Textures to Learn—a project to design and prepare specially-adapted materials for blind and visually impaired children, launched by students in School No. 1-102 “Entre Ríos”General Alvear, Mendoza, Argentina.

In 2013, when a blind girl joined their school, her classmates became aware of the shortage of didactic material for blind people and the difficulties that this entailed and decided to do something about it: they started producing the material themselves. In 2016, the children decided to expand the recipients of the project and included students from other schools.

The students produced handcrafted didactic material in which they use the Braille system. To begin, they conducted a series of interviews with professionals specialized in blindness and visual impairment, and they were advised by specialist teachers in the field. They used the information and training received to produce quality functional pieces, books, number puzzles and card games that are not on the market. They produced Braille signs in foam and expanded polyethylene and designed and created textured books on the topics suggested by the teachers.

They also made maps with different textures to recognise the provinces of the country. An important aspect of the project is the use of recyclable materials. During the course of this project, students learned and practiced skills in the areas arts, language and literature, mathematics, IT, music, social sciences and natural sciences.The students who participated in the experience also learned to work in integrated teams and to jointly plan effective actions.

This project is one of thewinning experiences of the Presidential Prize “Solidary Schools 2016¨ awarded by the National Program of Solidarity Education, Ministry of Education, Presidency of the Argentine Republic.