Category Archives: Education

Dec5

Week 13—Kwanzaa and the Letter M

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Week 13—Kwanzaa and the Letter M

Kwanzaa was the theme for our Fine Motor and Sensory groups this week. Our Language group is on the letter M.

Sensory Group—Kwanzaa

Cara’s book helped us learn more about this special holiday and we used the voice output device to wish each other “Happy Kwanzaa”!

Our first box was filled with some of the symbols of Kwanzaa. First, we put in some straw for the woven mats that are used and often made from straw. We also added some plastic fruits and vegetables, some ribbon printed with fruit, a metal cup, red and green blocks, and a little happy family.

In addition to looking at the symbols, our students were able to explore the differing properties of the various materials (a  science access point).

 

 

 

 

 

Such lovely soft textures in our next box!

Red, black, and green pompoms—Kwanzaa colors.

We also added huge fat chenille stems (found at Joann Fabrics) in the same colors.

The differing shapes and colors but similar textures enabled us to discuss the concepts of same and different which are math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Cara’s book, we learned about the 7 candles of the Kinara. Since we are not allowed to bring candles to school, we used Wikki Stix (available from a variety of catalogs). It was interesting to watch the different reactions of our students.

Their waxy feel is a very interesting texture and they will also stick to themselves. We again used the colors of Kwanzaa which allowed for some sorting opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grains are another symbol of Kwanzaa, and 

we couldn’t decide which we preferred so we used

both corn…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and oatmeal for our scooping boxes. Our students had fun scooping (strengthening shoulder stability, eye hand coordination, wrist rotation) and finding the letter K—-for Kwanzaa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We practiced prewriting strokes in applesauce

(one of the fruits of the harvest).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed our hands in pomegranate and apple scented water and then used similarly scented lotion. A delicious fruity scent to remind us of a happy Kwanzaa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Kwanzaa

We read Cara’s book to learn about Kwanzaa, our students especially enjoyed the pages discussing the different foods! Then we began our activity.

Joy printed the capital letter O at 48 point size on yellow paper. She then cut the paper in half and trimmed all but one side.

On the untrimmed side a green cutting line was drawn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students used the adaptive scissors

to cut along the line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we flipped the paper over and squeezed some glue along each end.

Squeezing the glue (as usual, we colored our own with food coloring to make it easier for our students to see) works on hand strengthening and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put a toilet paper tube on one end

and rolled it to the other end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we tore pieces of tissue paper (a nice pre-scissor activity). They were crumpled into balls—or an approximation of a ball 🙂 These were then dipped into glue and affixed to our creation. Have you guessed what we are making?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta Da—a corn cob! A vegetable from our

Kwanzaa harvest 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, after reading “Happy Kwanzaa” again, we proceeded to make a woven mat which is one of the symbols of Kwanzaa.

We bought 2 vinyl placemats at the dollar store and cut each into 4 pieces to make mini mats. 3 slits were made down the length of the middle.

We found some fabric ribbon at a thrift store. There were a variety of fruits printed on it which went along with our Kwanzaa harvest theme. We pre-wove most of the ribbon and let our students finish pulling the strands through which they really enjoyed.

Grasping the ribbon helps work on pincer grasp skills and following the ribbon as it is pulled through addresses visual tracking. We also discussed the rectangle shape of the placemat and number of ribbons addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

After we had finished weaving the ribbon

we trimmed the edges using our adaptive

scissors.

We then used double stick tape to secure

the edges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is our completed Kwanzaa mat, pretty cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—letter M

We started by Making a Magnet Motor Car. Inserting wheels into openings addresses eye hand coordination. Counting the wheels addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start your Motor—-Make it go!                      

Pushing the car to friends encourages

social skills and is so much fun 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we used tongs to pick up bananas to feed the Monkey.

Tongs are useful for working on graded motor control and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had our students choose how many

bananas to pick up. This addresses math

skills in addition to practicing making

choices out of group of 3.

For our students with motor issues, we adapted a softie by hot gluing a shower curtain ring to its back and velcro to its mouth. We  added velcro to some of the bananas. It works really well!

 

 

 

 

 

Next we used Markers to color

Money.

We our so proud of this student,

who used to avoid handling all

writing utensils. Now look at

him 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

After coloring, our students cut out their Money and counted it to see how Much they had Made!

One of our students got quite creative and cut his in half to Make More—if only it could be that easy 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished our session by playing Cara’s

sound game and looking at some of the

M words we found.

Please join us again next week with more fun Group by Group!

Nov20

Book for Week 12

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Book for Week 12

The book this week focused on things that happen on Thanksgiving day, ending with a nap!  The repetitive line is the same as the title of the book so the students were asked to “read” the title using the voice output device.  The question we asked was “when do we do this?” to which the students answered “on Thanksgiving day”.  Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving Day

Nov20

Week 12—Thanksgiving and the letter L

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Week 12—Thanksgiving and the letter L

This week our Sensory and Fine Motor groups had a Thanksgiving theme while the theme for our Language Group was the letter L.

Sensory Group—Thanksgiving

We started our session by reading Cara’s book “On Thanksgiving Day” using the voice output device to say the repetitive line.

Our first discovery box was filled with all sorts of Thanksgiving themed objects such as  leaves, felt pilgrim faces, a scarecrow, big and little turkeys, soft orange and yellow yarn, hard gourds AND a plastic turkey leg 🙂

Math access points were addressed when discussing big and little turkeys as well as counting them.

Science access points were addressed comparing the hard gourds with the soft yarn.

Its amazing how much you can fit into one little box!

Our students really enjoyed searching through the box

to find their favorite things. Others got more creative and started dropping leaves on their teachers head  as she was bending down to pick something up 🙂

 

 

Our harvest mix of beans (reminding us of soup that might be made with Thanksgiving leftovers) contained  turkeys and T’s. We were able to work on matching colors in addition to counting.

Finding the letters and turkeys among the beans also addresses visual and tactile discrimination.

The beans were a huge hit in one of our middle school classrooms and as 3 students gathered around the box, one young man made sure to note “look we are sharing”.  How sweet!

 

 

 

 

 

Our feather boas became soft turkey feathers………..so much fun          to touch and drape around necks. For some of our students the soft feel of the feathers was especially enchanting.

We were also able to work on some visual tracking by picking up the boas and moving them around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We picked up this soft pompom yarn in fall colors from Michaels. It reminded us of a soft warm blanket you might use while watching football games on Thanksgiving day.

It was fun to squish while talking about the properties of materials, a science access point.

Our students also enjoyed being draped with the yarn or working on their fine motor skills by pulling the strands up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pumpkin pie scented play dough had a wonderfully yummy aroma, 

absolutely delicious but our students resisted the temptation

to sample it 🙂

Hand strengthening was addressed when squeezing the play dough and using our turkey and leaf  cookie cutters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We practiced writing the letter T in sweet potato pie puree, messy but fun!

The texture was a little challenging for our students with tactile issues but most of them at least got a finger in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And rinsed our hands in Cinnamon Pumpkin (from Bath and Body works) scented water and finished with the lotion to bring Thanksgiving memories for the rest of the day.

Between the pumpkin pie playdough,  scented water and lotion, it was quite the aromatic delight for lovers of all things pumpkin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Thanksgiving

On Tuesday we read Cara’s Thanksgiving book. Our students especially loved the pages with food and loved pointing to their favorites. After our story we made a little turkey that Jeannie designed.

First, we colored a an index card brown. As we passed out the index cards we counted them and discussed their shape, addressing math access points.

The index card was then set aside for a moment (after 2 holes were punched in the middle).

Next, we took a pipe cleaner (pre assembled by Jeannie”s

staff using a small pompom, tiny googlie eyes, a small piece

of pipe cleaner, and a small piece of craft foam) and began

stringing folded (with a pre punched hole in the middle

near the fold) cupcake liners.

Our students had so much fun picking out and counting

the colorful liners.

 

 

 

 

A quick twist of the pipe cleaner secures everything in place. Then the pipe cleaner is threaded through the holes in the index card to give it a base to sit on. A very cute turkey–sorry, no picture of it finished 🙁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday after reading “On Thanksgiving Day” again, we made pumpkin pies!

First we counted out 4 strips of orange paper for each student. We also counted the brown paper plates as we passed them out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students tore the paper strips into small pieces, dropping

them into their bowl. Tearing the paper addresses bilateral

coordination and is a good pre-scissor skill building activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students worked on hand strengthening by squeezing glue onto the plate.

Then they practiced their pincer grasps by picking up pieces of torn paper and placing them on the glue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We presented 3 spices (nutmeg, cloves, and pumpkin pie) and let our students smell them. After smelling each one they chose their favorite by either pointing or smiling and then got to shake it all over their plates.

Thanks to Laurie B. for this idea. Also the choice of 3 items correlates to our alternate assessment.

 

 

 

 

With the addition of a dollop of cotton ball “whipped cream” a delicious smelling, low calorie pumpkin pie——YUM!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—-letter L

We shone a Light to show which puzzle pieces to Lift up. We especially Liked the Lunar moth, Ladybug and Lightning bug!

Holding the wand over the puzzle helps build shoulder stability. Picking up the puzzle pieces addresses following directions and eye hand coordination.

We also counted the puzzle pieces, working on math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we Laughed while a squeezing a Little Lion and shaking a Large Lion.

Squeezing this finger fidget works on strengthening pincer grasp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hot glued a shower curtain ring to the Large Lion to make it easier for our students with physically challenges to grasp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next each student was given a precut Lion face (drawn by Joy) and a paper plate.

We counted them as they were passed out and discussed the circular shape of the plate.

Then our students were asked to make a choice of 3 markers to use when coloring both the lion’s face and paper plate.

Our students have different ways of communicating their choices, these include pointing, vocalizing, facial expression, or eye gazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For students with physical challenges, Joy attached markers to a switch toy with velcro. This allows our students to independently color along with their classmates.

Putting the toy in a box lid helps keep the toy contained.

As usual, everyone wanted to use the switch to color also their pictures—and of course we Let them 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

After we finished coloring, we glued the pieces together to make a very Lovely Lion!

We finished as usual, by playing Cara’s listening game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of Laugh’s as usual!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at just some of  the Lots and Lots of L words found today.

Its sometimes hard to collect all of them for our pictures, as our students really Like to examine them 🙂

What an awesome week! We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and we will see you afterwards for more fun and learning Group by Group!

Nov14

Book for Week 11

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Book for Week 11

Since the repetitive line was not something which could be answered, we asked the students to “read” the line using the pre-recorded voice output device.  We used a hair dryer when we read about windy weather, we used a rain stick, the thunder drum and turned the lights on and off for a lightning effect when we read about stormy weather, and we used a spray bottle for mist when we read about rainy weather.  The kids LOVED all the sounds.

What is the Weather

Nov13

Week 11—Weather and the letter K

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Week 11—Weather and the letter K

Our theme for the Sensory and Fine Motor groups was Weather. Our Language Groups theme was the letter K.

Sensory Group—Weather

We started by reading Cara’s latest book “What is the Weather?”  In addition to our voice output device with the  repetitive line, we recorded the sounds of rain and thunder on some of the other devices which our students enjoyed.

Our music department let us borrow a rain stick and a drum that rumbles just like thunder when you shake it! Between using those instruments and turning the room lights on and off quickly, we had quite the thunder storm going on in the room 🙂

Not pictured but also used, were a hair dryer for wind and water spritzed into the air to softly rain down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the storm—-out came the rainbow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students loved holding their hands out to “catch” the rainbow. As we moved the light around they were also able to work on visual tracking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back came the lights and on to our sensory boxes— we looked for the letter R in rainbow rice. It was so colorful and fun to scoop up with hands or spoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We explored the concepts of hard hail (white mardi gras beads) and soft snow (cotton balls). Properties of materials is a science access point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, we took dry sand and then used our spray bottle to make it wet—science access points again! Our students loved finger painting in the sand, practicing directional pre writing strokes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Weather

We read Cara’s book about the weather and had an awesome thunder storm! Then it was time to make some clouds.

We started by mixing glue and shaving cream.

Some of our students were very enthusiastic about the mixing part 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we used sponge brushes to paint with the mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta Da—-clouds! They dry like puffy paint with the coolest spongy texture—wonderful for our visually impaired students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we read Cara’s book and had yet another thunderstorm. So fun! Then, we proceeded make windsocks.

We started with a rectangle (math access point) of wallpaper—we just love those wallpaper sample books!

The paper was inserted into a 3 hole punch and our students really enjoyed operating the lever. Actually, only 2 holes are needed but this hole punch is easier for our students to use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, our students chose how many crepe paper streamers to add. Some of them chose 1 and then realized they wanted more which gave us the opportunity to work on addition!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The streamers were then glued to back of the paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the adults taped the rectangle into a tube, our students chose the color of yarn they wanted to use as a hanger.

Once again, we are giving our students an opportunity to practice choosing from an array of 3 which is the format used on the alternate assessment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students got the opportunity to practice lacing skills by pulling the yarn through 2 of the holes. To make it easier, we wrapped tape around the ends of the yarn.

Lacing addresses bilateral coordination and eye hand coordination.

For even more fun, we brought out the hairdryer and watched them flutter around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—letter K

We pulled apart two love bugs and let go so they could Kiss. This toy helps work on shoulder stability, grasp and release skills.

These  bugs were the bees Knees!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we worked with a shape sorter. We had to match the right Key to unlock the shape. This activity addressed visual spatial skills, wrist rotation and lateral pinch grasp.

It was really Kind of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we cut out a Kangaroos that Joy drew onto index cards.

For our more advanced cutters, the outline was highlighted in yellow. Our students with more emergent skills simply snipped straight lines along the sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joy drew two tiny Kites as visual cues for the hole punch (great for strengthening hand intrinsics).

Insert two fingers into the holes…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and your Kooky Kangaroo can Kick a ball with Knobs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This activity works on separation of the sides of the hand and finger individuation. And, of course, the fun factor is pretty high 🙂

 

 

 

We finished by playing Cara’s latest listening game…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and looking at all the K words we found today!

We all had so much fun this week, please join us again for more excitement Group by Group!

Nov6

Week 10—Going to the Fair and the Letter H

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Week 10—Going to the Fair and the Letter H

The Fair is coming to town so it was the perfect theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. We made a little change this week and have renamed our Alphabet Group. It is now called the Language Group, to more accurately reflect its emphasis. In our Language Group, we are on letter H.

Sensory Group—Fun at the Fair

While the sounds and aroma of popcorn (thanks Ms. B) wafted through the air, we read Cara’s book “We’re Going to the Fair”. Our students enjoyed munching the popcorn while listening to the story. In addition to our voice output device, we added some finger puppet props that Nancy made.

After we finished the story, we started to explore our sensory boxes. Our students sifted through yellow cornmeal to look for cow and sheep puzzle pieces as well as the letters S and C.

The cornmeal has the most lovely soft, silky feel and our students really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We looked for animals from the petting zoo in some hay. It had a really different texture from the cornmeal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We turned off the lights while our students played with some of our lighted toys. There are lots of moving lights on the rides and booths at a fair.

The toy pictured here is activated by a little button that is helpful for working on isolated thumb movements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This next one was a lot of fun. It is a spinning top that not only lights up but has siren like noises that are similar to those heard on the rides. As the top moved around the table, it allowed the students to work on visual tracking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lights came back on and we talked about all the different booths you might see at the fair. In some of them, you might pick up rubber ducks or knock down bowling pins to win a prize. You might win a sparkly necklace or a cuddly teddy bear. You might go into a fun house and look at yourself in a mirror.

Our students really enjoyed sifting through the various objects to find their favorites. It also gave us the opportunity to discuss properties of the materials (a science access point).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soft easter basket stuffing made for perfect cotton candy. It came in a variety of delicious colors and was so much fun to pull apart while working on bilateral skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of our students “made” cotton candy by squishing cotton balls, water and blue food coloring. This is a great activity for strengthening hand intrinsics. When finished, it really does resemble cotton candy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also double bagged samples of our sensory boxes for our students with problematic oral exploration issues to allow them to safely explore the materials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we rinsed our hands in water with a delicious vanilla sugar scent and finished with vanilla sugar scented lotion so we could all leave smelling like yummy funnel cakes and remember our visit to the fair!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Fun at the Fair

On Tuesday, we started by reading Cara’s book and using the adorable finger puppets Nancy made. Finger puppets are wonderful for working on finger individuation and placing them on/off addresses bilateral skills.

After we finished the story, it was time to make cotton candy!

We started with a poster board rectangle glued to a popsicle stick and some cotton balls. We discussed the shape of the poster board and cotton balls (math access points).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students chose an ink color from a choice of 3 ( giving them practice for choosing from an array of 3 in our states alternate assessment)….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then we dabbed our cotton balls onto the stamp pad. This step works on pincer grasp and eye hand coordination skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we glued the cotton balls onto the poster board. Counting the cotton balls as they are placed addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we sprayed water and food coloring onto the cotton balls to make a stick of yummy cotton candy! It looks good enough to eat!

Squeezing the trigger works on hand strengthening and is a great pre-scissor activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, after reading Cara’s book again and having more fun with the finger puppets, we made a ferris wheel.

First we used a paper cutter to cut rectangles. Our students really like using the paper cutters and it is exciting to see some of our students start to use them independently!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we counted out 2 precut construction paper circles and glued them to the rectangle to make a ferris wheel gondola.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we turned it over and the students turned it over and glued a precut silhouette of themselves to the back, to “sit” in the gondola.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We handed out a big paper plate with small one attached (working on those math access points again!) to the back with a brad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students were each given a set of pre-assembled gondolas of each of their classmates which they then glued, along with their gondola, to the large paper plate. Due to privacy concerns, the sample we have photographed was made with magazine cutouts but as you can see, it looks very cute and when the small plate is held it spins quite nicely—-and addresses bilateral skills!

The yellow wheels are vinyl that the vision teacher prepared for our student with a visual impairment to make his gondola.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—letter J

We squeezed the bulb to make these spiders Jump across the table. These furry Jiggly, Jittery spiders sure elicited lots of laughs and squeals 🙂

Squeezing the bulb helps strengthen hand intrinsics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we used our tongs to pick up Jungle animals and put them in a Jar.

This activity addresses bilateral functions and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then our students chose a piece of paper from an array of 3 (again, due to the alternate assessment, we like our students to have 3 choices when possible).

……Just wait and see what we are going to make!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We proceeded to fold the paper in half and then folded the corners down. We added dots to give our students visual cues.

Almost done…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

two more folds to make wings……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…………….and here is our Jet!

Our students had so much fun launching their Jets and seeing whose flew the farthest (slipping a math access point into our language activity!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by playing Cara’s listening game. Cara records the sounds on the computer and the students try to guess the sound and point to the correct picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few of the words we put on our post its today. As usual, our students enjoyed picking up or pointing to the post its as we wrote down “J” words during our session.

We had so much fun this week! Please join us next week for more fun and learning Group by Group 🙂

Oct30

Week 9—Pumpkin Time and the Letter I

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Week 9—Pumpkin Time and the Letter I

Pumpkin Time was the theme for both the Sensory and Fine Motor Groups this week. For our Alphabet Group, the theme was the letter I. All the groups were so much fun—see what we did!

Sensory Group—Pumpkin Time

We started by reading Cara’s book Trick or Treat. In addition to using our voice output device, the students got to take turns with these goofy finger puppets. Great for working on finger individuation.

For our water play and lotion, we used Pumpkin Pie Paradise (from Bath and Body Works). It had a really strong aroma that wafted all around the room. Everyone enjoyed the yummy, sweet scent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We looked for the letter P in a mixture of orange colored rice and black beans. In addition to letter and color identification, we were able to discuss the concepts of big and little.

The picture really doesn’t do justice to how brightly colored the rice was. It was very eye catching.Here, one of our students who usually needs some assistance to engage with the materials, just dove on in with both hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also made some pumpkin pie scented playdough to use with our bat and pumpkin cookie cutters. Pushing down on the cookie cutters addresses hand strengthening in addition to working on tactile desensitization.

Despite its rather yummy aroma, almost all our students were very good about not trying to eat it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also put some eyeball rings to squish around and find in some plain playdough. As these rings were pretty small, we did put the mixture into a double ziplock bag before our students began playing with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our shaving cream ghost was a hit. For some of our students it is easier to work on a more vertical surface—-shaving cream is a perfect choice!

After the ghost was rubbed away, we worked on making vertical, horizontal and circular motions to address prewriting skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This sensory box emphasized the contrasting properties of materials—a science access point. We had rough pumpkin scrubbers and a smooth piece of orange fabric,  hard beads and soft garland, big pumpkin bean bags and little black pompoms. We also put in black and orange yarn and a few halloween themed trinkets.

It was fun to see the items different students chose to interact with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Pumpkin Time

We started by reading Cara’s book and taking turns with the finger puppets again. The we made the cutest mummies using an idea we found at crafts.kaboose.com/juice–box–mummy.html

We started by tearing  a piece of white paper into strips  and glueing them around a juice box. Tearing paper is a wonderful pre-scissor activity, great for improving bilateral coordination.

Before we started tearing the paper, we discussed its shape (rectangle) and color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We tore a small piece of black paper and glued it near the top of the box.

And then, we counted out 2 googlie eyes and glued them on the black paper—great for pincer skill practice (Joy being an OT, just had to mention that of course!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our artists always “sign” their work but we were particularly excited to see students emerging independence using his adaptive writing utensil.

And now here they are………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MUMMIES!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we used punches to cut out 1 square and 2 circles (working on math access points and hand strengthening).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We cut the square into 2 triangles….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and glued them onto an orange paper plate (using our home made colored glue to help our students see where to place their pieces).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we added our circle and some rectangles—more math access points

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…………………Let the trick or treating begin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alphabet Group—letter I

We started by putting an Iguana In and out of a jar. Unscrewing the jar works on bilateral coordination, palmer arches, and grasp patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
We then played the game “Whats in Ned’s Head”….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and found some really Icky things! On side note, this class is made up of all boys and needless to say, they absolutely loved this game. What can you say, boys will be boys 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then moved on to something a little more appetizing—Ice cream!

First we practiced cutting along lines to make our triangle cone. This student is using an adaptive squeeze scissors (available from a variety of catalogs).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cone and a small paper plate were glued onto a piece of paper. Our students colored their plates with markers.

For our students with significant physical differences, Joy used velcro to attach a marker to a switch toy. By pressing a switch, the students were able to color also. Their classmates also enjoyed taking their turn, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by adding a few sequins for sprinkles.

I like It!! !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the I words we found today.

It was certainly another fun week, join us next time Group by Group!