Halloween Podcasts for Kids
By Ahmat Djouma
Kidcasts, a podcast list compiled for librarians, provides playlists of podcasts that can shared with children, families, and educators. Their Scary Stories Playlist includes tales like “Kraken,” with a range of creepy monsters, “Meet the Creeps,” where kids who listen to “creepy” stories can turn into monsters, and many more. The podcasts are professionally narrated with good voice acting and very descriptive music and sounds. Find out more from the School Library Journal article, Eight Podcasts for Kids Craving Scary Stories/Kidcasts, to enjoy many scary Halloween stories.
Accessible Halloween Sudoku Puzzles
Halloween is a time for tricks, treats – and puzzles. Sudoku, a fun and popular puzzle, lets kids exercise their “reasoning and critical thinking” skills as they play. The puzzles are generally numbers, but also can be pictures or words. For Halloween, we found a number of ways that Sudoku puzzles can be accessible for those with vision impairment:
A Halloween Sudoku, described in the Perkins School for the Blind Paths to Technology blog, has been modified to be accessible on an iPad for users who are blind. Pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and candy all have their places in the puzzle. “Sudoku puzzles are a wonderful way to teach students who use screen readers how to navigate grids and tables” with voiceover. For more information and directions for doing this Sudoku in the Pages app on the iPad, read Halloween Sudoku Puzzle: Grids and Tables.
Another accessible Sudoku puzzle that can be played at any time, the Blindfold Sudoku, available as an app, is for people who are visually impaired as well as those who are sighted. It is designed for “rapid audio play,” with a board that is not visible. The puzzle is played by listening, with participants tapping on a cell to find out its contents and swiping to hear the row, column, and the square. Audio cues guide the process and users can customize the game to provide more or less information. Find out more about Blindfold Sudoku/AppleVis.
Sudoku puzzles are also available for Braille users. The Braille Bookstore offers, for purchase, a Braille Sudoku set, with a wooden playing board and Braille number tiles, as well as a book with many Sudoku puzzles and solutions in Braille. For more information, including pricing and ordering instructions, check out Braille Sudoku Puzzles
Halloween Craft Ideas
Children – and adults – of all ages celebrate Halloween with costumes, spooky decorations, and other often visual paraphernalia, and “it may be difficult for blind and visually impaired children to feel included in the festivities.” To address that challenge, ibvi (Industries for the Blind and Visually Impaired) has put together a list of Halloween craft and costume ideas that are tactile and can be enjoyed by those who are blind or visually impaired. An Autumn wreath art project, for example, involves collecting materials outdoors and then using them to create the wreath. Cotton ball ghosts, tactile pumpkin decorating, and candy apples are among the other activities included. For the full list of ten craft projects, along with instructions, read Halloween Craft Ideas for Blind and Visually Impaired Children.
