Tips for Supporting Children with Disabilities to Engage in Play and Learning

Modify the skill level

• Consider sharing Practical Tips that the child can do, or are slightly challenging for the child, rather than focusing on the tips that match the child’s age. 
• Make an activity simpler by breaking it into multiple steps, such as providing only two objects to stack rather than many and adding more as the child progresses. 
• Provide materials that are easier for a child to use: a container with a handle the child can grip rather than a jar with no handles. 
• Consider adaptive devices to help a child: add a thicker handle to a spoon or utensil to make self- feeding easier or provide a supportive chair to help the child to sit. 

Add a sensory component (touch, sound, sight, smell)   

• Adding more touch, sound, smell, or a visual component will stimulate the child’s senses, particularly if the child has an impairment that affects their senses, such as difficulty seeing or hearing.
• Add a touch component to a story: if the story is about bath time, splash a little water on the child’s hand.
• Add a smell to a shaker toy: add strips of lemongrass or spices in a container with bottle caps. 
• Provide different textures of playthings: things that are smooth (like plastic), soft (like different fabrics), or rough (like stiff leaves glued to cardboard). Ensure that the objects are safe: clean, not sharp, and larger than your child’s palm to prevent choking.

Support the child in exploring   

• Play should be led by the child, with the caregiver providing support only as needed by the child. Be patient and let the child take time to engage with an object or an activity. Remove objects that get in the way of playing. 
• Provide some extra support during tummy time (like rolled-up fabric) under the child’s chest to prop the child’s torso up or place the child on your chest and recline back. 
• Guide the child’s hand alongside yours to explore an object or position the child in a way that helps her be able to look around and engage in play. Make sure the child’s arms and legs are not restricted. 
• Look for the subtle cues the child may use to communicate, such as using eye movements to look at something they want.