Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Communication, Department of Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design Chairman Assoc. Prof. Dr. Senih Çavuşoğlu and lecturer Hare Eminoğlu participated in the Festival for Visually Impaired Children held for the first time in İzmir where they introduced the “A’ Design Award” receiving and educating toy named “WOODLE”, designed for children with visual impairment.
With the support of volunteers, the visually impaired children, who receive special education, had a lot of fun at the Festival for Visually Impaired Children by participating at events full of music and art. Organised by the collaboration of İzmir Atatürk Province Public Library and Aşık Veysel Primary School for Visually Impaired Children, the visually impaired students also had the opportunity to participate in different workshops of the festival. The festival began with the concert of Pop Orchestra of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Also, various events such as voiced descriptive movie screening and special yoga for visually impaired children took place at the festival. Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Communication, Department of Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design Chairman Assoc. Prof. Dr. Senih Çavuşoğlu and lecturer Hare Eminoğlu also organised an event with the “A’ Design Award” receiving and educating toy named WOODLE which they designed for visually impaired children. At this event, the children learned the Turkish names of animals, as well as in English.
Students and teachers showed great interest and excitement for WOODLE. The school administration made a statement, asking for the mass production of the toy. The administration mentioned that, beyond enjoyment, the toy should also be used as a classroom material. Aşık Veysel Primary School for Visually Impaired Children Principal and Teachers underlined that WOODLE will fill a big gap in this field and the first demand will come from their school. This would lead other schools in different provinces persistently demanding the toy and they mentioned that they are ready to take action for the production of WOODLE.
What Is WOODLE?
With the WOODLE prototypes prepared by the Folk Arts Institute (HASDER), it is aimed that the visually impaired kindergarten and primary school students are provided with an entertaining and exciting experience. WOODLE allows children, visually impaired or not, to play together without discrimination. Designed for children over three years, the each set of WOODLE includes two animals. By its design, when the pieces are arranged in the correct order, the player gets the correct shape of the animal. Being a simultaneously entertaining and educative toy, WOODLE is believed to aid in children’s cognitive, affective, lingual and motor development and activate their ability to see through playing, touching, reading and writing.
