Toy Adaptation: Planning Guide 2016

Student Name: Octavia Haire Toy: School Bus

Careful reflection about the questions below will assist you in planning an adaptation that is both meaningful and
successful for a child with differing abilities. Submit this planning form, along with the grading rubric for the
project and directions for making the adaptation with your toy when done.

1. Describe the disability, or category of disability, that you will be adapting a toy for?

I will be adapting this toy for a child that has Cerebral Palsy.

2. What challenges face children with this type of disability (what is hard or difficult for them to do as a
result of their disability)? Be specific with your answer!

They have hardly any motor skills “small/large”. They have a hard time holding on to things, grasping
objects, and walking. This disease affects their overall mobility.

3. Name/describe the toy have you chosen to adapt for this child? Why would this toy be difficult for a child
with this disability to play with if it were not adapted for them (again, be specific)? Why would they not
be likely to experience success with this toy?

I have chosen to adapt a toy school bus. This toy would be difficult for the child because you have to hold
it from the top, and push it back and forth. They wouldn’t experience success with this toy because you
have to have a grip on the toy, and some children with this disease hands are either bent downward, very
weak, or they may not be able to open them.

4. Given your answer to #3 above, what will you change about this toy to make it more accessible for a child
with this disability? What type of adaptation will you use? (Students should carefully consider the examples
shared in class and the resources provided by their instructor about toy adaptation when answering this question).

To make this toy more accessible for the child, I am going to tie a sturdy rope around the bus, then tie the
other end of the rope to a pillow ring. The child’s hand will go inside the hole, and then depending on how
fast or slow the child moves, the toy will go at the same speed.

5. How does the change/modification you’ve made to the toy increase the independence of the child playing
with it? How does it help them to participate more successfully with peers or to better access the general
early childhood education curriculum of the classroom?

This change will allow the child to move the bus independently, without having to grip or hold on to it, or
having the extra help. This allows the child to participate successfully because the bus will move wherever
the child move and the child will not need assistance unless the bus tips over.
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Child Observation

Date: 12/13/2016

Time: 9:15am-9:20am

Child: Bella: 3 yrs

Place: Indoor gym

Setting: Bella scooting from soft block area, to tummy time floor area.

Observer: Octavia

Background Information: Bella’s observation will be on a flat surface area, for better stability of the bus.

She has Cerebral Palsy “a chronic condition that affects the body movement and muscle coordination.

She does not walk, and she struggles with her large/small motor skills. Bella is the

The only child and she have a poodle companion named Pinky.

Observations/Time

Time: 9:15am - While scooting on her stomach out of the block area, Bella is smiling “moving her right

arm from side to side”. In doing so, she is also moving her head side to side, and continues to smile. As

she gets closer to the tummy time area; she stops and looks at me, still smiling and moving her head.

Time: 9:17am- As Bella gets closer to the school bus, she’s more fidgety. She’s kicking her feet more and

and more, smiling really hard, and making excited noises. She extends her right arm to reach for the toy.

She is not close enough, she scoots a little closer and reaches again, and she is still not close enough.

She rests her arm and look around the room. She then kicks her feet, and begins to scoot again. She

reaches her arm out again with a swing, and taps the bus.
 Toy Adaptation: Planning Guide 2016
Time: 9:19am- Bella is now tapping and nudging the bus, laughing at the bus, and stiffening her body

excitedly. She is having a difficult time with grabbing the bus. I place the pillow ring on her right hand, her

eyes stares the bus down. She is gazing at the bus, while still moving her arms. She starts to scoot again “

moving her arms, legs and feet”. As Bella scoots across the floor, with the ring pillow around her wrist, the

the bus begins to move slowly with her. She stops, and looks down at her arm, and touches the pillow ring

with her left hand. She gives a faint smile, she appears to be happy, and continues to scoot with the bus.

Assessment for learning

Bella has shown great progress in her motor skills from her last assessment. She had a little bit of a struggle in the
beginning, while trying to reach for the toy. When she finally made it to the bus, she tried a few times to grab it.
After watching her struggle to grip the toy, I then placed the pillow ring on her right hand. She has shown great
strength, and persistence. She continued to work toward reaching that toy until she landed her hands on it. There
was no one there to distract her, just her and I, so she was able to focus. She used non-verbal communication
“smiling, laughing, and making noises” she appeared to be very happy the entire time. This observation was 5
minutes long. Bella concentrated, and remained focused until she accomplished her goal. Her overall improvement
was great!

Toy Description
The toy that I modified was a school bus. You have to control this bus by holding on to the top of it. This toy is hard
to manipulate if you have poor small motor skills. I adapted this toy by attaching a durable rope to the bus, as well
as to the pillow ring. One end of the rope is tied to the bus, and the other end is tied to a soft pillow ring. I chose to
tie something to one end of the rope that provides some sort of grip onto the wrist, and that something was a
pillow ring. This pillow ring provides control of the bus for children who have problems with small motor skills
“such as gripping, opening/closing of hands, or just very little hand movement at all.