Fikria Nur Baiti shows some part of BaaDaaBoo, her self-made toy for visually impaired children.

ITS students never stop to invent new innovations. This time, an ITS students made an innovation through her thesis, a special toy for visually impaired children. She is Fikria Nur Baiti, an undergraduate student from Department of Industrial Product Design. She designed a toy named BaaDaaBoo by combining several games for visual impaired children who’s still in the age of play.

Until this day, toys that are made to the visually impaired children are still difficult to find. Betty revealed that the common games that is often encountered do not directly focused on learning braille or writing system for blind useres. “There are still rare special toys that necessary to support the active movement of (visually impaired) children,” Betty said.

This Gresik teenager explained the game was made for children who are still in age of play. “For children in the age 4 to 6 years, the toys are made to focus more on learning texture and moving mobility or moving in certain directions,” she explained. Betty also added, her toys can be used to training children’s motor skills and concept of direction.

Fikria Nur Baiti practices how BaaDaaBoo works.

Betty also explains that the size of her toy is quite large. If the toys are arranged as whole, the size can reach 2 x 2 metres. “This toy takes place in the form of a puzzle, so the children can change the shape configuration,” said student from class of 2015.

Betty also said the toy trajectory that she designed can be used as direction. “Along the track, there are also pieces of various shapes and puzzle base, so the children can play puzzles by matching the shapes,” she said.

She added, the puzzles are available in various geometric shapes. Triangles, circles, squares and pentagons are made with a variety of fine and rough textures. In addition, there are songs about geometric shapes, which can be sung while played. “So, there are trajectories that children can follow while playing puzzles to make it more fun and not boring,” she concluded.

A student from SLB Kemala Bhayangkari, Gresik, tries BaaDaaBoo, a toy specially designed for children with visual impairments.

With one toy, according to Betty, the benefits gained by children are quite a lot. The toy can train sensitivity to the sense of touch, the concept of direction by concentrating when walking along the track, and also orientation mobility. What’s more, this toy is safe to use by blind people using materials from EVA rubber or commonly known as sponges.

This toy has already played by the visually impaired children in SLB (Sekolah Luar Biasa) in Surabaya and Gresik. They’re happy when played the geometric puzzle game and loves the sound of the game,” Betty said.

One of students from Yayasan Pendidikan Anak Buta Tegalsari, Surabaya, when he plays with BaaDaaBoo.

The girl who will graduated in upcoming Sunday (15/3), feels that there are still so many shortcomings in her thesis. With a limited time, Betty confessed that she self-handled the toy prototype making, assisted by her friends. She also hope that the toy can be further developed for the better. “I want this toy to be produced and given to schools that need it later, so that children with visual impairments can immediately feel the benefits,” said Betty hopefully.