Kamil, the protagonist of “Il bambino che guarda con le mani”, loves to play just like all children! We therefore came up with games in which he, a blind child, can also take part together with his friends. In these games, you don’t have to look with your eyes: you have to rely on touch, sharpen your hearing and trust others – an exercise that is useful for everyone, blind or not!

Ariadne’s thread

It is said that in the labyrinth of Knossos there lived a frightening monster, the Minotaur, half-man, half-bull, who glutted on children’s flesh… To save the brave Jason, with whom she was in love, the sorceress Ariadne gave him a magic thread to unravel as he went into the dark labyrinth, so that he could not lose his way. In this way, Jason managed to defeat the Minotaur and escape safely from the labyrinth: to this day, Jason is still considered a hero, even though he behaved very badly with Ariadne… But that is another story.
Before starting, an adult prepares the route, indoors or outdoors, by tying a rope to the starting point and stretching it between various obstacles. The children then have to follow it blindfolded, and arrive at the end of the course. Different difficulties can be added: the string can be high up and the child will have to cling on tiptoe, or very low down and will have to crawl, it can go around a tree or another obstacle several times, you can also create forks, where another rope leading off the path intersects with the main one. The aim is to reach the end of the path in the shortest time before the Minotaur catches you!

Secret Message

One child has his back turned, another writes a word or phrase on his back with his finger. When he has finished, the child with his back turned has to say aloud the word he thinks the other has written on his back.
Variation: Do you want to make it even more difficult? Then get in line: the first one writes the word on the back of the child in front of him or her and so on, the last one in line has to say the word out loud! Then it’s his or her turn to stand at the beginning of the line and choose the word to be guessed…

The artist

A variant of the Secret Message for children who cannot yet read and write.
Each participant has a sheet of paper and a marker. One child leans against the wall, while another, leaning against his back, draws something on his own paper. One can start with simple shapes, such as hearts or stars, and then try more complex drawings. The child leaning against the wall should try to reproduce on the paper the movements that the other person makes on his or her back. Will the drawing at the end be at least similar? Who knows: but the result will certainly be fun! And to make it more complicated, just increase the number of participants!

The centipede

Un gioco di fiducia e collaborazione. Bisogna formare due squadre: dopo aver fissato due punti di partenza e due di arrivo, i partecipanti si mettono in due file indiane, formando appunto dei millepiedi, ognuno con le mani sulle spalle del bambino che li precede. Tutti i bambini, tranne l’ultimo della fila, saranno bendati, e sarà compito dell’ultimo guidare i suoi compagni per raggiungere la linea del traguardo stabilito per la sua squadra, senza far scontrare i suoi compagni con gli altri! Come? Con dei colpetti sulle spalle del bambino davanti, che ripeterà i colpetti sulle spalle del bambino davanti a lui fino ad arrivare alla “testa” del bruco, indicando la direzione da prendere. Vince la squadra che arriva perA game of trust and collaboration. Two teams must be formed: after setting two starting points and two finishing points, the participants stand in two Indian rows, forming centipedes, each with their hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them. All the children, except the last one in the row, will be blindfolded, and it will be up to the last one to lead his teammates to reach the finish line set for his team, without letting his teammates collide with the others! How? With taps on the shoulders of the child in front, who will repeat the taps on the shoulders of the child in front of him until he reaches the ‘head’ of the caterpillar, indicating the direction to take. The team that arrives first on the opposite side wins. prima dalla parte opposta.