How do you make holiday traditions accessible to a child who is visually impaired? In this learning experience we go on an Easter egg hunt. Instead of hiding eggs and expecting the child to find them, we’ve adapted the song “Going on a Bear Hunt” to “Going on an Egg Hunt” and added our own motions and lyrics. It doesn’t matter if your child is ambulatory or non-ambulatory, verbal or non-verbal. Your child will learn to understand that items and people still exist even when you can't see or hear them, anticipate what happens next during the activity, be introduced to orientation and mobility concepts, and even practice a calming breathing technique when the “egg hunt” becomes too exciting! You can also adapt this activity by going on a hunt for one of your child’s favorite things, such as a “ball hunt” or a “teddy bear hunt.” The whole family can join in on the fun, and this creates shared joy.
Objectives
The child and family will be able to enjoy and participate in an adapted Easter tradition, creating shared joy for the entire family.
This is a fun way to practice object permanence.
Since the song is repetitive, the child can anticipate what happens next during the activity.
Words such as “left,” “right,” “through,” and “tiptoe” are important orientation and mobility concepts.
The child can practice reversing a route.
The child can experience co-regulation during a fun time with the parent so that they know what a calming breath looks like and feels like. When your child practices it during play time with their parent, they are more ready to use it during a stressful time. Then they will learn to use this calming technique on their own.
The child can practice turn taking because this song has a lead part and a repeating part.
Expanded Core Curriculum Areas Supported
Recreation and Leisure: The child and family are learning a leisure activity they can use during the Easter holiday.
Social Skills: Bonding and communicating with caregiver and others during the activity.
Orientation and Mobility: Directional concepts such as “left” and “right” and actions such as “tiptoeing” are important for teaching orientation and mobility.
Sensory Efficiency: Use senses to explore. Feel the movement. Touch, smell, and look at the objects. Listen to the song and participate.
Self-Determination: What parts of the song does the child like best? Can the child make choices through movement, vocalization, or pointing to or touching the objects to tell you the parts of the song they want to do? The adult can look for their child’s cues.
Independent Living Skills: The child can eat the treats inside the plastic egg or eat the hard- boiled egg at the end of the activity.
Compensatory Skills: We are using basic strategies such as hand-under-hand or body-under-body so the child can touch the objects in the song. We are also using real objects.
Suggested Next Steps to Use This Activity With Caregiver and Child
Discuss activity with caregiver to determine appropriateness and relevancy to family.
Forward the caregiver version of the activity to the caregiver.
Remind the primary caregiver one to two days before the home/virtual visit to gather the materials required.
Introduce the activity, discuss the objectives, and provide an overview of the possible steps.
Be prepared to break down the activities into a smaller subset as the child and family may not have the time or tolerance to complete all activities.
After completing this activity, consider extension activities that may be appropriate and relevant to the family.