Enjoying by senses

Children were encouraged Friday morning to cover themselves in frosting, rummage through piles of candy and investigate the inner recesses of Christmas trees.

“You just can’t tell a blind kid not to touch,” said Blind Children’s Learning Center Special Events Coordinator Sharon Mitchael. “That’s their eyes.”

The children from the North Tustin center’s preschool come each year to the Newport Dunes resort for a sensory-friendly holiday experience. This year, the children decorated a larger-than-life gingerbread man and explored the resort’s new Christmas tree lot.

The annual visit has been a tradition for more than 10 years; other sensory experiences for the children have included real snow. Gingerbread cookie decorating has been a longtime favorite.

“It’s very tactile and engaging for the kids,” Mitchael said. “It brings the holiday spirit to our kids because Christmas is such a visual holiday. This kind of brings the Christmas spirit to them for the first time this season.”

The activities help children develop their compensatory senses like smell, touch and hearing, she said.

Representatives from the learning center used candy pieces to spell out Merry Christmas and Thank You in Braille on the gingerbread.

Along with decorating the gingerbread man and enjoying lunch, the children were guided through the lot and encouraged to smell and touch the pine needles.

They also listened for the approach of a white-haired man in a red suit; kids took turns touching Santa’s boots, beard and gloves.

“We want to do anything that is going to make these children happy, especially during this time of the season,” said resort Vice President and General Manager Andrew Theodorou.

Two holiday trees were raffled that evening at the resort’s annual Lighting of the Bay; proceeds benefited the learning center.