Welcome to the After Party! Each week after the weekly blog featuring activities in the elementary department is posted, our sensory cart is parked in the media center where it is available for check out by the rest of the school. Here are photos teachers have sent of their students exploring the different sensory boxes during the month of September—–enjoy!

 

 

 

 

The first unit complimented the Unique Curriculum theme for September. We learned about People of the American Revolution.

The students had fun making buildings just like President and architect Thomas Jefferson. They used blue Floam to make their buildings.

They searched for the numbers 1776 in red, white, and blue rice.

 

 

 

 

 

They found letter A’s in tea like Abigail Adams might have like.

 

 

 

 

 

                                 Lots of fun to sift through and a nice aroma too!

 

 

 

 

 

Another american revolutionary was silversmith Paul Revere.

There were also 2 different sized horses to find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wikki Stix were used to make glasses—

—-–Ben Franklin invented bifocals!

 

 

 

 

 

The students used shaving cream to re-style Georgia Washington’s hair—-or give him a beard 🙂

Then they went fishing, enjoying Patrick Henry’s favorite hobby.

 

 

 

 

 

Our video game unit was a BIG hit!

The students sorted green Luigi and red Mario pompoms.

They did a really great job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video games have lights and sounds. We recorded some video game sounds on a voice output device and then put a bunch of light producing toys in this box.

These were  a real hit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The students stamped Minecraft squares into red moonsand.

The sand is soft but can be molded easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big chenille stems were joined to form rings, like those in the game Sonic the Hedgehog!

Some of our high school boys and fun just making creations with their rings—-they got pretty creative 🙂

 

 

 

 

Our box with things you might find in the game Legend of Zelda was another big hit.

 

 

 

 

 

There was lots to discover and explore!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From craft foam we cut out some Pac Man figures and put them in our oobleck

 

 

 

                                                                       —-so much fun!

 

 

 

 

Next we looked at Extracurricular Activities—-the things kids do after school!

This box contained pompom shakers—-for all the cheerleading

                                                              ……..and wig fans 🙂

 

 

 

 

Shaker pompoms are so much fun!

What’s not to love 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sports are always popular. The students made different sized balls out of white Floam.

The students also “fished” in our little pond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the music fans, we included our always popular finger drums, a tambourine, and a maraca.

                                                      This was a popular box!

 

 

 

 

Some students go to an After School program. This was represented with rice in our school colors and alphabet letters to find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The students practiced making circles and ovals like race tracks, in shaving foam.

This does get a little messy but is sure to produce a few giggles.

 

 

 

Our dance box had scarves, head dresses, feather boas, and a voice output device with ballet music.

This box also brought out the sillies in more than a few students 🙂

 

 

 

We finished with some yummy vanilla scented lotion, which reminded us of Girl Scout cookies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended September with a unit that looked at Opposites. The book featured lots of our students demonstrating opposites and was a real hit!

Students compared sizes, shapes, and other physical features of a variety of materials.

 

 

 

In and Out was the theme for our purple beans and rice box.

                                                    A very inviting box to explore.

 

 

 

 

 

They pushed Hard cookie cutters into Soft play dough.

Of course, some of the students branched out a little with their own creations.

 

 

 

 

 

Rough and Smooth were explored with this box.

                                                                 Lots of textures!

 

 

The plastic spaghetti strands were especially intriguing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The box of balls—-all different sizes—–was a hit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The large fluffy balls were also a textural contrast to the Koosh balls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watching the beads and glitter drift Up and Down in the discovery bottles was pretty mesmerizing.

                                                      These are so cool!

 

Watching both at the same time—-even better!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oobleck is the ultimate opposite because it behaves like a Solid and a Liquid!

After rinsing hands, the students experimented to see which objects Sank and which Floated in the water.

 

 

 

 

The Light box was another big hit with this unit!

The colorful lights made it especially eye catching!

 

 

 

Well that is it for another month. The students really had lots of fun AND got some learning in too! See you next month!