We are going on safari—-it is our school wide theme this year! The sensory groups explored animal themed boxes and the fine motor groups made animal themed art projects. The language group made a tasty animal themed treat!
SENSORY GROUP
This box contained safari themed items such as a toy camera, hat, sunglasses, jeep, compass, and a variety of toy animals.
Of course, the students had fun trying on the props 🙂
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
Our bright colorful “tiger” rice was very eye catching. It might just be our favorite!
There were 3 camouflaged tigers to find in the rice!
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
There were lots of animals, including monkeys, butterflies, lizards, bees, and bird to find in our jungle themed umbrella.
We also included a sloth hand puppet and a voice output with jungle sounds.
Science access point: recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.
Yellow and brown pom pom’s filled this giraffe themed box.
Whether just feeling their soft texture or sorting by color, the students really enjoyed this.
Science access point: match objects with similar observable properties such as color.
More eye catching colors could be found in our butterfly and caterpillar pasta box.
There were a variety of other butterflies to find.
Math access point: recognize similarities and differences in size of common objects.
The students mixed yellow food coloring with shaving cream to make a fluffy mane for the laminated lion in our messy play.
Our lion ended up with some pretty wild hair 🙂
Science access point: recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move.
Hands were rinsed in a little lake containing a crocodile and hippo.
Two different sized measuring cups were included for scooping fun.
Science access point: match living things with their habitats.
We are using up the last of our banana scented lotion with this unit. PLEASE start stocking it again World Market 🙂
Whether placed on hands, arms, neck, or behind ears, this lotion was a hit!
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday the students made paper bag zebras.
First, they identified the paint color.
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
Next, they used a fun patterned roller to add stripes to their zebras.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Then, they added a nose, ears, eyes, and a cool mohawk cut from scrap paper.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!
Some zany zebras!
Quick—–take a picture!!!
On Wednesday we made sunset safari pictures.
First, the students identified the paint color.
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
Next, the students tore pieces of colorful tissue paper. The students really had fun with this part 🙂
Science access point: recognize a change in an object.
Then, they used paint brushes to spread glue over the yellow background paper and patted down strips of tissue paper on to the glue.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
Elephants were added by stamping UP and DOWN.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.
TA— trumpety trump— DA!!
We saw a herd of elephants.
What fabulous safari pictures!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made a yummy safari treat this week in our language group. Here is the recipe that we used: Let’s Make A Zebra Striped Parfait Disclaimer: we changed it a little bit by using 2 boxes of mix rather than 1 and using 3 cups of milk instead of 2 due to the amount of kiddos we had.
We started out by PUTTING white chocolate pudding mix into a bowl. Students who said they would HELP were given the pudding mix box. We waited for a few seconds while the students tried to open the boxes. After they were unable to open the boxes themselves, they were prompted to ask for HELP from staff.
Once the boxes were open, the mix was poured into the bowl.
Next, each student got to touch the milk. They indicated whether it felt COLD or HOT.
Science access point: recognize objects or materials as warm or cold.
Since we used 3 cups, 2 DIFFERENT students got to HELP. We first measured out 2 cups. The students were then asked how many MORE cups we needed to add.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
Once the pudding mix and milk were in the bowl, each student got to HELP mix it up.
After each student, we LOOKED at the bowl to see if the pudding was ALL DONE or if we needed to mix it MORE.
When the pudding was ALL DONE, we set it aside. Each student got a bag with 3 Oreo cookies. Students had to make sure they each had the correct amount. Then, they got to SMASH their cookies into pieces.
We used an ice cream scoop as a hammer and it worked perfectly!
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
Each student had to indicate that they WANTED some pudding in their CUP. Then, they each added HALF of the Oreos and repeated the pudding and Oreos again.
TaDa! A yummy zebra striped treat 🙂
Hope you enjoyed the safari! Join us next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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