American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Winter 2022 FUN AND GAMES
Making Foam Stickers to Illustrate Tactile Pictures
by Andrea Cataquiz
From the Editor: Andrea Cataquiz is a high school senior from Illinois. Last summer she attended the NFB STEM EQ program, which focused on spatial thinking. In this article she shares her ideas on using easily available crafts materials to make pictures that everyone can enjoy.
I have heard that all work and no play is not good for people and their health. I want to share with you my experiences with a fun activity—making my own foam stickers.
When I was growing up I liked stickers, and I still like them. I hope that children today still enjoy this fun activity. Making and using stickers is an activity that parents and teachers can enjoy doing with children.
Before you get started I suggest you have a trash bin or a plastic bag nearby, because this craft is a little messy. Here is a list of other things you will need.
- A pack of sticky foam sheets that you can buy at local craft stores
- A pair of scissors
- A pen or sharpened pencil
- Drawing stencils or templates that you can trace.
If you or whoever you plan to do this activity with is confident with their drawing skills, the stencils may not be needed.
First, take a sticky foam sheet and place it on a stable flat surface. It may help your orientation if the foam sheet is parallel to you. If you want your sticker to be a specific color, choose foam of the color you prefer. If the color of the sticker doesn't matter, just use any sheet.
Next, draw or trace a shape onto the sheet of sticky foam with your pen or pencil. Make sure to trace on the soft foam side of the adhesive sheet. Push down firmly so you can feel the lines that you are making. Just be careful not to break your pencil by pushing down excessively hard.
Take your scissors and carefully cut along the lines that you made with your pen or pencil. Congratulations, you have made your first homemade foam sticker!
Foam stickers are very accessible for people who are blind or have low vision because we can feel the shape of the sticker. Some ready-made plastic stickers have details that can be touched, and I quite enjoy those. However, a lot of stickers are flat. Worse yet, many stickers are simply squares or circles of plastic with pictures printed on them. Tactilely there is nothing interesting about them.
When I'm not busy, I like to make pictures with my foam stickers. I cut out several shapes that I think will work together in a scene. For example, I might cut out some animals. Then I arrange the stickers in a way that makes sense to me. I attempt to tell a little story. Sometimes I try to immortalize a memory by recreating some important details with my foam sheets. I also like to add grass and trees to some of my pictures using the stencils that I have.
If you have a tactile drawing board, you can choose which details to draw and which details to create with stickers. These drawing boards are fun tools for work and play. When you put paper on the designated drawing side of the board, you can feel the lines you make as you draw with a pen or pencil.
From stickers to drawing and everything in between, a lot of fun craft projects are available to blind individuals. It's just a matter of a person's interests and how they navigate any issues they come across. Making stickers is only one of many fun activities that we can do independently to pass the time. I hope you will enjoy making your own foam stickers. You can find all sorts of unique uses for this little skill.