Adapting Toys for Children with Physical, Sensory, Cognitive Disabilities

The student that I have in mind is a 11 year-old girl with cognitive delays. She has difficulty with fine motor skills, especially writing, but even with some every day tasks.

I was looking for crafty toys that would help her practise her fine motor skills. She is attracted to girly-themed toys, but most kits aimed at her age group contain too many parts for her to keep track of, and the parts are too small for her to handle effectively.

Craft kits that would be easy enough for her to use physically are too young thematically. Although she will sometimes play with Dora or Hello Kitty items, I would prefer to discourage that for social reasons.

From my own perspective, the themes she's attracted to reinforce female role models by emphasizing make-up, fashion and skinniness. (She likes Monster High--the girls are cheerleaders called "fear-leaders." I'll say no more.) So I was also looking for alternate female role models.

Description general:

I love Playmobil! High quality toys that encourage creative play. Suitable for wider range of ages than Fischer-Price.

I chose a City Life kit, which features a woman veterinarian. While it does say ages 4-10 on the box, there is no age-range written on the kit itself, so the box could be tossed and the kits could be used for older students with a similar profile. The pieces are sturdy, washable, attractive. The smallest pieces are around 2 centimeters long, which makes them longer than many items in the "girly" craft kits. I chose this kit because my student is also fascinated by animals.

Disability Category:

Physical              - some fine motor difficulties
Sensory               - none
Communicative  - limited vocabulary, speech not always clear, social difficulties with peers, prefers younger children

Cognitive            - below average, tendency to perseverate

Store:                   Toys R Us Express, Halifax Shopping Centre

Toy Company:     Playmobil

Price:                    $10.99

Box Age Range:  4-10

# Pieces:              37

Washability:        Yes

Storability:          Comes with carrying case

Directions:          Comes with graphic-only directions. Some assembly required, but rather intuitive

Play Locations:   Home, school

Adjustability:      n/a

Levels of Play:    Creative

Batteries:             No

APPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Description	Figures and accessories. Female veterinarian, three animals (dog, cat, hamster), examining table, set of drawers, medicine bottles, instruments, and lots of bandages.
Physical Skills	Moving pieces around and manipulating them. For example, the dog's and cat's heads can move.
Play Ideas	Creative play. Could also be used to reinforce oral language, for asking the student to describe scenarios she creates with the kit. She could then write about them.
Adaptation Ideas	Student has mentioned the deaths of pets in the past. Using the kits might help her work through some of these incidents.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

yes	Durable
yes	High Contrasting Colours
somewhat	Tactilely Stimulating  - Only one kind of material, but various textures
yes	Visually Stimulating - attractive, clear features
yes	Wide age range - simple to use, but not as childish-looking as similar items
yes	Open-ended - stimulates creative play
yes	High quality, but not too expensive
yes	Detailed - enough detail, but not too much, for student in question
yes	Hands on approach to learning
no	One-piece unit - 37 pieces, but there is a case

DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES PROMOTED

yes	Fine motor - pieces can be moved or taken apart. The vet's hair can be removed and traded with other Playmobil figures. If you're into that.
yes	Problem solving - if used to answer questions
yes	Finger and hand control and dexterity - some pieces are smaller, and require dexterity, for example, putting the bandages on the animals
yes	Self esteem - promotes positive play
yes	Sequential thought - if used to tell stories
yes	Turn taking - if used with other children
yes	Spatial relationships – over, under, on, off Student could place objects in relationship to each other, for example, on the examining table, in the drawer,  in the vet's hand
yes	Life Skills Taking care of animals, putting on bandages, using stethoscope
yes	Social Interaction Could be used with other children, peer or younger. This student enjoys playing with younger children.

Playmobil can be used for stop-motion animation!
Featuring another Playmobil vet kit.