Willy that if we were
> going to do another "picture" as he calls it, then he was going to have to
> do a lot more of the work, and that's where I'm going to want your help and
> encouragement.  If you remember, when Willy did his first collage, Uncle
> Dick did all of the major work, and a lot of what Willy did was to hand me
> the material and tell me where he wanted them put.  Once we found out that
> using a glue stick didn't work for Willy, I ended up doing most of the
> gluing until the very end when I finally asked you for some ideas.  This
> time, I want Willy to take charge and do most of the work.  In fact, I think
> it would be fun for both of us to do the work together but I might decide to
> do it also under blindfold so that we're both not using our eyes.  I also
> want Willy to feel and know that he's doing a lot of the work.  And, I don't
> think it will be a good idea to use glue sticks.  It's been at least since
> November since we completed his other one, and he was proud of it, but now
> even he said that he would do more.
> What do you think of trying it this new way?  We will definitely use nature
> things along with other things like before but he will also have a lot more
> input.  It will also give him a chance to use his hands a lot more to feel
> around and really look at what he's doing and how it's coming.  He and I
> will also just have to learn to paste things on and use and spread glue.
> I'm so used to doing it visually but I'm willing to try other ways.  Also,
> maybe if I lead by example, he'll just think it's normal to do things this
> way.  
> 
> Anyway ladies, remember that us guys can also have fun doing these projects!
> Good or kids doing this stuff!
> 
> Dick
> 
> We actually want to get going on this during the weekend.  
> 
> 
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