This time of year, there is a lot of shopping going on so we thought it would be a fun theme to pick for this week. Our sensory groups explored shopping themed boxes. The fine motor groups decorated shopping bags and the language group got to go shopping at our very own Owl Mart!
SENSORY GROUP
Blue and yellow rice (our school colors) contained some the letter S—–for shopping, of course!
We also included some different sized spoons for scooping fun.
Science access point: recognize two objects that are identical to each other.
Our students ride buses when they go out into the community to shop.
There were two different school buses to drive along a black bean road.
Science access point: recognize the larger of two objects.
When going shopping you have to have money! We put paper money, play coins, a purse, a money clip, and dollar sign mardi gras beads.
We also put in a money themed discovery bottle which was lots of fun to shake. There were even some “credit/debit” cards.
Social studies access point: recognize coins as money.
Shopping for clothes is always fun! The students used cookie cutters shaped like a t-shirt, hat, and 2 different sized boots to cut clothes out of yellow moonsand.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Our food court box was filled with lots of play food—-such as soda, cookies, burgers, and french fries!
The students loved the squeaky cupcake and pizza oven mitt!
The students had a lot of fun with the play food, but the green paper shred was pretty popular also!
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
Cinnabons, another food court staple, inspired our messy play this week.
We thought our oobleck looked just like the frosting on those yummy treats!
Science access point: track the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled.
As usual, the students had so much fun exploring one of our favorite substances—-it’s amazing what you can make with a little cornstarch and water 🙂
Staying with the food court theme, hands were rinsed in Bath and Body Works cinnabon scented water. Â There were a variety of different sized scoops and spoon for some splashy fun.
Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
Vanilla sugar scented lotion was a hit with the students this week!
Our students left the group with a sweet reminder of all the fun we had 🙂
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Wednesday the students used foam stamps to decorate canvas shopping bags.
First, we identified the shape of the shopping bags.
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
Then the students chose stamps to decorate their bags. We glued plastic thread spools to the stamps to make them easier to hold. The students had to lift the stamps UP and DOWN.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.
On Thursday the students decorated their shopping bags using textured rollers!
First, they identified the shape of their bags.
Math access point:Â recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
After paint was applied to the rollers, the students began rolling them across the canvas. We had a variety of cool textures to choose from!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
We’re going to shop til we drop!!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
Our school has a little student run store called the Owl Mart that our language group got to go to this week. As a reward for good behavior, our students are able to earn “owl bucks”. They can then use those owl bucks to buy different things at the Owl Mart.
We all walked over to the Owl Mart after reading the book, making sure to grab the bags that we had made during the fine motor group earlier in the week.
We worked on staying together while we walked.
When we got to the Owl Mart, students walked around with the staff to find something they wanted to buy.
They could choose from toys, clothes, jewelry, books, stuffed animals, and Christmas objects.
Just like in the book, they had to make choices based on how many owl bucks they had.
Once they decided what they wanted, they had to go and pay for their item. Students worked on counting out their money. We had sentence strips for them to use if they needed HELP.
Once their items were bought, they put their new treasures in their bags.
Everybody was happy with their purchases.
What a fun, fabulous week. Join us again next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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