Category Archives: Occupational Therapy

Mar18

Week 25—St.Patricks Day and the Letter Y

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Week 25—St.Patricks Day and the Letter Y

This week we had fun learning about St.Patricks Day in our Sensory and Fine Motor groups. Letter Y was the theme in our Language Group.

Sensory Group—St. Patricks Day

We read Cara’s book and learned all about symbols associated with the holiday. Our students used the voice output device to ask “what do we see on St. Patricks Day”.

Our first box was filled with a variety of green items such as silk shamrock leaves, silk leaves, easter grass, shamrock beads, manipulatives, chenille stems, mini kitchen scrubber and toys. We also included play food—some vegi’s you might use for irish stew and a couple of  rubber snakes St. Patrick missed when he was driving them out of Ireland 🙂

Lots of different textures to explore and compare (addressing science access points). Lots of interesting items to look at and talk about.

 

 

Legend has it there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and we found some! We used some gold mardi gras beads and green pom poms in our treasure box.

This box let us address science access points when contrasting properties of materials and address math access points when counting the items.

 

 

 

 

 

We looked for the letter P, for Patrick,  in our rainbow rice. Its just so bright and colorful!

As always, lots of fun to sift through and scoop.

Looking for the letters addresses visual and tactile discrimination skills, in addition to literacy.

 

 

 

 

We turned the light off and had more rainbow fun with our rainbow light.

Everyone had to be touched by rainbow!

Visual attending and tracking are addressed during this activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We turned the lights back on and made shamrocks out of our green sparkly play dough. Joy used lemon-lime Koolade and LOTS of green glitter, it looks fabulous!

Play dough activities are great for working on hand strengthening. We counted 3 leaves on each shamrock, addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we practiced scooping with our potato flakes. Potatoes are popular in Irish cooking and play an important role in Irish history.

We also taped a surprise to the bottom of the box—a little leprechaun peeking out!

Visual discrimination and social studies access points are addressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Some chunky bright orange yarn made a great leprechaun bread. Soft and stringy, its so much fun to reach and grab, working on shoulder strengthening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green oobleck with gold glitter. So pretty and sparkly. Green to remind us of Ireland and gold to remind us of the leprechaun’s gold.

Very eye catching and fun to draw prewriting patterns in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by rinsing our hands in Bath and Body works Juniper Breeze scented water and then rubbed the scented lotion on our hands.

This lovely outdoor scent reminded us of the Irish countryside and will help us remember all the fun we had learning about the symbols of St. Patricks Day.

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—St. Patricks Day

We read Cara’s book “Symbols of St. Patricks Day”. Our students did an excellent job activating the voice output device to participate in reading the book.

We started our project by using our adaptive table top scissors to cut some yellow squares.

We discussed the square shape, addressing math access points.

What a great job our students are doing, they are really visually attending to the scissors.

 

 

 

 

We glued a small black square on top of the big yellow square.

This addresses math access points and spatial concepts. In addition, pincer skills are practiced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yellow square was then glued to a strip of black paper.

It looks like a belt but its not 🙂

We set it aside and began our next step.

 

 

Then we practiced writing our names on a small paper plate. Our students are given a model to copy.  Our students have varying skill levels in this area. Most are working on scribbling.

Then we turned the plate over and painted it green.

Our students are getting lots of practice using classroom tools. We get very excited when they start scribbling or painting independently.

 

 

We glued a green solo cup onto the paper plate. We used just regular old elmers glue and it held pretty well.

We then wrapped the black paper strip around the cup and taped it.

This activity addresses eye hand coordination and bilateral functions.

Have you guessed what we are making yet?

 

 

 

 

Why some fabulous green

hats, of course!

Just waiting for

some leprechauns:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again and then started our next activity. We are going to make a leprechaun beard.

 

We started by asking each student to cut 3 pieces of orange yarn. We counted outloud while each student took their turn.

Everyone did a great job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then squeezed a bunch of glue (Jeannie colors it with food coloring to make it easier for her students to see) on a strip cut from a large paper plate. Then we practiced our pincer grasps by picking up the yarn and dropping it on the plate.

 

The darker orange strings are actually pipe cleaners threaded through holes to make ear hangers.

 

 

 

When everyone had put their 3 pieces of yarn on the plate we used a voice output device to ask our students if we were finished or needed more yarn. Those students who chose “more”, got to add additional yarn to the beard. Most of the students chose “finished”—it was time for snack 🙂

This activity addresses math access points and communication skills.

 

 

 

 

Here is Ms. Martha (the OT intern), our leprechaun model for the day!

Jeannie (classroom teacher) also took lots of pictures of her cute little leprechauns for her yearbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter Y

We started by stringing some Yellow beads. Some of our students were able to manipulate standard beads and laces.

This activity helps bilateral coordination and fine motor skills.

 

 

Some of our students needed the activity to be modified by using pipe cleaners which are stiffer than regular laces.

We also used larger beads which are easier to grasp.

 

 

 

 

 

Other students strung beads on aquarium tubing which is even easier.

After stringing their beads, our students practiced one to one correspondence by counting how many Yellow beads were on their string. For our students who are non-verbal, we used a step-by-step voice output device.

 

 

Love how the voice output device matches our Yellow theme—we planned that 🙂

 

 

Next, we tasted some sour apple spray candy! We checked with nursing and they said it was ok for our students who are tube fed in this classroom (some students are completely NPO, so we always check with the nurses before any tastings).

Here is Ms. Garland taking her turn!

For our students who were hesitant to have something sprayed in their mouth, we sprayed a spot on their hands so they could lick it instead.

 

 

Everyone got a chance to communicate whether it was Yummy or Yucky!

As You can imagine, everyone had a definite opinion 🙂

 

 

 

 

Then we started on our project—making Yachts!

First our students used scissors to trim a Yellow  triangle (math access points). Some of the students in this class are able to manipulate regular scissors, others use adaptive ones.

We also modified this activity for the individual students by changing the amount of lines they had to cut. For example, this student only had to trim one side. Other students had to cut along 2 lines or even the complete shape.

 

 

Then we cut 2 holes with a hole punch. Some of our students really enjoyed the hole punch so they cut a few more 🙂

This is a great hand strengthening activity.

 

 

 

 

 

A straw (with the bendy part cut off) was treaded through the holes to make a mast.

Our Yacht is starting to come together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stuck the straw into a slice of pool noodle and tested the Yacht’s sea-worthiness— it floats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students were so excited watching their Yachts float on the water. We wished we had gotten a bigger container but the smaller one gave the students an opportunity to take turns and also do some math problem solving—how many Yachts can fit into the container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came back to the table to play Cara’s sound game.

A Yellow Jacket—Yikes! If it stung, You might Yelp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we finished by looking at some of the Y words we found today.

Did we have good time?

YEAH!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We are off on spring break for the next week but we’ll be back soon with more fun Group by Group!

Mar12

Week 24—Money and the Letter X

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Week 24—Money and the Letter X

This week our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups learned about money. We picked the theme to relate to the schools Unique Curriculum theme of economics. The Letter X was the theme for our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Money

We read Cara’s book “There are Many Different Kinds of Jobs”.  We chose careers that children often say they want to be when they grow up and related each of our boxes to the different jobs.

Our first box was related to money. It had green paper shred because our money is made of paper and dyed green. We also put in some paper money and coin replicas. Our coins were larger than real life to avoid any choking hazards. We put in beads with dollar signs (we found these at Target in their St. Patricks Day section!) and some  gift/credit cards. We also put in a money clip, car key (you often drive to work), and a piece of leather (purses and wallets are often made of leather).

Our students had a lot of fun with this box—some of them really enjoyed collecting the money. Which, of course, gave us an opportunity to work on math access points!

 

 

 

The next box had a construction  theme—what fun to drive a dump truck! We used assorted beans for our gravel and put in a couple of toy trucks and the letter C. We  also hid a little surprise at the bottom—a picture of a dump truck was taped to the bottom of the box!

In addition to practicing scooping skills, uncovering the truck addresses visual and tactile discrimination skills.

 

 

 

How about becoming President! We filled our next box with the patriotic colors of red, white and blue.

Soft pompoms and hard beads allow us to contrast properties of materials which is a science access point. Sorting and counting the different colored pompoms relates to math access points.

We also included a letter P for President to address literacy skills.

 

 

 

 

Pink and white rice, a crown—yes, its a princess sensory box!

Nancy made this bracelet we by wrapping strips of tulle around a rubber band. This was a huge hit with some of the students. Very visually interesting to watch the tulle move as a hand was waved.

Concepts of same and different are addressed—the 2 crowns are the “same” and the spoon is “different”.

We also included the letter P to address literacy.

 

 

 

 

Another exciting job would be a circus performer which is the theme of our next box. We filled it with some colorful packing peanuts, puzzle pieces depicting different circus performers, and the letter C.

The packing peanuts can be sorted by color and allow opportunities to practice pincer grasp skills.

 

 

 

 

 

We talked about being a firefighter while finger painting in shaving cream. It looks just like the foam used to douse fires!

We practiced prewriting patterns and letters by finger painting in the foam.

Encouraging students to interact with the foam helps address tactile sensitivity issues.

 

 

 

 

When finished finger painting, hands were rinsed in water. Our students always enjoy the opportunity to play in water. Its fun but can also be very calming and relaxing for our students.

 

 

 

 

We also included some theme related items to encourage visual tracking. A glittery baton—just like a circus performer—was a great tool to practice forearm rotation movements. Watching the movements of the glitter as it moved in the water water from one end of the tube to the other related to science access points.

 

 

 

 

One of our I-spy bottles (made from some plastic juice bottles with lids tape shut) contained some toy coins (along with rice and beans for contrast).

Fun to roll and watch the coins sift through the rice.

 

 

 

 

The other bottle contained some brightly colored princess jewels.

Both of these bottles could be rotated to encourage visual tracking or shaken for auditory input.

Coin and color identification skills can be addressed using these bottles.

 

 

 

 

We finished by using some rose scented lotion—

to remind us our  future looks “rosy” 🙂

It had a very distinct aroma that all our students reacted to.

Rubbing the lotion on our hands promotes bilateral coordination. For those students who tend to put their hands in their mouths, we rub lotion on their upper arms or the back of their necks.

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Money

We read “There are Many Different Kinds of Jobs”  which our students loved. They recognized the different professions and all seemed to have a favorite.

After reading the book we made some piggy banks. We started by using an electronic cutting machine. Our students were SO excited and could hardly wait for their turn to press the button– their eyes were glued on the machine 🙂

Listening skills, following directions, turn taking  and finger individuation skills are addressed while operating the machine. Watching the mat board move as the machine cuts encourages visual tracking.

 

 

 

 

We counted out the 7 pink circles that we cut, then we counted 8 students.

Hmm, I think we need 1 more circle!

Working on math access points 🙂

 

 

 

 

We cut out some smaller circles and some triangles—getting lots more turns to press that button and make the machine go!

Counting the circles, and comparing their sizes addresses math access points. We also worked on shape identification and the concept of same and different  with the circles and triangles.

 

 

 

 

Now to assemble our little piggy! We  glued 2 triangles to the big circle to make ears. Then we glued the small circle on top of the big circle.

We used our food coloring enhanced glue to give the students additional visual cues for placement.

Picking up those small pieces really works on precision grasping skills! Squeezing the glue helps strengthen grasp.

Comparing all the sizes and shapes, in addition to counting different items addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

We glued the piggy on a piggy bank.

The bank was made by  wrapping paper around some different  containers, such as mixed nuts or icing, and cutting a slit in the top.

Here is a cute little piggy bank—just waiting to be filled on Thursday!

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we read Cara’s book again.   It was fun seeing which jobs the students became excited about —construction worker and princess were some of the top choices 🙂

Lets start filling up the piggy bank! We printed some dollar bills (we found these on the Activity Village website).

Our students used the paper cutters to cut along lines that we highlighted—“follow the yellow brick road”!

This activity addresses eye hand coordination and visual tracking.

 

 

 

 

Time to color the money, green of course!

We used a variety of markers. We like these Crayola pipsqueaks that are perfect for little hands.

We really like how this student is demonstrating some nice bilateral coordination skills—stabilizing her money with her right hand while coloring with the left! She has not always been able to do this, so we were pretty excited.

 

 

 

 

 

We also like these Crayola tripod markers that are easy for little hands to grasp. Talk about Universal Design!

This is a fun way to practice using writing tools and coloring in a designated area.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of our students knew exactly what to do with the money. After all,  its never too early to start saving 🙂

This student folded her money up to fit in the designated space, performing some algebraic functions——related to math access points!

 

 

 

 

 

We did save some of the dollars to buy snacks—a great opportunity to reinforce what money can be used for.

This student just handed his dollar to Jeannie and is signing “more”. He knows the value of a dollar 🙂

Those little hands are just so cute!

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter X

We did something a little different (Ms Garland came up with this awesome idea) in our language group this week, a scavenger hunt—X marks the spot!

First we eXmined our map, looking for treasure all around the school.

Using maps addresses social studies access points, sequencing and following directions.

This is going to be eXciting!!!

 

 

 

 

At our first stop we found 2 stretchy tubes.

Pulling the tubes apart—using maXimum effort—works on upper extremity strengthening and bilateral coordination.

They also have a very satisfying sound as they are pulled apart.

 

 

 

 

We used our stretchy tubes to make an eXtreme X!

Crossing the tubes to make the X and laying it on top of the tape addresses visual spatial skills.

 

 

 

 

 

We found this boX at the neXt spot.

Looks like we are in for some bubble fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of blowing the bubbles, you have to squeeze!

How eXtraordinary!

Dipping the wand into the bubble mix addresses eye hand coordination. Squeezing the blower works on grip strength. Visual tracking skills are also addressed while following the bubbles.

Discussing the effect of wind of the bubbles addresses science access points.

 

 

 

 

We followed the map to this spot were we had to imitate an X.

This student did an eXcellent job, don’t you think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally reached the treasure—cookies iced with an X—eXactly what we were looking for!

Needless to say, we all wanted to eXamine them pretty closely 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Time to make our

eXit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the X words we found today— we may have lost a post-it or two on our trek today 🙂

 

 

 

 

Please join us again next time for lots more fun and learning Group by Group.

Mar4

Week 23—Florida and Letter W

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Week 23—Florida and Letter W

Our theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor groups was Florida and our theme for our Language group was Letter W.

Sensory Group—Florida

The Unique Curriculum topic this month explored home, family and where you live, so we we chose our home state as our theme this week. We hope you enjoy exploring our wonderful state with us 🙂

We started our session by looking at a map of Florida. We pointed out where we live and where we might like to visit.

Then we read Cara’s book. Our students took turns activating the voice output device to comment on things we might see in Florida. We were quite excited when one of our students started kicking his feet (he activates the switch with his foot) as soon as we told him it was his turn.

Looking at maps and identifying places on maps is a social studies access point. Reaching for the map, since we held it vertically, helps strengthen shoulder stability.

 

 

 

 

Florida is the Sunshine State!

Our box of sunshine contained  soft, round, yellow pom poms and some hard, rayed yellow shapes (from a set of manipulatives).

These bright and cheery items let us compare properties of  materials: a science access point.

 

 

 

 

 

The next box contained some dried moss, just like the spanish moss that hangs from oak trees in Florida. It had a dry crinkly texture which was very different from the soft black bear “fur”. Again, exploring contrasting properties of materials is a science access point.

We put in a plastic orange and orange slice. This let us compare part to whole concepts which is a math access point.

There were lots of other cool Florida symbols that our students enjoyed pulling out which gave us lots of opportunities to explore language and literacy skills!

 

 

 

Seminole Indians are native to Florida.

They are known for the  bead work on their clothing. We put our colorful beads in some sealed bottles.

We also put in a few shells to encourage  visual discrimination as the bottles are turned.

Of course they are also lots of fun to shake, adding an auditory component!

 

 

 

 

In our next box we learned about alligators—we have lots of them in Florida!

Our alligator puppet had a zipper mouth which gave our students the opportunity to practice some activities of daily living skills.  Feeling the open zipper  was a safe way to touch a gators sharp teeth 🙂

We found a toy that  reminded us of an alligators  bumpy, rough skin.  Also included was in the box, was a gator puzzle piece and a little rubber one. Comparing the sizes of the large gator puppet and a small rubber alligator targets a math access point.

 

 

 

Cape Canaveral, where men were first  launched into space!

Black beans look like the dark night sky and are so nice to scoop or pick up with fingers to practice pincer grasp skills. Lots of tactile input is given when burying/digging out the astronaut and moon.

We also put in a small star shaped cookie cutter, can you find it?

Discussing the star shape and the sphere shaped moon addresses math access points.

 

 

 

Yikes, we are also known for hurricanes! Put a hair dryer on a high, cool setting and you have WIND.

Lots of giggles and smiles erupted as hair was blown or the wind touched their hands. Our students loved this so much, we ended up bringing the “wind” into the Fine Motor and Language groups also!

Exploring the effects of wind/weather is a science access point and the tactile effects increase body awareness.

 

 

 

Ok, we finally got to the beach! We have miles of it here to walk along barefoot (we found this plastic foot on a halloween clearance rack). The foot was a HUGE hit—no pun intended 🙂

We looked for the letter F and made seashell impressions in the sand.

 

 

 

 

 

Other students enjoyed trying to catch the sand as it as it was spilled from the shell—-so much fun in one little box!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we practiced our prewriting strokes in “key lime pie”, our state pie. Its actually vanilla pudding but its a similar color to REAL  key lime pie—and a lot cheaper 🙂

The tactile aspect of finger painting helps reinforce motor memory patterns and is a great way to encourage hand and arm movements.

 

 

 

 

We rinsed our hands in orange scented water and took a little time out for some fishing, sometimes with a little help from our friends 🙂

Using the fishing pole to catch the fish promotes shoulder stability and eye hand coordination. The opening in the fish tails also makes them easy to grasp with hands.

Counting the fish as they are caught  addresses math access points.

 

 

We had some other fish that were squirters! Fun to squeeze, working on grasp skills. Also fun to have the water squirt on your hand! We were really excited to see this student actively moving her fingers and smiling during this activity.

After drying our hands, we rubbed on some orange scented lotion. A wonderful citrus scent to help us remember all the things we learned about our state today!

Thank you Ms. Metra for donating that yummy scent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Florida

On Tuesday, we read Cara’s book about Florida. The students got excited as they recognized some of the familiar places and things pictured.

Talking about the different things they point out allows for lots of language and literacy opportunities.

 

 

 

 

Then we proceeded to make a palm tree—one of the most recognizable symbols of Florida!

We started by counting out rectangular pieces of white paper, working on math access points, of course!

Then we made a “down” stroke using a foam brush and brown paint.

We helped our students with the initiation point but they did a really nice job of completing the stroke. we were so proud!

 

 

Then we painted one of their hands with green paint and counted as we pressed it at the top of the brown line 2 times.

We told you we were making a “palm” tree 🙂

Some of our students could do this step independently but most of them needed some assistance.

 

 

 

 

WOW, doesn’t this make

you think of Florida 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again. Once again our students did a great job helping us read the repeating line. We didn’t talk about them in our book but Manatees are some of the wonderful animals that are native to Florida and we wanted to do a project that included them.

To get started on our activity, we counted out rectangular pieces of blue paper (addressing math access points).

Then we tore pieces of blue and green tissue paper. Tearing the paper helps promote bilateral coordination and fine motor skills.

We are making an underwater habitat for a manatee!

 

 

 

 

Our students dipped the tissue into glue and glued it onto the paper. Crumpling the paper was encouraged!

Grasping the paper encourages pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

This student needed a lot of help with his pincer grasp skills last year, but look at him now! Joy (the OT) is very pleased.

 

 

 

Then we painted our manatee. Joy drew the outline on some white craft foam. Its texture really resembles that of a manatee, just perfect for our project!

 

 

 

 

We added a googlie eye, OF COURSE, and glued our manatee into its habitat.

TA-DA!

Jeannie’s hallway looks so cute with the palm trees and manatees hanging on the wall!

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter W

We started by Wadding up some scrap paper.

This activity is great for encouraging bilateral coordination and palmer arching.

And its really fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Then We took out the hair dryer again and made some Wind!

The students had so much fun Watching the hair dryer blow the paper Wads down the  table. It was also fun to Watch our post-its Wave.

Most of the students could hardly Wait for their turn with the hair dryer 🙂

This activity addresses shoulder stability and eye hand coordination.

Discussing the effects of Wind addresses science access points.

 

 

 

 

 

Next We Wiped out a W on the dry erase board.

Following the strokes promotes Motor Memory for letter formation and Working on a vertical surface promotes shoulder stability.

We also made it big enough to sneak in a crossing midline component.

 

 

 

 

Now We are going to make a Walrus!

For our project, some of our students cut strips of White  paper using our paper cutters.

These are going to be some Walrus tusks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other students practiced cutting on curved lines (this is going to be the muzzle). They needed a little help but really did a nice job.

As usual, we had a variety of scissors, both adaptive and regular on hand to suit our students needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used our hole punches to cut 2 large White circles and 2 small black circles using our hole punches. We love these because they make it easy for our students to cut circles and they help with hand strengthening.

Comparing the relative sizes and counting the circles addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

We glued all the pieces onto a brown paper lunch bag.

Assembling this addresses following directions, fine motor skills and visual spatial concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! A Wonderful Walrus!

Isn’t he just so super cute 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What fun to play Cara’s latest sound game. Lots of cool W sounds to listen for this Week.

Watch out for that Wasp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whew—what a lot of W words we found today. There were so many and scattered all around the table—-here are just a few of them!

 

 

 

 

 

It was just an awesome week, we had a blast! We hope you join us again for more fun Group by Group.

Feb25

Week 22—Mardi Gras and the Letter V

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Week 22—Mardi Gras and the Letter V

This week the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups was Mardi Gras. Letter V was the theme for our Language Group.

Sensory  Group—Mardi Gras

Cara’s book “At the Mardi Gras Parade” had such bright colorful pictures that our students loved. We continue to encourage them to press the voice output device to help read the story.

Our first box focused on the Mardi Gras colors of purple, yellow, and green. We included yarn, garland, curling ribbon, feathers, beads, small toys, and crowns. We also included a little toy baby because of the Mardi Gras tradition of luck coming to the person who finds it in their piece of King Cake.

This box helps work on color identification skills. All the different textures explored properties of materials (science access point). Fine motor skills are addressed while reaching for, grasping, and releasing the different objects. And, of course, talking about all the different objects addresses language skills.

This was such a colorful box and we all loved it!

 

We continued exploring textures and colors

with our next box. Easter grass made a great stand-in for cotton candy that you might buy some from a street vendor while watching the Mardi Gras parade!

Its light and easy to grasp and Pulling the it apart encourages bilateral coordination.

 

 

 

There are lots of lights on the floats at the Mardi Gras parade so course we had to have some! We included some of our spinning light up toys as well as these battery operated lights we found at Target.

Our students had fun touching them or having them draped around their shoulders.

Looking at the lights encourages visual attending and tracking.

 

 

Our next box contained some purple“macaroons” that you might find at the French Quarter! Well, actually, its a substance called “Bubber”  which can be purchased from a variety of catalogs. It has the most amazing feel—light and silky just like a macaroon! The adults loved it as much as the students —-you just can’t stop touching this stuff!

 

 

 

 

BEADS! BEADS!! BEADS!!!

Of course we had to have beads, its Mardi Gras! We filled a box with them and to say our students loved them would be an understatement. Everyone had to grab one or two or a handful 🙂

The beads are excellent for addressing color identification and size comparisons. Their shiny texture makes them very eye catching when shaken and an auditory component is included when rolling across a table.

 

 

We looked for the letter M in our Mardi Gras rice—green, yellow, and purple of course! We loved the way it turned out, reminding us of a box of confetti.

 

Scooping, pouring, sifting—FUN!

 

 

 

 

 

 

King Cake is always served at Mardi Gras. Its yummy and topped with a sweet white sugar glaze that was easy to imitate with our oobleck!

Playing with the oobleck improves tactile awareness and provides a medium for practicing prewriting strokes—or you can have fun just watching it drip off fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

After playing with the oobleck, our students rinsed their hands in vanilla sugar scented water and then rubbed  on some hand lotion.

Everybody left smelling like sweet yummy King Cakes to remind them of all our Mardi Gras fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Mardi Gras

On Tuesday, we read Cara’s book and learned about all the things we might see at the Mardi Gras parade. Then we decided to make some masks.

First we let our students choose whether they wanted a green or purple mask. We found these foam masks at Michaels on clearance after Halloween.

We counted the masks to work on one to one correspondence.

 

 

 

Then we added some

glue. Squeezing the

glue helps improve

hand strength

and eye hand

coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the fun part —decorating! We decorated the masks with feathers, glitter, sequins!

Our students had fun choosing which items to include on their masks. This student especially LOVED the glitter 🙂

A variety of fine motor skills are addressed during this activity from a pincer grasp to pick up feather to shoulder stability needed to shake the glitter.

 

 

 

 

 

Jeannie got some great pictures of her students holding their masks in front of their faces. They are going to look so cute in the yearbook.

Aren’t they just so bright and colorful!

 

 

 

 

 

Snack time comes after our fine motor activity and we just had to include a picture of this students spontaneous food art.

Isn’t it just fabulous—he was just so proud 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we read our Mardi Gras book again and then made some jester hats.

We started by letting our students choose which color to use for their hat band. After they made their choice, they practiced writing their names on their bands.

We made sure to reinforce color identification skills by naming the colors and encouraging our students to vocalize the color names when possible.

 

 

 

Then we used our paper cutters to cut out purple and green triangles. We really like using these paper cutters. They make it so easy for the students to cut straight lines and they really enjoy using them.

Identifying the triangle shapes addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

We cut out yellow circles with our hole punches.

By either squeezing or pushing down on the hold punch our students are working on strengthening their hands.

Counting and identifying the circle shapes—more math access points!

 

 

 

Next, we taped the triangles to the band in an alternating pattern.

After 3 triangles, we asked the students to pick which color in the pattern came next.

Sequencing is another math access point. Putting the triangle beside the previous one addresses spatial relationships.

 

 

 

We added a yellow circle to the point of each triangle. Picking up the circle promotes a pincer grasp and placing it on the glue promotes visual spatial skills.

Its starting to come together!

 

 

 

 

 

Our hats are all done!

Time for the Mardi Gras parade 🙂

 

 

Language Group—Letter V

We started our group by talking about the letter of the week and we practiced forming the letter V with our fingers.

Making letters and other signs gives our students an opportunity to practice finger individuation skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we made Vertical

lines on the magna

doodle to practice

pre-writing strokes.

We Voted on

which line was the longest!

 

 

 

 

We opened the Velvety bag by pulling apart the Velcro.

Then we reached in and pulled out one of the Vehicle beads.

Reaching into the bag and pulling out a bead without seeing it helps address tactile discrimination.

We purchased the bead set at Target.

 

 

 

He put a vibrant Van on

the string—Vroom Vroom!

After everyone had  a turn, we counted  the beads, working on one to one correspondence.

We really like this bead set because the end is a wooden dowel which makes it easier for our students.

 

 

We started our next activity with a Vulture that Joy drew—thanks for the inspiration Ms. Cathie 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students tore black paper into Very small pieces to make “feathers”.

Tearing the paper helps improve bilateral coordination and pincer grasp.

The feathers were glued onto the Vulture working on eye hand coordination and visual spatial skills.

 

 

 

We like this View of the Varmint 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We played Cara’s latest sound game.

This game addresses listening and language skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by looking at our V words. The post -its work so well in our group. Sometimes it hard to write down the words fast enough! Another advantage of them is that they are easy to move around and stick to different objects. They are also easy for our students to pick up and point to.

 

 

 

 

What an awesome week, we really enjoyed it! Please join us again next time for more fun Group by Group.

Feb20

Week 21—Black History, Presidents Day and the Letter U

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Week 21—Black History, Presidents Day and the Letter U

This week the theme for our Sensory Group was Black History, the theme for our Fine Motor Group was Presidents Day, and the theme for our Language Group was the letter U.

Sensory Group—Black History 

We started by reading Cara’s book and learning about some African American inventors. Then we began exploring our sensory boxes inspired by their inventions.

We turned off the lights and shone a flashlight through some plexiglass panels.

We chose red, green and yellow—traffic light colors! The lights really caught our students attention and there were lots of smiles when the light landed on them.

We didn’t have a green panel so we used a yellow and blue one put together, giving us the chance to explore a science access point. This activity also addresses color identification and visual tracking skills.

Thank you Garrett Morgan  for inventing the traffic light!

 

 

 

 

 

After turning the lights back on we voted on what color to make our shaving cream. We presented three circles (red, yellow, green) and our students  communicated their choice by vocalizing, eye gaze, or pointing to a circle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We counted the votes and discussed which color got the most votes, addressing math access points.

It was fun seeing what colors the different classes chose!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to add the food coloring and mix it up!

The shaving cream has a nice tactile feel and is a great sensory medium to practice making pre-writing strokes (after you get tired of squishing it between your fingers of course).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed hands in grape scented water  (to remind us of the grape jelly that would go with the peanut butter we’ll discuss later).

A large syringe makes a great stand in for a super soaker, which was invented by Lonnie Johnson. Operating the syringe addresses bilateral coordination and is lots of fun! Our students also loved it when we squirted the water on their hands to rinse off the shaving cream.

After hands were dried we rubbed our hands with some Cool Citrus Basil scented lotion. The scent reminded us of George Standard who invented the refrigerator  to keep our citrus cool.

 

Now, more things to explore….

 

 

We scooped handfuls of potato chips (actually corn flakes) and crunched them up. Squeezing the chips addresses grasp skills. There is also an auditory component with that satisfying crunch and of course the rough texture adds a strong tactile sensation to this activity, increasing body awareness.

Thank you George Crumb for inventing yummy potato chips!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next box was filled with “freshly mown” green easter grass. We added other items related to our inventors including hair curlers, play refrigerator items, red/green/yellow circles, lawn mower and clock puzzle pieces, and a comb. We named the inventors as we discussed each of the items.

We also recorded the sound of a lawn mower (invented by John Burr) on our voice output device and placed it in the box. Our students thought it was a lot of fun to reach it to “start” the mower.

This box had a variety of textures, shapes, and colors to discover and explore—addressing the science access point: differing properties of materials. Reaching for and grasping the different objects addresses fine motor skills. Naming the objects improves language skills.

 

 

 

We scooped some popcorn kernels  and searched for the letter B—for Henry Blair who invented a corn planter.

Our students loved burying their hands in the corn and also watching the kernels as they were dropped from the scoop.

Lots of opportunities for visual tracking, eye hand coordination and finger intrinsic skills with this activity.

 

 

 

 

We made patterns in cornmeal with a comb (we found this idea on the preschool rainbow website) encouraging visual tracking.

The hair comb was invented by W.H. Sam.

The cornmeal also has a wonderful silky feel that we have explored before, its really hard to resist playing in it.

 

 

 

 

 

Then we played with some peanut butter play dough (we made sure to check that no one had a peanut allergy before we made it). This was wonderful stuff and smelled just like a peanut butter cookie—it was really hard to resist sampling 🙂

Using the cookie cutters or pulling the play dough apart helps strengthen hand and finger intrinsic functions.

Thank you so much George Washington Carver, we love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—YUM!!!

 

 

 

Still one more box! This one contained red, yellow, and green pom poms (traffic light colors). We kept the box simple, with the items all having the same shape and texture, to highlight their similarities and differences.

Reaching for the soft pompoms gives our students opportunities to work on grasping skills and eye hand coordination. Discussing the differing colors helps improve language skills and color identification. Counting the pompoms helps work on one to one correspondence.

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Presidents Day

This Tuesday we learned about some of our presidents by reading Cara’s latest book. After we finished the book we started our project.

First some of our students cut out some squares with a circle penny (math access points).

We used our mounted table top adaptive scissors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Others cut out orange rectangles

—-with a little help from their

friends 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And still others cut out some brown triangles (yet more math access points!)

We did go ahead and  precut some triangles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We set all these shapes aside and counted out rectangular pieces of paper. A small rectangle was drawn on the paper to help our students see where to place their glue.

Of course, squeezing the glue helps increase hand strength and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we placed stacked popsicle sticks on the glue and put the brown triangle on top…

can you tell what we are making yet?

We have a couple more pieces to add 🙂

This activity promotes eye hand coordination, following directions and spatial concepts. Counting the popsicle sticks can also add a math component.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is, Lincoln’s Log Cabin

…we think its move in ready!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again and started our next presidential project. First we put on paint shirts (old t-shirts) which gave our students an opportunity to work on dressing skills (Joy, the OT, really likes this!).

We used 2 different colors of blue to paint a large poster board. Since our students have emerging skills we have a variety of tools for them to use.

This student is using a kitchen scrub brush which has a handle which works perfectly for him.  And, incidentally, adds great texture!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had a variety of other brushes for our students to use. Since we were trying

to cover a large area, these foam brushes (or surgical scrub brushes)  work perfectly!

The large area also allows for larger arm movements addressing shoulder stability. Working together on the same project also encourages social skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Our student with a visual impairment added some fluffy cotton ball clouds.He really enjoyed pulling them apart and patting them down onto the glue.

Hmm, looks like we need to add a little something…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about George Washington crossing the Delaware, with Jeannie’s

class!

Joy drew the figures and cut them out of poster board, adding photo faces of the students and staff. Our students took turns putting glue onto the back of the boat and patting it down.

We have to protect our students privacy, so for this  picture we covered our students faces—- but they are so cute!!!  The staff members are really quite good looking the bunch also 🙂

The students had so much fun finding their pictures and also pointing to the staff members.

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter U

We started by pulling some Unusual animals out of a shopping bag. Each student’s animal was Unique.

The words Up and Under were written on an index card and when presented with the word, the students had to follow the directions.

Either by holding their animal Up or Under the table!

Look at us, working on shoulder stability, fine motor, language and literacy skills at the same time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we guessed which cup the Unicorn was Under. We found that  Unmatched cups do not work well for this game 🙂

This was so much fun and all the students had to have a turn moving the cups around (addressing bilateral coordination and visual tracking and spatial skills). This was also a really good activity for practicing turn taking and following directions.

The Unicorn was made by placing a sticker on a bottle cap.

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on to our next activity, we cut out 3 Ugly bugs! The bugs were just clip are pictures we put on a grid.

As Usual, our students Used a variety of scissors according to their skill levels. We really like these adaptive squeeze scissors as they are relatively inexpensive, durable, and available from a variety of catalogs.

 

 

 

 

Then we crumpled some scrap paper and put it into an Utterly plain brown paper lunch bag to make a rock. We just rolled it closed.

This activity helps to work on bilateral coordination and strengthening hand

intrinsics, as well as eye hand coordination—-and its so much fun to crumple paper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then glued our 3  bugs to the bottom of our rock.

Be careful when you pick up that rock—-UH-OH Ugly bugs!!!!

Our students (all boys in this class) thought it was great fun to pick up the rocks and “scare” the adults. Needless to say, lots of eeks and laughs ensued 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

We did stop playing with the bugs long enough to

play Cara’s sound game. Some pretty Unusual

sounds today!

 

 

 

 

 

And, of course, we looked at the U words we found today.

What a great week! We hope you are enjoying the activities as much as we are, and please join us again Group by Group.

Feb12

Week 20—Valentines Day and the Letter T

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Week 20—Valentines Day and the Letter T

We had so much fun in our Sensory and Fine motor groups with our Valentine theme this week. The letter T was the theme for our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Valentines Day

We read Cara’s Valentine book and used our voice output device for the repetitive line “Its Valentines Day” and then began exploring all our sensory boxes.

Our first box was filled with pink and white rice and we put in the chip board letters L O V E. The letters were big and glittery and very eye catching.

The letters gave us the opportunity to pick out the individual letter V for valentine as well as make the word “love” and discuss the concept as related to Valentines day.

We found some cute heart shaped measuring spoons, which helped us work on shape identification (a math access point)——- and they were just so darned cute 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

We searched for some heart shaped rings and letter V’s in cloud dough sprinkled with red glitter (it doesn’t show up that well in the photo but it really sparkles in person).  We found the recipe online and it has this super soft feel that is both powdery and moldable. Pretty awesome stuff that even the adults can’t resist!

Searching for the rings and letters addresses tactile discrimination skills. Counting them addresses math access points. Squeezing the dough promotes grip strength.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentines are made from paper, so we brought back our box of red shredded paper from a couple of weeks ago. The deep red is very eye catching.

The paper is fun to grasp, crumple, shake, wiggle fingers in,  and watch drift down when dropped. It also provides some auditory stimulation as it rustles and crackles.

Of course, we discussed the color of the paper addressing color identification skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We filled a couple of bottles with foam hearts, beads, sequins (and a little red glitter). These were all tiny valentine related items too small for our explorers but great for visual discrimination skills. We glued the caps back on to make sure they were safe for our students.

The bottles could be rotated adding an interesting movement component encouraging visual attention and tracking. Of course, they were also fun to shake promoting motor skills and adding auditory stimulation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next box was filled with valentine related items including silk rose petals, paper valentines, heart shaped items(candy box tops, ornaments, bangles, etc), garland, and ribbons.

Reaching and exploring encourages fine motor skills and properties of materials discussion, a science access point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final box was filled with large, soft pink and red pompoms and small pink and red mardi gras beads (we do love those beads). More opportunities for discussion of properties of materials! We also discussed the shape of the pompoms and beads, addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by finger painting in chocolate pudding. The dark color was a nice contrast with our tray and of course, it has the perfect finger paint consistency.

We gave our students the opportunity to taste the pudding but kept it as a separate activity. It also allowed them to practice their language skills, requesting “more”—-they got lots of practice 🙂

We rinsed our hands in cinnamon red hots scented body wash. Then we rubbed strawberry scented lotion on our students right arms and chocolate scented lotion on their left arms for increased body and language awareness.  Lots of yummy valentine scents to remind us of Valentines Day!

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Valentines Day

We started our Tuesday group by reading Cara’s book. Our students had so much fun looking at the pictures and everyone pressed the voice output device independently!

Then we began our love bug craft! First we crumpled scrap paper and stuffed it into a red lunch bag (we found these at Target). Our students really love crumpling paper, and just had so much fun.

This is a great activity for strengthening hand intrinsics and eye hand coordination. For students who can hold the bag themselves, bilateral functions are addressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We twisted and taped the end (to give it a tail) and helped the students tape pipe cleaner antennae to the other end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students were given a choice of either purple, white or pink hearts for the bugs face. The hearts were precut on the ellison machine.

We really do try give them as many chances as we can to practice selecting choices! In addition, we encourage our students to verbalize their choices when possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then glued  2 googlie eyes and 1 pompom nose on to the heart. We count the items we pass them out to help our students learn one to one correspondence.

The heart was then glued onto the bottom of the bag.

Squeezing the glue promotes hand  strength and picking up the small items helps strengthen pincer grasp. Placement of the items build spatial relations skills.

 

 

 

 

 

Our students then chose 2 large hearts (comparison of the large and small hearts is a math access point). Again, they were given choices of color. We helped them tape the hearts onto the bag.

And with lots of Ta Da’s, our students help their bugs fly. As they wave their bugs, our students help strengthen their shoulder stability.

Here is a little  bug spreading the love 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we continued our Valentines theme, reading Cara’s book again. We had such fun discussing all the different symbols of the holiday and different ways to say I love you.

This student showed us the sign for “I love you”—pretty awesome don’t you think!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We counted out 8 white hearts (addressing math access points) and, as usual, the students practiced writing their names.

Our students all have different skill levels in the area of writing but we were especially proud of this one. Today he picked up his pencil and “signed” his name independently.

Needless to say he got a huge round of Ta-Da’s 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we turned the hearts over (addressing following directions and forearm rotation) and gave our students a choice of 3 colors to paint their hearts. Red, pink and purple—perfect Valentine colors.

By adding the words to the color squares, we increased the literacy component.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As our students painted, they discovered a cool surprise—-we had written words on the  hearts with a white crayon! We saw the idea on Better Homes and Gardens website and just had to try it.

We discovered that its best to make heavy, wide marks with the crayon and that the paint needs to be thin, watercolor consistency.

For our visual impaired student, we wrote with white glue to give it a raised surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are, some delicious conversation hearts—-YUM!!!

Looks like we ready for Valentines Day 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter T

First we Threw bean bags at Three Toads! Our students had to Take Turns.

Great for building eye hand coordination skills, social skills, and math skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we reached into a Tube sock and pulled out either a Triangle or a Tiger pompom.

This is a great activity for Tactile discrimination, for our students who can identify the object before removing it from the sock.  For our other students, we asked them to match their object to a model after they had removed it.

This was really a lot of fun and our students really enjoyed seeing if they were “correct”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To start our next activity, we Taped a Turtle head  To the Top of a paper plate. Helping address spatial concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then cut out  Triangles to make The Tails—fitting in those math access points discussing shape identification, of course!

Our students used a variety of scissors, depending on their skill level.

The Tails were Taped to the bottom of the plate, continuing to work on spatial concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We counted out 2 flippers and 2 feet and Taped them on to the sides of the paper plate.

We really Targeted spatial concepts today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by Tearing Green Tissue paper into Tiny pieces.

Then we Turned the plate over  and glued Them To The back of the plate (still working on those spatial concepts).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now for a big Ta Da!!!

This is just one of our Totally Terrific Turtles 🙂

Our students loved the turtles and were so excited to show them off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another of Cara’s great sound games, such fun!

There were some pretty cool sounds this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow look at all the T words we found Together! Terrific fun 🙂

It was a great week, we had such a good time!

We hope you can join us again next week for more fun Group by Group.

Feb6

Week 19—Groundhog Day and Letter S

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Week 19—Groundhog Day and Letter S

This week our theme was Groundhog Day for our Sensory and Fine Motor groups. Letter S was the theme for our Language group.

 

Sensory Group—Groundhog Day We read Cara’s book “What will the Groundhog See?”  The voice output device was used to ask that question on each page. We then let our students vote (by using eye gaze, gestures, or vocalizations) on whether they thought the groundhog would say “spring” or “6 more weeks of winter”. We counted the votes and discussed which side got the most votes, addressing math access points.

Later in the week, our student who picked “6 more weeks of winter” was quite pleased with himself upon finding he and the famous Phil made the same prediction.

 

 

 

 

Then we turned the lights off and took turns making shadows (using a flashlight and a storage box lid as the background). Our students enjoyed looking at their shadows as well as watching the light move around, addressing visual tracking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We placed the letter G and the number 2 in some “dirt” (made from coffee grounds). Groundhogs live in burrows that they dig and Groundhog Day is on February 2.

Some of our students responded very positively  to the coffee aroma indicated by their turning towards it and smiling. Others enjoyed sifting or scooping through the grounds.

What a fun way to address emergent literacy skills!

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the themes of Groundhog Day is opposites,  so our next

sensory box was filled with black and white items, reminding us of light and shadows.

We filled it with black and white pom poms, chenille stems, beads, and yarn, black felt, white sheepskin, a white dusting glove, a black ball and a black film container. We had lots of opportunities for exploring the properties of materials a science access point.

Its always fun seeing what gets pulled out 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

We continued our opposites theme with our next box which contained white rice and black beans—more scooping and sifting fun! Touching and exploring the rice and beans also builds tactile awareness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the groundhog comes out of his burrow, he predicts either a coming spring or more winter. So our next box contained items related to both seasons.  We put in some flower blossoms, leaves and sun glasses for springtime fun. Snowflakes, snowmen and wooly scarves to remind us of winter.

This box gave our students opportunities to practice grasping skills in addition to comparing the properties of objects and seasons.

The sunglasses were fun addition and our teachers got some cute pictures of students wearing their “cool” shades.

 

 

 

And  the ultimate opposite—oobleck!!!! Its a liquid!    Its a solid! Just so wonderful for tactile explorations, in addition to practicing finger movements and prewriting patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we rinsed our hands in Old Spice Denali scented water. It had that woodsy scent that reminded us of the burrows where groundhogs might live. We kept the water cool, just like the great outdoors!

This student is practicing his scooping skills which help with his self feeding program and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with a soft cuddly length of brown fake fur. A lovely little reminder of that cute little groundhog 🙂 We discussed its properties—brown and soft— building language skills related to science access points. In addition, running fingers across its surface increases tactile awareness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Groundhog Day

On Tuesday we read Cara’s book again and took turns wearing a top hat (like the groundhogs helpers) and petting our plushy groundhog.

Ms. Katie can totally rock a top hat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we counted out 1 green paper rectangle for each student. They used the adaptive tabletop scissors to snip across one side of the paper. Its fun to watch our students get more and more independent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we put glue on the paper. And rolled it around a paper cup.

This activity addresses bilateral coordination, hand strengthening, and graded motor control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also glued a clip art groundhog to a tongue depressor and inserted it into a slit in the bottom of the cup. Moving the tongue depressor lets the groundhog pop in and out of his burrow. Manipulating the stick helps address arm movements, graded motor control and directional concepts.

Hmm—–what will the groundhog see?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we read about the groundhog again and had more fun playing with shadows. Then we made our own groundhog from an idea we found on the Family Fun website.

First we counted out 8 green groundhog poster board cutouts and 8 black construction paper shadow silhouettes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put glue onto the green cutout and put the

 black shadow on top—then pat pat pat! Squeezing the glue builds hand strength and patting the paper down provides lots of tactile input to the palmer surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We flipped it to the other side…..

AND…..discovered a groundhog picture pre-glued to the other side! We printed this out from the Family Fun website. Picking up the paper to turn it over helps work on grasp skills, forearm rotation in addition to spatial concepts and following directions.

We painted the groundhog brown. Some of our students are starting to show such nice progress in their ability to hold and manipulate their paint brushes—we are so excited by their progress!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here he is—

looks like this little groundhog is predicting an early spring 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter S

 

First our Students chose which color play dough they wanted. We gave them a choice of 3, which is the same as the Alternate Assessment format.

Opening up the containers helps address bilateral hand Skills and hand intrinsic functions. Then we rolled the play dough into Snakes addressing graded motor control.

 

 

 

Then we picked Some Snacks to String! We just love this set of beads, So much fun! We purchased it from Learning Resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our students who had difficulty with manipulating the string, we used aquarium tubing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we made Some Spiders, Starting by

 Slicing 8 black paper legs. We used our paper cutters to cut nice Straight lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we Stuck the legs onto the back of a black paper plate (picked up at an after Halloween sale). We counted 4 for each side, addressing spatial relations concepts. We used glue to attach the legs and then used tape to make Sure they were Secure. Of course, its so much fun to use tape:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we flipped the plate over and attached some googlie eyes! We had our students count out 2 eyes to work on one to one correspondence.

Look at this Super Scary Spider—-don’t Scream!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with Cara’s Sound game,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And picking out our favorite S words—-there were a lot to choose from this week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please join us next week, we have lots of fun planned  Group by Group!

Jan29

Week 18—Chinese New Year and the Letter R

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Week 18—Chinese New Year and the Letter R

This week our theme was Chinese New Year for our Fine Motor and Sensory Groups. Our Language  Group looked at words starting with the letter R.

Sensory Group—Chinese New Year

We started by reading Cara’s latest book “Its the Chinese New Year” with its really colorful pictures. Our students are getting very good at reaching for and activating the voice output device for the repetitive line.

Our first sensory box was filled with red paper shred (we just ran some red paper through the shredder). Its a Chinese custom to give monetary gifts in red paper envelopes.  We added some of the animals from the Chinese zodiac to the box, including a dog, monkey, snake, pig and a DRAGON! We  added a little plastic moon, since the calendar is based on the lunar cycle.  We also included some red and gold mardi gras beads, red pom poms, and a play food lettuce leaf (lettuce wraps are frequently served at new year parties).

This box was so much fun and our students loved the grabbing and shaking the paper shred.

 

 

Tea is very popular in China, so our next box was filled with the aromatic leaves. We buried 2 red circular  puzzle pieces (shape identification a math access point) in the box.

Red is considered a lucky color in Chinese culture.

We also put a little spoon in the back to allow our students the opportunity to practice their scooping skills.

 

 

 

 

 

Fireworks are also a big part of the Chinese New Year celebration. We brought them into our classroom in two ways. First we used our toys with flashing lights, which are very visually appealing to our students. We turned off the over head lights to enhance the effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also included the sound of fireworks by laying bubble wrap on the floor. When the wheelchairs were rolled over the bubble wrap it sounded just like fire crackers—way cool!

One of our students, who has just learned to self propel, kept rolling herself back and forth across the wrap. The smile on her face was priceless.

Of course, our ambulatory students also got the opportunity to walk and jump on the wrap. We found that the wrap with the bigger bubbles was easier for them to pop.

And yes, the adults joined in—-we couldn’t help ourselves 🙂

 

 

Our next box was filled with white rice, which is often eaten during Chinese meals. We hid the letter C—for China, of course!

Rice is always so much fun to sift through and scoop. Our students love it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made a goo bag by mixing red food coloring and hand sanitizer in a zip lock freezer bag. It turned into this beautiful, almost iridescent color. We double bagged it (making sure to place the bag openings at opposite ends)—if quick little hands can open one end  we are quick enough to stop them before they get to the other!

Our students were able to practice their pre- writing patterns, letters or a Chinese character, using their fingers (also giving them opportunities to practice finger individuation).

 

 

 

 

We finished up with our water and lotion play. This week we used the White Tea and Ginger scent from Bath and Body Works.

As usual, our students really enjoyed playing with the water, which is wonderful for tactile awareness as well as calming for some of our students. They are all starting to anticipate the hand lotion experience and it is so cute to see those little hands reaching out for their turn. For the ones that can apply it themselves, they are getting the opportunity to practice bilateral hand skills and crossing midline. For our students who do a lot of hand mouthing we apply the lotion on their upper arms or on the back of their necks.

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Chinese New Year

We read Cara’s awesome book and took turns stomping or rolling over some bubble wrap when we got to the page about the fireworks.  Then we proceeded to make a chinese dragon mask (thanks to Martha the OT intern for coming up with this idea).

We pre cut the masks and taped on some dragon teeth. Then our students tore and crumpled tissue paper to glue onto the mask. This is a great way to recycle all that tissue paper that you get with presents! Of course, we talked about all the different colors and gave our students opportunities to practice choice making.

Tearing and crumpling the tissue paper is good for bilateral and hand intrinsic functions.

Dipping the tissue paper into the glue (a recycled lid makes a great dipping bowl) is great for promoting pincer grasp skills and placing the tissue on the plate addresses eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

Next, we counted out 1 piece of white paper for each student. Then we counted out 2 black circles for each of them (addressing math access points, of course).

We put 2 dots of glue and placed the circles on top.

Then we glued the “nose” onto the plate.

 

 

 

We stapled some paper streamers to the side and our absolutely fabulous chinese dragon mask was finished.

This deserved a big Ta-Da, don’t you think!

Our vision teacher placed one on the light box for her student and it looked so awesome we had to include it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we continued our celebration of Chinese New Year by reading “Its the Chinese New Year” again and then making a dragon puppet.

First, we found a chinese dragon picture on google images and enlarged it. The images were glued on to poster board (we found that using a glued stick works best) and  had Jeannie’s practicum students cut them out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then our students used markers to color them. We  like using markers because of their low friction component and intense colors. This makes it easier (as opposed to crayons or pencils) for our students to make marks.

Joy the OT just has to comment on this lovely little functional grasp of the marker 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because our students had differing abilities for holding writing utensils, we made sure to put out a variety of shapes and sizes, all of which were picked up at places like Walmart or Target.

We particularly like this little tripod marker that works perfectly for this student.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After coloring, we added some glitter, sequins and a great big googlie eye! This addresses eye hand coordination as well as grasp and release patterns.

Of course, we never pass up an opportunity to add glitter and googlie eyes 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The adults then hot glued a head and 2 tongue depressors to a 12 inch length of christmas garland (picked up on clearance at Target).

And here they are—-some pretty spectacular chinese dragon puppets!

Happy New Year!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter R

First, we Raced on the Round Red Road.

The students used a car shaped eraser (too cute) on the dry erase board. We drew a large circle to encourage crossing midline and placing it on a vertical surface promotes shoulder stability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we used Red tongs to pick up some Red Radishes.

Tong activities are great for hand strengthening, eye hand coordination, and developing the graded motor control needed for scissor skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students with physical challenges helped the Rabbit eat the Radishes.

We hot glued a shower curtain ring to the back of the toy and some hook velcro to its mouth. When the velcro comes into contact with the pompoms, they stick pretty well.

We counted how many Radishes each student gave the Rabbit to eat, addressing math access points. Discussing the spherical shape of the pompom also addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we painted some Rad Robots! We picked from the Rainbow of colors at the bottom of each page. This booklet was picked up at the dollar section at Michaels—we love the dollar section 🙂

Some of our students used standard water color brushes but others needed ones with larger handles. We were so proud of this student for really staying on task—nice job!

We counted how many Robots were on each students page and named the colors as the students chose them.

We found putting just a little water in a plate helps cut down on spillage and water logged papers.

 

 

We finished by playing another of Cara’s sound game. It was Really fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And , of course, looking at some of the R words we found today—there were quite a few!

What a great week, we had so much fun! Please come back next week for more fun Group by Group!

Jan22

Week 17 Martin Luther King and the Letter Q

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Week 17 Martin Luther King and the Letter Q

This week the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups was Martin Luther King. The theme for our Language Group was the Letter Q.

Sensory Group—Martin Luther King

Cara turned a song found on the internet into our book this week.  Instead of reading our book, our students took turns “singing” a line from the book using a sequencer device. Thanks to our OT intern, Martha, for coming up with the idea and finding the song.

Our first sensory box contained a variety of items representing  Dr. King. Since he was born in Georgia we included some velveteen fabric that felt like a peach (a symbol of Georgia), and some peach colored paper twist and yarn. Digging deeper, our students found a school bus, a dove, a peace symbol and some little people. We also included some rainbow colored items (yarn, chenille stems, easter basket stuffing) and the word FRIENDS—Dr. King wanted us all to be friends!

 

 

 

 

Our next box contained pom poms of varying  colors and sizes. Different colors and  different sizes but they are all the same on the inside—just like us!

Math access points were explored when comparing large and small and counting pom poms of the same color.  Rainbows are symbols of diversity and Dr. King wanted us all to remember how beautiful that was.

 

 

 

 

We mixed  red and yellow food coloring to make some peach colored oobleck. Mixing two colors to make a third let us explore color concepts related to science access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued the peach theme by having our students practice their prewriting patterns in peach scented shaving cream (thank you Barbara). It really had a terrific peachy aroma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed our hands in birthday cake scented water (reminding us we were celebrating Dr. Kings birthday) and rubbed on some delicious peach scented lotion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wikki Stix are waxed strings that are a perfect stand in for candles and our students really enjoy bending and twisting them around. Handling the little strings gives them opportunities to practice their pincer grasp skills. We continued our rainbow theme by using lots of colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We placed Dr. King’s initials in our rainbow rice. Searching for the letters addresses tactile and visual skills. Its also fun to scoop and sift through the colorful grains of rice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Martin Luther King

On Tuesday we used our sequencer to “sing” about Dr. King and then we made freedom bells. We got the idea for the bells at the Twiggle Magazine website.

We started by attaching a medium size jingle bell to a pipe cleaner, threading it through a hole in a paper cup, and then securing it. Stringing activities are excellent for promoting pincer grasp and eye hand coordination skills. We also discussed the different colored pipe cleaners and counted the cups as we passed them out.

 

 

 

 

 

Then the students used a circle punch to cut out their faces from a picture. Operating the punch helps promote hand strengthening skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They glued the picture and a strip of paper with the phrase “let freedom ring” to the cup. We used our food dye colored glue to attach the pieces to the cup. We love the way the color helps our students see where they have placed the glue. Squeezing the glue helps with hand strengthening and attaching the pieces helps promote pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is our bell, pretty cool don’t you think! One of our students with a visual impairment LOVED his bell and kept ringing it the rest of the afternoon.

Let Freedom Ring!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we sang our song again and made a rainbow peace and friendship wreath.

We started with a rectangle poster board with a circle lightly drawn on it. Discussing the shapes addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, our students chose a color from a selection of three.

Our state alternate assessment testing has begun and we want to make sure that our students have lots of practice making choices from an array of three.

 

 

 

 

 

We then painted their hands. The touch of the brush and paint on the palmer surface increases tactile awareness.

We have found that it is important to have paper towels and a bowl of soapy water close at hand.

We have also found that it is important to keep a FIRM hold on the bowl of water 🙂

 

 

 

 

Our students stamped their hands along the circle. Most of them needed a little help but some were able to do this independently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the addition of some paper doves from the dollar store, here is our peace and friendship wreath.

Just beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter Q

We began by saying “I have a Question, who would like a turn?” This gave our students the opportunity to communicate by raising their hands, vocalizing, or body movements and take turns Quickly pulling and pushing the Quazar (a geo ball) in and out to make it Quiver!

The design of the ball made it easy for all our students to grasp including those with physical impairments. When grasped with both hands, bilateral coordination is addressed.

 

 

 

Then the students took turns twirling a noise maker but they had to stop each time Ms. Joy held up the Quiet symbol.

Our students LOVED this game and had so much fun! It really was Quite the hit 🙂

Motor control, listening skills and visual attention are addressed with this activity.

 

 

 

 

 

Next we cut paint samples into pieces. Taking our time and not working too Quickly.

Paint samples are great for practicing cutting skills. They have built in cutting lines and come in different sizes. The heavier weight card stock also makes it easier for beginning cutters.

Some of our students used regular scissors,others used adaptive ones including squeeze scissors or tabletop versions.

 

 

 

They glued the pieces onto the paper to make a

Quilt for a Queen—its really Quite the thing 🙂

Squeezing the glue helps with hand strengthening and placing the pieces addresses spatial relationships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with another awesome sound game. Cara did a great job finding “Q” sounds, it wasn’t that easy this week!

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t have a lot of post-its this week but we still had fun using them throughout the session.

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

Jan16

Week 16—Winter and the Letter P

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Week 16—Winter and the Letter P

This week the theme for our Fine Motor and Sensory Groups was Winter. The Letter P was the theme for our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Winter

Cara wrote another great book, all about winter. After reading the book we made snow! We purchased some fake snow powder, added water——–and, ta da, lots of white fluffy snow flakes.

Our students really enjoyed watching the powder expand into flakes as we explored science access points. It had a very snow like texture and we used cold water to heighten the effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We explored a variety of winter objects in our next box: large and small snowflakes (some hard and some soft), rough and smooth snowmen, arctic animals including a soft seal,hard penguins and some felt arctic hares,  dolls hat and scarf, white pom pom snow balls,  and a building block icicle.

Comparing and contrasting the different properties of materials is one of our science access points and this is such a fun way to do it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We brought out our fluffy pom pom yarn which reminded us of the wooly blankets and sweaters that keep us toasty and warm on cold winter days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we searched for the letter W in powdered snow (a mixture of white cornmeal, flour and cornstarch). There was 1 big W and 2 small ones—working in some math access points of course! Our students had fun scooping the powder, burying their hands in it, or squeezing it together (working on palmer arches) to form little snowballs. Needless to say, we all ended up leaving with a little dusting of snow—but the fun factor more than made up for the mess 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using our cookie cutters  we cut out snow balls and snow flakes out of our snow-dough. We found the recipe online and rather than flour, it is made from cornstarch. It has an interesting rubbery texture that is excellent for cutting or forming into snowballs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also worked on prewriting patterns or making little snow sculptures in shaving cream. We rinsed our hands in peppermint scented water and rubbed peppermint scented lotion on our hands and arms.

Having our students rub the lotion on themselves helps build body awareness and bilateral coordination. It also helps build a nice olfactory memory of all the fun we had today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Winter

On Tuesday, we read Cara’s book and were very excited when one of our new students independently activated the voice output device during the story.

After our story we made eskimo hats. We got the idea from the Winter Activities book by Peggy Hundley Spitz, OTR and purchased from Therapro. We started with a grocery bag with a precut circle. We drew a line around the opening to help further define it for our students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students practiced writing their names on the back of their bag, turned it over and then glued cotton balls onto the circle.

This activity addresses eye hand coordination and works on developing pincer grasp skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we threaded some yarn through slits in the front of the bag, another great pincer grasp activity. Its also good for visual tracking.

Isn’t this a picture of a perfect pincer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We tied a bow and rolled up the bottom and our hat was done. Just fabulous!

 

Our students had so much fun trying on their hats, Ms Cara just had to join in 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we continued our winter theme by making polar bear handprints.We started by discussing the color (blue) of our paper and its rectangular shape. We counted the papers as we passed them out and again, our students practiced writing their names.

Then we helped them paint their hands and make a handprint on the paper.

We made sure to put a thick coat of paint on the hands and fingers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a quick hand wash, our students used  paintbrushes to add some snow to their picture.

This student is showing some really nice emerging tool use and we are so proud of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then sprinkled on some sparkly snowflakes. Holding and shaking the container helps address shoulder stability and graded motor control in addition to eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the addition of a couple of facial features

using a black marker, our polar bear came

alive.

Just so super cute 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter P

We started by using our tongs to Pick up Purple and Pink Pom Pom’s. We then counted how many each student Put into their bowls.

Using tongs helps to improve hand intrinsic functions and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we Picked a Pet and Put the Piece into the Puzzle. Our students really enjoyed this activity and were quite excited about their choices.

Picking up the pieces, which have little knobs, helps to promote a pincer grasp. Placing the pieces addresses eye hand coordination and spatial concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we Painted a Pig (drawn by Joy) Pink and Purple. Our large simple figure helps our students learn to keep their strokes in a defined area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is—–a Positively Perfect Pink and

Purple Pig!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by playing Cara’s sound game, and looking at all the P words we found.

Please join us again next week, we are going to have so much fun Group by Group!