Activities for children aged four years and over

These activities are designed to help the development of your child aged four years and over.

Safety first

Building my strength

What you'll need

Pole or ball 

Tips

Pushing and pulling are fundamental movements for your child. This is an activity the whole family could join in with and take in turns in supporting your child’s development.  

Activity

• Sit or stand facing your child, and push and pull against each other (you could touch your palms together or connect fingers). Alternatively, you could use an object, such as a pole or ball between you and your child.
• Place the pole handle horizontally, between you and your child and both hold on. Then, try pushing, or pulling, together and against each other.
• Remember to include frequent breaks throughout the activity. For safety reasons, start the activity by having someone sit or stand behind your child for support until they become confident with their balance.

My sensory play box

What you'll need

A box of your choice that your child can safely access and that can easily be cleaned.Here is a list of items which you might wish to include in your child’s sensory play box:

Resistance bands, fabric tunnel, blanket, fidget tool, stress ball, scented playdough, spiky ball, squishy gel toy, and harmonica.

Tips

Vary the items you include to meet the needs of your child. This will help to create a very personal range of activities which you can grow and develop as your child’s needs change.

Activity

Children with vision impairment are continuously working hard to learn about their world. Visual and general fatigue can be challenging and regular breaks are essential. Having a set place to go and special toys and activities which provide a visual break, or tactile experience, give an opportunity to relax and recharge. Regular breaks with ‘go-to’ activities and stress reliving toys can provide rest and rejuvenation for your child; helping them to maintain their emotional resilience and well-being.

Create a box for your child to go to when they need a break. The toys included in the sensory play box should give your child the opportunity to use the senses other than vision and should be useful in helping to relieve the stress of their day. Use these toys only for rest breaks.

Remember, having a rest may not be sitting quietly, some children benefit from some heavy work – squeezing dough, pushing against a heavy object or pulling against a resistance band. Others may find that sometimes blowing and sucking helps provide different sensory feedback and so rest. For example, blowing bubbles through a straw or playing the harmonica!

Use your imagination to make this time fun, adjust to your child’s needs and judge when physical or calm activities are best at any one time. A set time each day to enjoy sensory play with no other expectation may be best for your family. Alternatively, reacting to your child’s needs and behaviours may be best. 

Make the time fun with a set beginning and end. Always give a verbal warning that the time is going to finish soon and when it does, put all of the toys away in the box together. 

Concepts linked to my early independence

What you'll need

Everyday items within the home, such as a big cardboard box and items of clothing. 

Tips

Carrying out everyday activities with your child will soon become a familiar routine and are great opportunities to develop an understanding of concepts. These activities can be done at any time with your child throughout the day. They can also be explored in outdoor settings, for example when you and your child are out walking or when playing in the park.

You can use language to help develop an understanding of these concepts and to reinforce the action. Remember to keep your language short and simple when you’re describing things and give your child time to process information.

Make important words stand out. For example, if you’re helping your child to put on their coat, your child may not be ready to hear "OK, let’s put your coat on, it is yellow and blue with a white flower on it, and it has buttons and a zip. We will put your arms in first..."Instead, you could say "Coat on.", "Arms in first.", "Zip up.", "Ready, steady, pull."

Activity

Dressing

When dressing, verbally identify main body parts. For example, "Let’s put your sock on your foot.", or when putting shoes on or off you can say "Shoe on.", or "Let’s take your shoes off."You can gently touch your child’s foot as you ask, as this provides tactile feedback and reinforcement of the body part. When helping your child put on their coat, you can identify the parts of the coat, such as the front, back, sleeves and hood. If your child is confident with these, you could also introduce the concept of left and right – "Let’s put your left arm in the sleeve."

Playtime

This can provide great opportunities to introduce concepts such as in/on/under/in front/behind/between. For example: if you have a large cardboard box, you could play hide and seek games with your child where you take turns to go in the box and under the box. Similarly, when playing with toys, your child can place the toy in/on/under a container or toy box.  

Going for a walk

When out for a walk, talk about the weather (wind, rain, sun-warm). Provide opportunities for your child to touch and explore their environment. Talk about the things you see or hear together – "I can hear an ambulance.", "It goes nee-nah." Remember, you can get information from a wide range of different senses. You could play games where you run with your child behind a tree or stand in front of the tree.

Songs

Use songs and nursery rhymes, especially action songs, such as Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Wheels on the Bus or See the Sleeping Bunnies.