A Jasper resident is creating a sensory play wall to help children with disabilities.
Ball State Senior Natalie Hopf and her team are creating an interactive play wall to help children with disabilities improve coordination, problem-solving, and other skills.
The team is partnering with the Children’s TherAplay Foundation in Carmel to make the project possible.
This organization provides physical and occupational therapies for on horseback for children with diagnoses like cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, traumatic brain injury, and developmental delays.
The cruising wall will have various mechanisms to help the children, including some Hopf and her team built.
Team members created a musical piano floor, a horse-shaped puzzle on the wall, and a sensory “gel” pond.
Hopf and her team are creating these pieces as part of an immersive learning course.
The course is a continuation of last semester when students proposed a new design for the entire building at the Children’s TherAplay Foundation.
In this project phase, students are designing furniture pieces, including a sensory wall, a ramped bridge, and more.
Hopf a student in the R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning, is studying interior design and historic preservation and will graduate in May. She hopes to work in a multidisciplinary firm in Indianapolis.
