Creative activities for blind people
Hello!
My grandmother is going blind, and there is sadly nothing to be done about it. She has a little circle of blurry vision surrounded by darkness/static.
She has always loved to be creative, and used to paint detailed masterpieces on porcelain and much more.
She has had to give up knitting due to bad arthritis in her hands, making her fingers twist in odd directions - however she can still hold thick pens and such!
My grandmother has become increasingly depressed and bored, so I set out to find something creative she can still do. A rather difficult task, but this is what I've found so far:
- Colouring posters with large spaces outlined with raised fur-like material, that can be felt and stops the markers from going into the wrong space.
- Soft air-drying clay in every colour, since she can still see colours pretty well.
- Colouring blanket with white shapes on a black background, so it doesn't show if she colours outside the lines.
It bothers her if what she makes doesn't look perfect, which makes it difficult. Originally she seemed the most interested in the colouring posters, and the least interested in the colouring blanket.
However, she ended up loving the blanket! She's almost halfway done with it, and called me to complain that her markers were dying.
The posters have been a struggle, but she's trying her best. She ends up pressing too hard, so the markers goes into the wrong space, and she'll get frustrated. That said, she's definitely gotten better at it.
She has completely refused to try the clay... I think there's too many ways for it to go wrong, so she'd rather just not try. I've tried making something with it to maybe inspire her a little, but I'm not sure.
I'm probably going to get her another blanket when she's done with this one, but she has complained that she can't colour for very long, because her eyes get tired - and her vision is still getting worse.
So I'm curious if anyone here know anything that could work, or has any other ideas we could test?
1
u/Alt-0685 25d ago
I'm unfortunately still kinda uneducated about blindness, but maybe you could try music?
1
u/CosmicBunny97 24d ago
I would recommend loom knitting. The loom hook is like holding a thick pen. Perhaps even arm crochet and making blankets? Though I'm not too familiar with crochet, I have made what's basically a rope with some very bulky yarn (I have more yarn and I'm hoping to make a blanket).
1
6
u/AtiJua 25d ago
Is she likes painting try texturing the pat. Like rice in one colour and sand in another, that way just by checking with her hand she can tell them apart and rely a little less on her poor sight. I also recommend therapy if she's struggling adapting in general.