What kind of paint product would paint plastic objects bright colours for a visually impaired person?

Hi. I am a carer for an elderly man who is losing his sight. He loves to play games and was very depressed today that we could not play othello because he could not see the black counters. He could see the white ones so am thinking of using some kind of bright paint to cover the black side. Any ideas?What kind of paint product would paint plastic objects bright colours for a visually impaired person?
The quick and easy way to do this would just be to use some of those round ';stickers'; sold at office supply stores, and apply one brightly-colored one to each of the black sides of the pieces (they come in fluorescent colors too, different sizes and shapes, different brands, etc). Here's one example:


http://www.avery.com/avery/en_us/Product鈥?/a>


(...they'll mostly be in the ';labels aisle'; at any office supply store, and even other stores)





That would work for this game, and perhaps for some other game parts, but you could use the spray or liquid ';paints for plastic'; or for ';paints for metal'; like Rustoleum, etc) for future game parts or even parts of game boards, etc.


You could even turn an existing game board into a brighter and more contrasty one by using a ';decoupage'; method (or just make a brand new one that way) ... that is, cut pieces of colored paper** in the shapes desired, then decoupage them onto a thin board, illustration board, etc, or even just a sheet of cardboard.





**you could even print something on the the paper first (large lettering perhaps), but you'd want to use a permanent ink like that used for photocopies and laser prints since inkjet inks might run if they weren't sealed first


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en%26amp;q=how鈥?/a>





Another possibility for playing pieces or even for boards or just parts of boards would be to make your own with some kind of clay*** (or have him make them), or cut out pieces of flourescent-colored poster board, etc.








***Many air-dry clays could be used but remember those will shrink somewhat while drying, and must be sealed after drying with acrylic or other permanent paints, or with clear finishes like polyurethane or even permanent white glue (Elmers GlueAll, e.g.) thinned down a bit with water. (Some brands and types of ';air-dry clay'; would be homemade salt dough clay or bread clay:


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en%26amp;q=how鈥?/a>


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en%26amp;q=how鈥?/a>


...or purchased clays like the very good Creative Paperclay or Makins, or like Crayola's Air Dry Clay, Model Magic, Celluclay, etc)





....Polymer clays on the other hand are great because they need no sealing and don't shrink, and come in many vibrant colors (which can all be mixed together too for more colors)... those ';bake'; for a short time in the oven and come as brands/lines like Premo, Kato Polyclay, FimoClassic and FimoSoft, Cernit, and various ';Sculpeys'; (Sculpey and SuperSculpey and Sculpey III will all be more easily breakable anywhere they're thin though than all the other brands after baking...the other brands can actually be made as thin sheets too, and used as is or glued onto other flat surfaces as veneers).


In fact, there are some lessons, examples, and links of using polymer clay for various aspects of games on this page at my polymer clay ';encyclopedia'; website if you want to check them out:


http://glassattic.com/polymer/kids_begin鈥?/a> ...click on the GAMES category which is about 2/3 of the way down list at top of page





P.S. There's a page at my site too that has ideas for the visually impaired (low vision and even blind) for using polymer clay. You might find some ideas you could use there too:


http://glassattic.com/polymer/disabiliti鈥?/a> ...click on the EYESIGHT category








Best of luck!





Diane B.What kind of paint product would paint plastic objects bright colours for a visually impaired person?
I like the idea of the enamel paints and the instructions for how to paint the game pieces. I would choose a bright yellow, orange or light green for him, but the best way to choose colours is to ask him which ones he can see against the board background first (he could be colour blind as well which would make only certain colours easier to see against the board background than others - the background itself could camouflage the pieces too well).





When you play the game make sure there is plenty of light on the board too. You can buy 'daylight' bulbs for most lamps. Position a light right next to him and angle it so it illuminates the board but does not cause glare for him.





Another idea may be to add some texture to the game pieces by setting sand in the paint, gluing a piece of macaroni or a coin or some other identifiable shape to the top of the game piece then painting them different colours, making the pieces different sizes etc so he can use his sense of touch to distinguish between them. If you use different shaped pieces then the colours don't have to be different and you can choose the colour he can see the best and make all the tors the same colour....
You might look for the bright enamel paints sold in small containers for painting plastic airplane and car models. Testor is a brand I used. Suggest cleaning the surface of each piece with denatured alcohol before painting - test one with the alcohol first so you are sure it doesn't melt/distort the plastic. And check a spot with the paint to be sure it dries okay, some plastics keep the paint tacky. Hobby shop or craft store (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Joanns)
There ia a spray paint that you can get that will stick to plastic. I cant remember the name right now but tell the clerk at the store you will be buying from what you need.
you can get brush on florescent paint at a hobby shop or spray paint at a store like wall mart