July is Disability Pride Month! It’s an opportunity to celebrate innovations in accessibility, talk about disability and inclusion, and recognize the contributions of people with disabilities to our society.
Disability propels innovation. When tools or systems don’t work for all people, it’s most often those who’ve been left out who push for change or invent their own solutions. There are all kinds of examples of creative, collaborative people working together to solve accessibility barriers, such as Tetra Society or Makers Making Change.
Trying out an adapted recipe, playing an accessible game, or seeking out books or movies representing people with disabilities are all ways of recognizing and celebrating the disability community’s ongoing legacy of innovation and advocacy.
With that in mind, here are a few ideas to mark Disability Pride Month with your kids. Some activities are more focused on education and awareness and can be great conversation starters about different disabilities. Others are just fun ideas designed to suit different accessibility needs.
Inclusive board games
Consider buying or borrowing a board game with universal design features such as braille or audio descriptions. For example, check out Inclusive Imagination, a game designer and manufacturer that creates universally accessible tabletop games. Enabling Devices also sells a range of adapted games for different ages. Or watch Sarah Reed’s short video guide on buying visually accessible games. For kids a little older, you could start conversations through this free disability awareness game, which allows players to roleplay characters with different disabilities in different scenarios.
Got artists at home?
These adaptive art projects are so colourful and fun! There are options that are suited for kids with limited mobility, sensory seekers, and more. If you’re looking for more specific help finding the best adaptive art tools for different impairments, check out this list of video resources. Or, for your little ones, try this disability pride flag colouring sheet.
Get busy in the kitchen
Another way to celebrate Disability Pride Month is to cook together! Accessible Chef has a collection of free visual recipes and other resources to help teach cooking skills to kids with disabilities.
Watch and read together
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has a list of Canadian children’s books for Disability Pride Month, or check out these empowering kids books recommended by Variety parents. If you’re planning a family movie night, consider picking one that represents characters with different disabilities, such as those listed either here or here.
We hope these resources are helpful as you celebrate the amazing kiddos and others with disabilities in your life. Happy Disability Pride Month!