Well it has certainly been a different end to the school year! This will be our last post until we start back again in the fall. In anticipation of some free time with school over, our OT, PT, and SLP have come up with some activities for you to do at home since our students are Too Cool for School 🙂

 

 

We don’t have a central theme this time, it is simply all about FUN—-enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

SENSORY

Our students always enjoy messy play with shaving cream but we recently found a way to make it even more fun—–add some jello powder! Just sprinkle some on top of the shaving cream and it becomes this cool substance—still shaving cream but more durable and moldable!

You really need to try it!

 

 

 

Another fun activity is making your own Discovery Bottle. There are lots of YouTube videos out there but the general instructions are pretty easy. You need any empty plastic bottle that has been well cleaned. Add a generous amount of clear glue, mineral oil, or baby oil. Add glitter and if you want—a few small beads or toys. Fill with water AND—this is important—-securely GLUE the lid closed!!! Now it is time to SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE.

At school, any time we shake something we sing along to that old KC and The Sunshine band song—always turns it into a fun time 🙂

Your child will have a blast but be sure to supervise carefully 🙂

 

 

 

 

GROSS MOTOR

Just as this 4th 9 weeks has been different, summer will be different too with the Summer Olympic Games being postponed.  So, what if you had your own Summer Olympic Games with your family?

You could divide into teams or compete as individuals.  Have each person or team come up with a team name or represent a country (you could even include some social studies by doing research about different countries, but it is summer so that is up to you).

 

Then choose your games or activities.  There have been a lot of activities listed in previous posts that you could use or you can look online for others.  Maybe even let each participant/team choose one or two activities, so you have a variety.  Modify the activities as needed, so everyone can participate.

Finally, hold your Olympic Games.  They could be held inside, outside, or a combination of the two.  They could be held in one day, over a week’s time, or throughout the entire summer if you did one or two activities a week.  If you do the later, you could “hold practices” to practice the skill to prepare for the “big day” much like an athlete would practice their sport.

It would also be fun to have family members that live outside of your home watch to cheer you on using FaceTime, Zoom, Teams, etc.

 

Lastly, come up with a way to keep points or score until the end of your Olympic Games.  And of course, at the end of the games, have an award ceremony to recognize everyone’s achievements and to celebrate a job well done.  Everyone will be a winner because you created, competed, and celebrated together.

Have a safe and wonderful summer!

 

 

 

 

 

FINE MOTOR

Two fun projects for you—one quick and easy, the other will take a little more time.

If you don’t have balls handy for your Olympic Game—-you can make your own!

Grab a piece paper, fold it in half, and crumple it up into a ball (this is a great activity for building hand strength and working on bilateral coordination). Have your child squeeze it really hard to make it as compact as possible. They can knock, drop, kick, or throw to make a goal/score a point!

Make ENOUGH paper balls to almost fill a plastic shopping bag. Tie the bag closed and VOILA—instant beach ball 🙂

 

Another activity to do with your child is to make a Summer Scrapbook! I did this with my children when they were little and it made such great memories. It is also a great way to practice writing and cutting skills. Here are a few suggestions for pages:

Stamp your child’s HAND and FOOTPRINT on a page on the first day of summer break. Then do the same at the end of summer.

Draw a self PORTRAIT and a picture of the SUN.

Pick favorite MOVIE, BOOK, TOY, TV, VIDEO GAME, PLACE, SONG etc. and have your child draw a picture about it. If your child needs to practice writing have them write a sentence as well.

 

 

 

Gather old magazines and have your child tear or cut pieces of their favorite COLOR and glue down to make a collage.

Of course, take lots of PICTURES and add them to the scrapbook!

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE

We’ve had some summertime beach thoughts lately, so this week I’m including 2 different recipes that can hopefully quench your thirst for the sandy beach.

Here is the first recipe: Let’s Make Sonic Ocean Water  This is a recipe that copies the Sonic ocean water drink.  We made this with our students in 2018 so we included some pictures on each of the pages of them putting together the recipe.

 

 

 

Here is the second recipe: Let’s Make A Beach In A Cup  We made this recipe in 2017 with our students so again, we have pictures of them carrying out the steps of the recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

While making these recipes, make sure to use your child’s communication system if they have one in place.  We always emphasize core vocabulary words like PUT, TURN, HELP, WANT, MORE, AGAIN, and ALL DONE.  Talk about how the ingredients feel: wet/dry, hot/cold, hard/soft.  Talk about the taste of the recipes: good/bad, sweet/sour, like/don’t like.  Talk about how the ingredients look when they are mixed together–how they can change from a liquid (milk and pudding mix) to a solid (pudding when it has set).

What’s most important is to have fun, be together, and always keep modeling and using language for your child/student.  Repetition is KEY so repeat, repeat, repeat!

 

 

 

LITERACY

Books based on some familiar stories are always a hit—here are a few of our favorites!

We recommend this book from October 2015: Let’s Go To Neverland!

We also recommend this one from March 2019: Who Are The Characters In Aladdin

Finally, one more from December 2015: Who Will We Meet in Arendelle

 

Thank you all for following along with us this year. Please join us again in the fall for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!

 

 

 

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