Gift Ideas

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The purpose of this section is to offer some gift-giving suggestions for that special V.I. person in your life. These are not intended to be absolutes or set in stone. Neither are these intended to be the only gifts one shuld give to a V.I. friend.

This is simply a list that we hope will help our visitors to "think with their eyes closed." These gifts are suitable for most anyone, sighted or otherwise.

Gifts That Light Up:

Many partially-sighted individuals will enjoy items listed below. Often, people you think are totally blind can see some forms of light such as Christmas lights or colorful sunsets. For some of us, myself included, bright colors are stimulating or relaxing.

Lava lamps

Fiber-optic lights

A lamp with a stained-glass shade often gives off a lot of color.

Novelty lights. (These are available at craft stores such as, Michael's. They have strings of lights that look like colored lanterns, butterflies, flowers and stars. These are very popular with teenagers.

Lighted drinking glasses.   Yes! This is a hot new party item that can be found at some party stores and online. Ebay has them. I have some and I absolutely love them. I can see my glass at a glance, a novel idea. I'm also a lot less likely to knock it over. Many of them use little button batteries that are replaceble. . I've seen them for $3 to $10 a piece.

"Small" gifts

Just about anything miniature is sure to be a hit--especially if it is a replica of a very large object.

A blind acquaintance once told me he had a difficult time grasping the scope of something such as a house. When I brought him one of my miniature houses, he was enthralled.

This opens up a plethora of opportunities. There are miniature resin houses, figurines, animals and model cars. I highly recommend the die-cast cars with moving doors and wheels. A lot of adults will enjoy a model car. Dollhouse miniatures can also be enjoyable gifts for the ladies.

I also recommend figures or dolls of famous people or cartoon characters. Imagine never having seen Bugs Bunny chewing on a carrot or Snoopy, lying on top of his dog house.

You might consider one of the very popular miniature table-top fountains. They're great to touch and listen to.

Just about anything 3-dimensional is wonderful. The ceramic wall-hangings and plaques are terrific. There are also wood-inlaid pictures that can be defined by touch. Many of the glass sun-catchers also have lines in them that can be discerned by touch.

Some visually-impaired people enjoy items that come in bright colors. This is because they're easier to see. For others, texture is huge. I recommend fabrics such as that wonderful polar fleece that's so popular, velour velvets, brocade or satin By the way, you will do well to look for embossed greeting cards to accompany your gift..I can't read many of the cards I get, but some of them have embossed fancy borders and embossed flowers. I love those hand made cards that people into Stamping are turing out. They can be found at upscale gift shops or craft bazaars. They often have ribbons, lace and tactile figures such as "Holly-Hobby-type" characters on the front.

Books on tape are wonderful. A lot of blind or V.I. people subscribe to a local library for the blind that supplies talking books, or books on tape. However, there is a substantial lapse of time between their release to when they are available from the tape libraries An audio-taped hot best-seller may be just the ticket.

"Descriptive videos or DVDs", movies with audio narratives are wonderful gifts. Having the actions described when they cannot be seen adds a lot of comprehension and enjoyability to the movie.

For the ladies: Many women will enjoy a music box, especially the type that are also jewelry boxes.

A 3-dimentional musical item such as a carousel horse or a sculpture of a little child are delightful to receive. I'm quite biased toward dolls, but you would be surprised at how most women will welcome a beautiful doll. This goes for sighted women too. They don't have to be expensive. You can get a reasonably-priced life-sized doll at most toy stores,(around $22). Porcelain dolls are nice and I have a few, but I recommend a vinyl doll. I've knocked over and broken sojme beautiful porcelain dolls. That's not to say V.I. people shouldn't have one. I like the fact that I can handle mine and let a child play with some of them without concern for them being broken.

Functional Gifts

(Not recommended for your wife on your anniversary, but great otherwise.)

I've just started compiling this list.

Swiffer products are helpful for the homemaker. I have their little sweeper vac. Sweeping the floor used to be a long, laborious process. This little guy is a God-send.

Pampered Chef has an item out called an "Apple peeler-slicer-corer" I cannot recommend it highly enough. You can also use it to peel potatoes. Another laborious task short-cut.

Food processers are another wonderful thing to have for chopping or grating.

How about some games??

Well, there's always dominos. Most sets have indented dots on them, but no one wants to play dominos forever. Actually, some classic games such as Scrabble and chess are available in Braille or other blind-friendly types. For example, you can buy checkerboards with tactile grids dividing the squares. Playing cards are available is Braille or large print.

A great game for all ages is called Jenga. It is manufactured by the Milton-Bradley company and available at most toy or variety stores. It consists of identical wooden blocks, stacked in rows of 3 into a tower. Each stack is laid perpendicular to the one below it. The object of the game is to pull a block from somewhere in the tower and place it on top to make a new row, which must also be laid non-parallel to the one below it.

One can find a loose block by gently touching the tower in various places. In fact, in this respect, the playing-field is fairly level for sighted and non-sighted people. Most people with good motor-control can play this game. It's also well-suited to a wider variety of age-groups.

Of course, there are sport balls such as soccar balls that are audible. Not everyone enjoys outdoor sports, but many young people especially may enjoy one.

I once had a blind friend visit me and my family. Someone had a baby's toy, which was simply a foam ball with a bell inside, covered with fabric. My friend, myself and the relatives had a great time tossing this ball back and forth around the room.

The game, "Hot Potato" is a very old one, but is still being manufactured. This is the game where the "potato" is passed around in a circle while it plays a tune. The one holding it when the music stops drops out of the circle. Some people play a version where everyone gets three chances and keeps score by putting one of three tokens in the middle of the circle.

I have a electronic game called "Bop-It!". It has several knobs on it that the game will tell you to manipulate, rather like the old game, "Simon" only you don't have to memorize the sequence. It can be played alone or with a group. In the group mode, the game will tell you when to pass it to the next person by a certain sound it makes.

Then, there is the talkies;

...my personal least-favorite, but they certainly are worth mentioning as many visually-impaired people benefit greatly from these items.There are all kinds of talking electronics today. Calculators, watches, clocks, answering machine radios and bathroom scales. (I don't have a talking scale in my house. I'd rather not broadcast my weight.)

Many of these items can be found at local variety stores or electronics stores such as Radio Shack. There are throughout the country, various organizations that sell many of the items listed in the last two paragraphs. The latter items are specifically designed for blind individuals.

Out on the town?

One of my favorite items that I never leave home without is what we call, a Stoolie. This is a 3-legged camp stool that folds up to the size of a compact umbrella. They have a shoulder strap attached and are made of sturdy metal and nylon.

If you've ever waited a half-hour for a city bus, you'd appreciate the Stoolie. They're very easy to fold and unfold. When my husband and I go out sight-seeing for the day, we take our stoollies with us.

Then, there's cellular phones: Ever tried finding a phone booth with your eyes closed??? In my opinion, no traveling blind person should be without one--especially now that they are so affordable. I occasionally get stranded somewhere. When I do, I am so thankful I can whip out my cellular and call a taxi.

For the Kiddies:

Now this can be a little bit of a challenge because you are subject to the wishes of parents. It's always a good idea to ask anyone close to an individual what he or she would enjoy in the way of gifts. When visiting someone, try to find out if he or she collects things. many people collect small fgurines, mini tea sets, model cars or Beanie Babies. Often, these items are very affordable.

I am mainly referring to my own childhood now. My cousins had what was then called, a Hoppity-Hop. Nowadays, they're called Hoppers or bouncers. The item is a large ball with a looping handlet.

The child sits on top, strattling the handle and bounces about the room or yard. I had hours of enjoyment playing with one of these as a child. As long as I was familiar with the surroundings, it was quite safe.

A "Sit-&-Spin" is a sure hit with most any young child. Children have a natural urge to spin in circles. That's why you so often see them doing so. It helps their eye-hand coordination and brain development. Actually, some children with Autism have been cured with the aid of spinning therapy.

The Sit-&-spin is like a playground merry-go-round for one. It is controlled by a disk in the center that the child uses to turn himself.

Some visually-impaired children will enjoy the plastic cars such as those put out by Little Tykes or Step2. They are completely enclosed, including a roof in most cases. This will protect the child from overhanging objects such as tree limbs or table tops.

The plastic body of the car will also protect the child from banging into walls or fences.

When I was a child, our adaptive PhysEd class was equipped with little scooters. These are square platforms on skateboard wheels. Every one of us, including children with no sight, enjoyed them and often quarreled over them as there was never enough of them to go around. .

They may be difficult to find. A standard skateboard will suffice. Some blind children will feel much safer on a riding toy that is close to the ground like these scooters. If you have a generous budget, you might consider a "Wonder Horse" which is the classic stationary horse on springs. We were fortunate to have one when I was a child. I loved that thing. It will bounce and rock. Don't assume that a blind child cannot enjoy a tricycle, wagon or ride-on toy.

For younger children, animals with electronic chips that make them bark, meow, talk, etc are always enjoyable. So are these new dollhouse components that make noises. For instance, when you touch the stove, a sizzling food sound occurs.

The Fisher Price and Playskool companies have lots of these toys on the market.

How about a pair of walkie-talkies? I don't know of any verbal child who doesn't enjoy these. Playskool has an excellent-quality set available for around $25. They are quite durable and have a generous range of reception as well as touch-tone and cell phone sounds when certain keys are pressed.

There are, of course, the various talking teddy bears and such that read stories to the child. I'm also a big fan of tape or CD players for children. A lot of children will respond enthusiastically to toys that play music, especially if the child controls which songs are played. Cassette recorders or compact TVs are a great choice. You don't have to see a TV to watch it.

There are a lot of music and story CDs available for children. If you can't find the book you want to give a blind child in a format that child can use, why not put it on tape yourself? Really! It might be a little awkward the first time you try talking into a microphone, but in most cases, your story will be played again and again.

It is a common fact that children return to familiar stories and films the was adults do to our favorite song or place to eat. Having the story told by a familiar voice will be extra-special.

A lot of children, blind or otherwise, live such items as Tinker Toys, Mega Blox or Lincoln Logs. Legos are great too.

Another suggestion would be the various electronic keyboards and other musical instruments designed for children. Of course, you may want to take care, with any sound-oriented toy, that the parents won't be tormented. Look for such toys that come with a headphone port and be sure to include the headphones.

These are just a few ideas. We'll gladly consider any suggestions. This page is, I hope, one that keeps growing.

Here's a great little link if you want to have just about anything produced in Braille copy to go with your gift.

Still at a loss???

If you're just not sure what to get someone, get them a gift card. Most stores now have them and you can choose any monetary amount. . I love getting gift cards at Christmas time, so I can maximize the possibilities at one of those after-Christmas sales. There are places online where you can get gift cards from a list of chain stores such as Fred Meyer or Hot Topics--everything from sporting-goods stores to grocery stores.

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