Toys for Visually Impaired Children: A Guide by Age

By Carlos Acosta · October 30, 2026 · 10 min read

For a child who is blind or has low vision, look for toys that give more than one thing to explore: a sound, a texture, a shape to hold, a part that moves. The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) tells families to "opt for toys with multi-sensory appeal" (APH ConnectCenter).

Below: how to choose toys, ideas by age and by skill, how to adapt toys you own, safety checks, and free or low-cost programs. Pages were checked on October 30, 2026. This is general information from those organizations, not medical or developmental advice. For your child, ask your child's teacher of students with visual impairments, your early intervention program or your doctor.

Key points

Look past how a toy looks. APH's checklist is sound, surfaces with several textures, and moving parts that are firmly attached (APH ConnectCenter).
What you already own counts. APH says "Objects from the kitchen cabinet can be as entertaining as store-bought toys." (APH ConnectCenter)
Check size, and supervise. The federal small-parts rule covers toys intended for children under 3 (16 CFR 1501.2), and APH says sensory bins need close supervision (APH ConnectCenter).
Some programs give books, not toys. National Braille Press offers a bag of beginning braille materials for blind children from birth to age 7, and Seedlings offers 5 braille books per child each calendar year (NBP, Seedlings).

Toys for visually impaired children at a glance

Age or skill	What the sources suggest
Babies	Toys within reach, sounds and textures, a tray with a raised edge so small toys stay put
Toddlers	Toys to pull, push and turn; a toy phone or old keyboard; turn-taking with a rolling car
Preschool	Pretend play with swapped roles, sensory bins
School age	Sports practiced at home, balls you can hear, braille games
Play with sighted siblings	Matching games by touch, taking turns, adding one friend at a time

None of these sources ties a toy to an exact age, so read the stages as rough groups and follow your child's lead.

Sources: APH choosing toys, APH teaching your baby to play, APH playing with other children, APH physical education and sports, RNIB Let's play (UK).

How to choose a toy

APH says looks matter less when a child is blind or has low vision. Its features to look for: unbreakable with no sharp edges; moving parts that are fun to wiggle, press or pull, firmly attached and too big for a baby to put in their mouth and swallow; sound, such as a wooden duck that quacks when pulled; and surfaces that are multi-textured or pleasing to touch (APH ConnectCenter).

RNIB, the UK's Royal National Institute of Blind People, has a parent guide called Let's play. It is British, but its checklist works anywhere (RNIB):

Test textures yourself. Some that look different feel alike, such as felt and velvet.
Look for switches you can tell by touch, such as on and off with a click.
Look for cause and effect through touch: "when I press here, something happens".
Look for a sound or other cue that tells the child the action worked.

WonderBaby, a site started by the parent of a child with a visual impairment, adds that toys that stand for real things, such as dolls and toy trucks, can confuse a blind child. It advises explaining that the toy is a copy of the real thing and not expecting your child to play with it right away (WonderBaby). Treat this as one parent's advice.

By age

Babies

Make sure your baby knows a toy is there. APH says that when you put a toy in the crib or playpen, let your baby feel it and leave it within easy reach. Describe a new toy with words and touch, and sit behind your baby so your hands move in the same direction as theirs. In hand-under-hand, your hand goes under your child's, so their hands ride along on yours. A baby may not see where a dropped toy went, so APH suggests a play gym where toys hang down to feel, and toys with a suction cup on the bottom that stay put on a tray or table (APH ConnectCenter). It also suggests putting small toys in a shallow tray with a raised edge so they don't slide or roll away (APH ConnectCenter).

Toddlers

APH says to encourage your child to roll, crawl, scoot or walk to get a toy (APH ConnectCenter). It also suggests a basket or box your child can rummage through to find a favorite, kept in the same place every time (APH ConnectCenter).

APH suggests toys with knobs to turn, pull and push, and toys that copy household items, such as a toy smartphone that rings when a button is pressed (APH ConnectCenter). To practice turns, describe what your child is doing and add a next step, such as rolling the big car to you (APH ConnectCenter).

Preschool

Pretend play can start at home. APH suggests giving each of you a role, acting out a storybook scene or an imaginary shopping trip, then swapping roles (APH ConnectCenter).

A sensory bin is another option. APH fills a plastic dish pan about half full of cereal, hides small plastic animals in it, and adds a shovel and a spray bottle; beans, rice, pom poms or coffee beans can replace the cereal. APH warns that "children put things in their mouths; this will need close supervision" (APH ConnectCenter).

For card games with braille, see braille playing cards.

School age

APH suggests finding out which sports your child will try in gym or after-school programs and practicing them together at home. If you're not sporty, a friend or family member can help with skills like throwing a ball (APH ConnectCenter). More in sports for blind people.

For games that teach braille, see braille games and activities and LEGO Braille Bricks. Gift ideas are in gifts for blind people.

By skill

Touch

RNIB suggests a "treasure basket of interesting shapes and textures": keys, an orange and a piece of ribbon in a basket for your child to explore (RNIB). For tactile images, see tactile graphics.

Sound

APH's examples are a wooden duck that quacks when pulled and a soft plastic mouse that squeaks when squeezed (APH ConnectCenter). Kitchen pot covers can be banged together, with your hands under your child's to guide them (APH ConnectCenter). WonderBaby says many toys are too loud and suggests taping over a speaker, with a hole or two poked in the tape if the toy gets too quiet (WonderBaby).

Movement

For sports, APH suggests balls with built-in bells or beads so a student can find them by sound, tactile markers on the playing surface, and a guide rope for running with a guide. It suggests asking the TVI and PE teachers about non-competitive activities, and says "Dance and gymnastics are good options." It also says to talk to the TVI about special equipment, such as a bell inside a soccer ball, bright tape or a beeper (APH ConnectCenter).

Pre-braille

Pre-braille skills are the touch and hand skills that come before reading braille; the teaching braille to a blind child guide has a table of them. APH says an old computer keyboard, phone or remote can help a toddler get used to a tool they'll use often later, like a braillewriter or a real computer keyboard (APH ConnectCenter). National Braille Press puts tactile items in its bags for young children; which ones depends on the bag, and a tactile ball is in the red bags only (NBP). A toy doesn't have to teach braille.

Play with sighted siblings and friends

A parent quoted in the RNIB guide says her daughter and her sighted siblings love tactile snap: a bag of fabrics and papers with different surfaces, where each player picks out the pairs that feel the same (RNIB).

APH's steps for playing with other children start small. Babies may watch and play near each other, so show your baby what other children do. APH says "Sharing toys and taking turns in a game aren't instinctive", so a toddler may need your help to practice, for example with two of the same toy, one for each of you. Then invite one familiar child to your home, then a second and third, then a familiar park, and later an unfamiliar playground (APH ConnectCenter).

Adapting toys you already have

One parent writing on the APH site says she once thought she had to buy all the toys, then found there are many things parents can make (APH ConnectCenter). Her ideas:

A sound book. She glued a different textured fabric on each button and matched the same fabric on the page with that sound.
A story in a bag. She keeps real objects from a story, such as a cup, a napkin or a toy cookie, in a zip-top bag with the book.
Containers. Baking tins, muffin pans and plastic containers can hold balls, blocks or spoons.
Egg shakers. She put different grains in plastic eggs and taped them closed. Check the tape often and keep them away from a child who can pull them open: that is our suggestion, not hers.
A loud toy. Tape over the speaker, as above.

Safety checks

The federal small-parts rule applies to toys and other articles intended for children under 3 years (36 months) (16 CFR 1501.2). Under it, no such toy may be "small enough to fit entirely within a cylinder" of a set size (16 CFR 1501.4). The rule says it does not extend to every item a young child can reach just because it is in the home. For toys you make or adapt at home, check the size of every part yourself.

WonderBaby cautions that the age label on a toy may not fit your baby, because blind babies may keep mouthing toys longer (WonderBaby). It is a parent's advice, so ask your child's doctor if you are unsure.

Free and low-cost programs

Some organizations give away books and materials, and others help with lending. Offers change, so check each page before you count on one.

National Braille Press ReadBooks! NBP sends free bags of beginning braille materials to families of blind and visually impaired children from birth to age 7 in the United States, in English or Spanish. The page says "Limited to one braille bag per blind child per lifetime," and that you can request a bag for every blind child in your family. A bag holds a print/braille book, an alphabet card, guides for parents and tactile items (NBP, NBP parent information).
Seedlings Book Angel Program. Each child with vision loss from birth to age 21 in the U.S. and Canada can order 5 free braille books per calendar year, with a new order each year (Seedlings). More in braille books.
APH ConnectCenter. Its Getting Started guide lists a toll-free information line, staffed on weekdays (APH guide).
Borrowing. WonderBaby suggests asking your early intervention program whether it has a toy to borrow, and says a charity such as a local Lions Club may cover part of the cost of an expensive one. That is one parent's tip, not a promise (WonderBaby). A parent in the RNIB guide borrowed from a local toy library before buying. The USA Toy Library Association lists a National Toy Library Directory; we don't know whether any library there lends adapted toys.

For more programs, including those of Perkins and the National Federation of the Blind, see free braille resources and organizations for the blind. We did not check their pages for this guide.

Where Braillito fits

Braillito, our app, teaches braille. It teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. The English lessons are uncontracted braille (grade 1); they don't teach contracted braille or transcription, and Braillito isn't a braille transcriber.

Braillito isn't a toy and isn't meant for babies or toddlers. If your child may use braille, learning the cells yourself lets you read a print/braille book together, and National Braille Press says its bags aim to help parents learn "just enough" braille (NBP; see also learn braille as a sighted person). Whether your child will read braille is a decision for your family and your child's teacher, not an app. The translator on braillito.com shows how a word or short phrase looks in UEB, but it only applies the rules a program can apply, so it doesn't replace a transcriber. Without paying, the braille translator works in any browser.

Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

There is no single right toy. APH suggests toys with more than one sense to explore: sound, several textures, and moving parts that are firmly attached. Keep them within easy reach, and sit with your baby to show how a toy works.

How can I adapt toys I already have?

Glue different fabrics on the buttons of a sound book, keep real objects from a story in a bag, fill containers with balls or home-made egg shakers, or tape over the speaker of a loud toy. The ideas come from a parent writing for APH and from WonderBaby.

The programs we checked give books and braille materials, not toys. National Braille Press has a free bag for blind children from birth to age 7, one per blind child, and Seedlings has 5 braille books per child each calendar year. For toys, ask about borrowing from your early intervention program or a toy library.

Does a toy have to teach braille?

No. Toys are for play. APH says an old keyboard or toy phone can get a toddler used to tools they will use later, and the teaching braille to a blind child guide covers the skills that come before braille. Whether your child will read braille is decided with the child's teacher.