How to Make Any Activity Accessible for Students with Visual Impairments | Rec & Leisure Made Easy!

expanded core curriculum mindset mindset for teachers May 26, 2025

It’s officially summer, and with it comes the perfect opportunity to explore recreation and leisure with your students. But here’s the truth that often goes unspoken: students who are blind or visually impaired are regularly left out of play, sports, and hobbies that their sighted peers take for granted.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Whether you’re a TVI, orientation and mobility specialist, general education teacher, or paraprofessional, you have the power to help make recreation for students with visual impairments inclusive, engaging, and accessible. In this article, you’ll find real-world strategies, field-tested adaptations, and encouraging insight based on decades of combined experience in education for visually impaired learners.

Let’s talk about how to bring accessible fun to every student.

Why Recreation and Leisure Skills Deserve More Attention

If you’ve ever seen a student with visual impairment sitting alone at recess or on the sidelines during PE, you know how important this work is. Recreation and leisure skills are often minimized in educational planning, but they play a powerful role in building confidence, independence, and social connection.

These skills are a vital part of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) because they help students explore who they are beyond schoolwork. Recreation gives students the chance to try, fail, laugh, connect, and discover joy. That kind of learning is just as essential as reading and writing.

For students who are blind or visually impaired, the opportunity to choose a hobby or participate in a sport can be a life-changing experience. It’s not just about entertainment. It’s about identity. It’s about inclusion. And it’s about making sure our students have access to the same kinds of joyful, fulfilling experiences that sighted students enjoy every day.

In fact, leisure activities for blind children support other ECC areas too, like orientation and mobility, social skills, self-determination, and independent living. They're not "extras." They're essential.

The Barriers Are Real But So Are the Solutions

Many of our students don’t participate in leisure activities simply because they don’t know what’s available or how to access it. Without visual cues or exposure to common games and hobbies, they may not even know what “kickball” means, let alone how to join in.

This lack of incidental learning is one of the biggest barriers our students face. Sighted children often learn how to play by watching their peers, siblings, or adults. But students with visual impairments may not see those models, which makes it harder to understand how to engage in those same activities.

On top of that, many recreation and leisure spaces—gyms, fields, playgrounds—aren’t designed with accessibility in mind. Lack of tactile markers, unclear boundaries, and minimal guidance can all contribute to a feeling of exclusion.

Another barrier is that students may not have the physical skills yet to participate comfortably. They may not have had a chance to build the gross motor skills required for sports or the fine motor control needed for arts and crafts.

But here’s the key. With intentional planning and consistent support, inclusive leisure activities for blind students can become a natural part of any school, camp, or community setting.

What Accessibility Really Looks Like

When we talk about accessible recreation for visually impaired students, we’re not talking about building new playgrounds or spending thousands on adaptive equipment. Most of the time, it’s about thoughtful, low-tech solutions that focus on understanding your student’s needs.

Let’s take basketball as an example. You don’t need a specialized court. What you need is a creative approach. You can introduce the sport by using a tactile diagram of the court and letting the student explore the basketball hoop up close. Add a sound source to the net so the student can hear where to aim. Start by using a smaller, softer ball and practice dribbling and passing slowly. Give them time to feel confident before jumping into a game.

For track, you might use a guide wire or tether for safe running. Music or rhythmic clapping can serve as directional cues. Start with co-active movement to help the student understand how to move their arms and legs in sync. The same strategies work for outdoor games like kickball, where a beeping ball and sound markers at each base can make the game fully accessible.

From hiking to dancing to playground play, these strategies are about making the experience inclusive from the beginning. Every change you make helps remove a barrier and replaces it with confidence, connection, and joy.

Every Day Is an Opportunity for Inclusion

You don’t need to wait for a special program or afterschool event to support recreation and leisure. These experiences can and should be integrated into daily routines.

In the classroom, offer tactile games that encourage creativity and communication. During free time, provide options for music, crafts, or movement that are designed with accessibility in mind. During PE or therapy sessions, collaborate with your team to find inclusive ways to teach the same skills all students are learning.

And on the playground? That’s one of the best places to start.

Playgrounds are rich with potential but also full of barriers for students with visual impairments. Uneven surfaces, undefined boundaries, and cluttered equipment can make navigation overwhelming. But with a little planning, playgrounds can become fully inclusive spaces.

Use textured surfaces or brightly colored cones to mark boundaries. Offer tactile maps of the layout so students can explore and orient themselves before play begins. Pre-teach playground vocabulary and let students explore climbing structures, swings, or slides with hand-under-hand support before expecting independent use.

You can even support meaningful play without using the structure itself. Activities like parachute games, dancing, ball play, or bean bag tosses are simple to set up and easy to adapt.

Simple Strategies That Make a Big Impact

As you consider how to design or modify an activity, here are a few strategies to keep in mind.

Start by pre-teaching concepts and vocabulary. Words like “dribble,” “pass,” “goal,” or “serve” may need to be explained and experienced before the student hears them in the context of a fast-paced game. Build in time for hands-on modeling or simulations to help students understand what they’ll be asked to do.

Add auditory and tactile cues wherever possible. A beeping ball, a bell on a teammate’s wrist, or textured lines on the floor can provide the directional and spatial information a student needs to participate with confidence.

Break activities into smaller parts and allow extra time for exploration. If a student is learning to throw, start with a scarf or balloon to slow down the action. If a game involves multiple players and moving pieces, give the student time to practice one part of the task at a time.

Most importantly, collaborate with your team. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, PE teachers, and paraprofessionals can all bring ideas and support that make your adaptations more effective and sustainable.

Helping Students Build a Life Beyond School

Recreation and leisure are often the first things to get cut when schedules get tight. But these skills are central to lifelong success. When students discover hobbies and interests, they become more self-aware. When they participate in inclusive games, they feel seen and valued. When they learn to access physical activities, they gain both strength and confidence.

Inclusive physical education strategies for visually impaired students aren't just about access. They’re about equity. They’re about community. And they’re about ensuring every student can find joy, movement, and belonging in their day.

Final Thoughts

If you take away one idea from this article, let it be this. Any activity can be made accessible for students who are blind or visually impaired. Whether you’re modifying a lesson, adapting a playground game, or preparing for a summer camp experience, your creativity and effort make a difference.

Start small. Listen to your student. Collaborate with your team. And never underestimate the power of having fun and exploring new things..

When we give students access to recreation, we’re not just filling time. We’re helping them build confidence, community, and a future they can get excited about.