In more than 35 years of working with blind children, Janet Simon, executive director of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, had never seen a blind child roll down a hill.

Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Taylor Fraash, 3, chases after bubbles while playing in the Children's Garden at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children in Oakland. Click photo for larger image.

That is until about two years ago, when the school installed the Children's Garden in Oakland, complete with a grassy hill. The chance to roll down a hill is more than just a game; it's a skill that helps to develop reading.

"Blind kids typically have a really hard time learning to read," Simon said.

Part of the reason may be the children -- even the ones who have limited vision but are legally blind -- aren't exposed to much print material, ranging from books to signs.

But she said another reason is "the kids lack concept development. When they talk about Jack and Jill going up the hill, they really don't know what the hill is. When they talk about Jack and Jill coming down, they don't know what that is."

In the garden, she said, "they're actually experiencing the language by walking up the hill and rolling down it."

This message of providing outdoor opportunities for blind children to learn will be carried to educators here and abroad via a video called "First Adventures" made at the school. It features lessons in the garden with the schools' teachers, students and five experts in blindness and reading from throughout the nation.

With a $75,000 grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation, the school produced and is distributing 2,000 DVDs.

Simon and teacher Beth Ramella-Perry will give a presentation today at the 2005 convention and expo for the Council for Exceptional Children in Baltimore.

Earlier in the week, Brenda Egan, supervisor of early childhood education, and teacher Megan Scorupan presented and distributed DVDs at the Vision 2005 international conference in London, hosted by the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

The video features children and teachers at the school as well as college professors. All of the children at the school are legally blind, and many of them have other disabilities as well.

The garden, which cost $800,000 to build, is intended for more than just picnics in the sunshine; it is an outdoor classroom.

The video includes a Jack-and-Jill lesson as well as others using features of the garden, such as the sculptures, fountain and brick walkway.

In one, a blind 4-year-old learns to navigate with her cane and a tactile map, which has landmarks she can feel, until she gets to the reward: a chance to sit on the special bench which plays a song when a someone sits on it.

In another, Lakota Hixon, now 6, of Brownsville, Washington County, smiles as he sits in his wheelchair and feels birdseed scattered on a tray in front of him. This lesson, which also features colorful stuffed plush toys of birds that chirp, aims at extending the visual reach of children with low vision.

Teacher Kelly Doyle-Bucci said that the lesson, recorded in 2003, was the first bird one, but now she weekly takes her class out to the garden to learn about birds.

A bird hasn't flown within the visual range of the children yet -- although occasionally one can be heard -- but the children respond to feeling the birdseed, filling the feeder, learning the difference between empty and full, and hearing and reaching for a bird made of plush.

On Friday, Lakota lifted his head and smiled when he put his hand into the birdseed. And through the lessons, he has learned to identify correctly the empty container when faced with a choice of empty or full.

Another student, Tamihya Sapps-Goggins, who is hesitant to touch things, has learned to touch the container. Being able to touch is an important skill for blind children, and this lesson, as well as ones centered on the fountain in season, help children to develop that skill, said Doyle-Bucci.

Ramella-Perry said the children have had experiences in the garden that couldn't be duplicated in an indoor classroom.

She said she could take a snowball into the classroom, but that's not the same as playing in the snow in the garden.

Students might have trouble understanding where food comes from, but a tomato planting -- and eating -- activity in the garden on the video helps to connect the pieces.

Simon said the ideas in the video aren't limited to a special garden but can be adapted.

"We hope people will use it in public schools and any kind of setting," said Simon.