Fall Family Fun to Plan with Your Visually Impaired Child

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As fall arrives, it brings many wonderful experiences for children who are blind or have low vision. The season offers perfect opportunities to explore the world through touch, taste, and smell. Whether it’s enjoying the sweetness of a freshly picked apple, walking through the woods and feeling the crunch of leaves underfoot, or exploring the rough and bumpy surfaces of pumpkins at a patch, these activities make autumn special. They also allow your child to connect with nature in meaningful and memorable ways.

Apple Picking

Your child has likely enjoyed the sweet crunch of a fresh apple or savored the comforting warmth of cinnamon-spiced applesauce. But have they ever experienced the journey from tree to table? Do they know how apples grow, how they are harvested, or what it feels like to explore an apple tree? Fall is the perfect season to introduce your child who is blind or has low vision to the wonders of an apple orchard, engaging all their senses during this experience.

Preparing for the Orchard Adventure

Before you head out on your orchard adventure, here are some tips to ensure a fulfilling and accessible experience for your child:

Choosing the Right Orchard: Look for orchards that are welcoming to all families, with staff familiar with accommodating children with disabilities. It’s a bonus if the orchard offers additional activities like hayrides or tractor rides, which can be thrilling sensory experiences.

Accessibility Considerations: Make sure the orchard has accessible paths and facilities. Call ahead to inquire about the terrain—some orchards have uneven ground, which may require extra planning or equipment, such as a sturdy pair of shoes and a cane or other mobility aid.

Preparing Your Child: Before visiting, talk to your child about what to expect. You could introduce the concept of an orchard using tactile books or models or by exploring the outdoors.

Exploring the Orchard: A Sensory Expedition

Children who are blind or visually impaired may need additional explanations and time to process and explore during their time at an orchard. If possible, allow extra time to connect with staff members to explain and show the behind-the-scenes process. With the time you prepared for this adventure, your child will undoubtedly deepen their understanding of fall by exploring, engaging, and enjoying their time at the orchard.

As you explore the orchard, encourage your child to:

Touch and Feel: Let them run their fingers over the rough, scaly bark of the trees, hug the trunks, feel the shape and texture of the leaves, and pick apples straight from the branches. These tactile experiences help them build a mental picture of the orchard and its trees.

Smell the Scents of Fall: Encourage your child to sniff the earthy scent of the soil, the aroma of the apples, and the various other scents that fill the orchard air. Discuss how the smell of an apple on the tree compares to one in the kitchen.

Listen and Engage: Listen for the rustling of leaves, the sound of apples dropping into baskets, or the hum of bees visiting the blossoms. These sounds are all part of the orchard’s unique environment.

Taste the Freshness: Let your child taste an apple fresh off the tree—it’s a different experience than eating one from the store. The freshness enhances the crispness, juiciness, and flavor, and it’s a great way to connect taste with other sensory experiences.

While exploring, engage your child in conversation:

What do you notice?

What do you wonder about?

Does this remind you of something else?

These questions encourage your child to think critically, develop curiosity, and make connections—essential skills for understanding and learning about the world.

Bringing the Experience Home

Once you’ve left the orchard, the learning doesn’t have to stop. Continue the exploration at home:

Ask Reflective Questions: Encourage your child to reflect on their experience. Ask what the tree bark felt like, how the leaves compared to others they have touched, or if the soil had a familiar scent. These reflections can help solidify their learning and make connections to past experiences.

Creative Exploration: If your child enjoys drawing or creating, you could have them illustrate or sculpt their idea of an apple tree using what they learned at the orchard. Or, if they prefer, you could bake a pie together using the apples you picked, turning the experience into a fun, hands-on lesson in following directions and measuring ingredients.

Story Connections: Link the experience to familiar stories or characters involving apples or trees. This can make the outing even more meaningful by tying it to narratives they already know.

Remember, every connection your child makes between their experiences and knowledge is a building block in their learning journey. Visiting an orchard offers a unique opportunity to connect the hard, smooth apple from the refrigerator to the living, breathing apple tree in the orchard—a powerful and memorable experience.

Exploring the Woods: A Fall Sensory Hike

Fall is a time of transformation in nature, making it an ideal season for a sensory hike in the woods with your child who is blind or has low vision. The cool air, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and the smells of the forest create a rich sensory environment that can be calming and invigorating.

Preparing for the Hike

Selecting a Trail: Choose a trail that is accessible and appropriate for your child’s abilities. Look for well-maintained paths with natural features that can be safely explored.

What to Bring: Pack a small bag with essentials like water, snacks, and a tactile map of the trail if available. Include a magnifier or other tools that can enhance your child’s exploration.

Pre-Hike Activities: Talk about what you might encounter on the hike. You can even explore a leaf, pinecone, or piece of bark at home to familiarize your child with the textures they will likely experience on the trail.

On the Trail: Engaging the Senses

As you walk together, encourage your child to explore the environment:

Touch the Textures: Have your child feel the rough bark of different trees, the smoothness of a rock, or the softness of moss. Discuss their differences and ask your child to compare these textures to objects they already know.

Listen to the Sounds: The woods are alive with sound, especially in the fall. Encourage your child to listen to the wind in the trees, the rustle of leaves, and the calls of birds or other wildlife. Discuss how these sounds change depending on where you are on the trail.

Smell the Earth: The scent of damp earth, fallen leaves, and pine needles are signature smells of the fall woods. Encourage your child to take deep breaths and identify the different smells as you walk.

Collect and Create: If the trail allows, collect a few small items like leaves, acorns, or pinecones to bring home. Later, you can use these natural treasures in a craft project, creating a tactile memory of your hike.

While on your fall hike, ask your child questions to develop language and conversational skills further:

What are some of the different sounds you hear? Can you try to make them?

Let’s make up a story about the animals in the area. What do they do? What is their home like? Who are their friends?

Where are other places that you would like to hike? Warmer, colder, steeper, flatter hikes?

Reflecting on the Experience

After the hike, take some time to reflect on the day:

Discuss the Experience: Ask your child what they found most interesting or surprising. Did they enjoy the feel of the leaves or the sound of the birds? This conversation helps reinforce their learning and adds to their sensory memory.

Create a Nature Journal: If your child enjoys writing or drawing, help them start a nature journal to record their experiences, feelings, and the items they collected.

Visiting a Pumpkin Patch: A Hands-On Harvest Experience

Another classic fall activity is a visit to a pumpkin patch. This is a fun outing and a great way for your child to experience the textures, shapes, and smells of fall in a very hands-on way.

Before the Patch: Getting Ready

Choosing the Patch: Find a pumpkin patch that offers more than just pumpkins—many have hayrides, corn mazes, and other activities that can enhance the experience. Make sure it’s accessible and family-friendly.

Pumpkin Preview: Introduce your child to pumpkins before the visit. You can explore the feel of a small pumpkin, discuss its weight and texture, and even carve a small one together at home to familiarize your child with the concept.

At the Pumpkin Patch: Sensory Exploration

While at the pumpkin patch, encourage your child to:

Feel the Pumpkins: Pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes. Let your child feel the differences between the smooth, round pumpkins and the bumpy, oddly-shaped ones. Compare the weight of different pumpkins to see how heavy they are.

Explore the Patch: Walking through the rows of pumpkins offers a chance to feel the earth beneath their feet and explore the environment. Let your child touch the vines, feel the leaves, and smell the fresh earth.

Participate in Activities: If the pumpkin patch offers hayrides or corn mazes, these can be exciting sensory experiences. The feel of the hay, the smell of the fresh air, and the farm sounds all add to the adventure.

When you are exploring and choosing the perfect pumpkin, consider talking with your child:

Pumpkins are all very different; what makes the pumpkin you picked the perfect one for you?

How big do you think the biggest pumpkin is? What would you do with a pumpkin that big?

What are some things we could do with pumpkins? What about an art project? Should we roast the seeds and eat them?

After the Patch: Continuing the Fun

After you’ve chosen your pumpkins, the fun doesn’t have to end:

Carving or Decorating: Once home, you can carve the pumpkins together, allowing your child to help scoop out the seeds and feel the inside of the pumpkin. If carving isn’t ideal, consider painting or decorating the pumpkins with tactile materials like yarn, buttons, fabric, or other tactile stickers.

Cooking with Pumpkins: Use the pumpkins you brought home to make a pie, soup, or roasted seeds. This extends the sensory experience into the kitchen and offers a delicious reward for the day’s activities.

Story Time: Incorporate the day’s events into a story, perhaps making up a tale about the pumpkin you brought home or reading a book that involves pumpkins or fall harvests. This helps solidify the experience and links it to narrative concepts.

Fall Fun

Each season offers new experiences. Maybe your town or a nearby town has fall festivals, concerts, or other ways to engage with the community. It takes time to plan and be intentional about your outings, but it is well worth the prep work to ensure your child who is visually impaired enjoys the activities of fall.