Volunteers Make Toys Accessible

Long Beach Unified School District students, families, staff and community members recently gathered at Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science to create more than 100 accessible toys for students with disabilities as part of the District’s Toy Hackathon event.

The annual event invites volunteers to modify battery-operated toys by installing buttons, switches or other alterations that transform the toys into accessible playful items for students in LBUSD’s Specialized Health Care Program.

For many disabled students, fine movements like a pinching motion using the thumb and index finger can be difficult due to severe motor impairments. Adding buttons and switches makes the toys more accessible.

This year’s event set a record for the most altered toys in the event’s history. Several students from Sato were on-site to teach volunteers how to cut wires, solder and hack the toys.

The newly accessible toys will be distributed to specialized health care classrooms throughout LBUSD before the upcoming winter break.