Tag Archives: Family Dollar

May1

We Love Star Wars

Posted on May 1, 2016 by jd785

The Force was with us as we explored a galaxy far, far away——it was all about Star Wars with fantastic galactic fun for all our groups and some special guests who joined us on “bring your child to work” day! The sensory boxes had things to touch, smell, look at, and listen to! Pinterest helped us find ideas for our fine motor groups and language groups!

SENSORY GROUP

Our galaxy umbrella was a HUGE hit with the students. We used some scrap headliner fabric attached to poster board to make our Death Star and were totally pleased with the result! There were some little spaceships attached with fishing wire and with the Star Wars theme recorded on the voice output device this was one super cool umbrella—–the students LOVED it!

Recognize a source of light energy is a science access point.

We put a variety of Star Wars paraphernalia into this box. There were figures and key chains representing of some of the main characters from the movies (thank you Jeannie for the donation). We found a fun “light saber” at the Family Dollar Store and the students had a blast with it—–lights and sounds with the push of a button, how cool is that!

The science access point observe and recognize a predictable cause-effect relationship can be addressed here.

Luke Skywalker lived on the planet Tatooine which has a desert landscape. Our homemade “sand” had a little bit of cinnamon in it so it was not only not only fun to touch but it smelled really good too!

We put in a variety of wooden shapes so our students could build some local “structures”.

Recognize common three-dimensional objects such as cylinders or cubes is a math access point.

Of course, we had to include a box dedicated to the ultimate bad guy—–Darth Vader! We put in some accessories from a “Darth Tater” kit in a box with our grey Floam so the students could build their own Vader.

The science access point recognize that the human body is made up of various parts can be addressed with this activity.

Kraft mac and cheese came out with these cool Star Wars pasta shapes. It took a couple of hours to dye but SO worth it! There were black Darth Vaders, yellow CP3Os, blue R2D2s, green Yodas, and red star fighters for sorting fun. The students also loved picking up handfuls of the colorful pasta!

Match objects with similar observable properties, such as size, shape, color, or texture is a science access point.

We made a green jello swamp for our little Yoda—-complete with snakes, spiders, and a cute giant lizard.

Some of the students were a little hesitant to touch the cold, sticky goo but others thought it was pretty fantastic stuff 🙂

Recognize the temperature of items as cool or warm is a science access point.

Those sticky hands were rinsed off in water scented with “Ewok” mahogany woods from Bath and BodyWorks. Ms. Kim donated these fun Star Wars themed diving sticks that were perfect for our water play activity. The students really loved watching the water stream out of the bottom of these sticks!

Track objects in motion is a science access point.

The matching lotion was a hit with almost all of our students.

Recognize and respond to one type of sensory input is a science access point.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday our little Jedi turned to the dark side and made paper plate Death Stars. We adapted this idea from http://fun-a-day.com .To prep ours, we drew the lines with glue rather than white crayon.

We started by bringing out our galactic umbrella to give the students inspiration. It was a hit 🙂

After the umbrella was reluctantly put away, we discussed the shape of the paper plate and asked the students to identify the shape using communication symbols.

Recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes is a math access point.

Then the students painted over their plates with watered down grey paint using a sponge brush.

Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.

Ta Da……..

………looks like Darth Vader is in the house 🙂

We went Wookie on Wednesday! The idea for this project came from http://funfamilycrafts.com

Instead of fun fur used in the original project, we used furry duct tape purchased at Walgreens. The duct tape was adhered to some 6 inch rulers to prep this for our students.

We started by asking the students to count how many eyes a Wookie has and to identify the number using communication symbols.

We did the same thing for the nose.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

Next the students cut strips of paper to use for the strap that Chewbacca wears. The paper cutter worked perfectly for this task!

Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.

Then the students glued googlie eyes, pompom noses, and strap onto their Wookies. To work on one-to-one correspondence we placed target glue dots onto the fur.

Match one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence is a math access point.

Ta Da!!!!

The force is strong with these young padawans 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We made another yummy snack this week—— Galactic Ice Cream Sundaes! Our students got to make choices of what they wanted using picture symbols, gestures, and verbalizations.

The first choice they got was to tell us how many scoops of ice cream they wanted in their bowl. We used big numbers showing “1” and “2” and our students would either point or place their hand on the amount they wanted.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

Next, they got to chose which kind of syrup they wanted: chocolate, strawberry, or butterscotch. They were provided with symbols and again, would point or put their hand on the one they wanted.

Adjust body movement or nonverbal expression with prompting as necessary to communicate wants and needs is a language access point.

When asked if they wanted whipped cream, they would either use head shake/nod, verbalize no/yes, or point to a symbol no/yes. If they said yes, they had to show us how many squirts they wanted using the “1” and “2”.

They REALLY like this part 🙂

Finally, we poured some Star Wars cereal on top for a crunchy effect and let them choose which color pretzel/icing “light saber” they wanted: RED or GREEN.

We think we hit this one out of the galaxy!

YUM!!!!!

We hope your May the Fourth festivities are a blast! Be sure and join us again next time……Group by Group!

Nov8

Egypt

Posted on November 8, 2015 by jd785

Egypt

We chose Egypt as our theme this week because on November 4, 1922 Howard Carter discovered the entrance to the tomb of Tutankhamen and we thought it would be fun to learn a little more about the country of Egypt both today and long ago!

We splurged a little with our sensory group and bought the Egyptian TOOB from Amazon and really added a lot to our sensory boxes. The fine motor groups worked on their cutting skills and the language group made a yummy Egyptian treat.

SENSORY GROUP

We used paper shred as our “papyrus” base for this box. There were a lot of different items representing both ancient and modern Egypt. From our Amazon order there were lots of Egyptian gods figures, busts of pharaohs, and of course—–a sarcophagus with King Tut!

We included “lotus” petals, palm trees, a hippo (they were considered bad omens), and a giraffe (ancient Egyptians used their tails as fly swatters!). In addition to all the ancient Egyptian items we included some modern “kids” and the word HOME—-to a population of approximately 82 million people! Finally there was a little oil holder that Joy’s aunt brought back on her Egyptian vacation—-pretty cool!

Recognize differences between cultures is a social studies access point that can be addressed here.

King Tut wore a pretty amazing blue and gold headdress. We put some shiny beads with those colors in this box and it turned out to be very eye catching. Needless to say, the students had a lot of fun with this box 🙂

Match objects by one observable property, such as size or color is a science access point.

There are over 100 pyramids in Egypt and tourists come from all over the world to visit them. In addition to the pyramids and sphinx we included a couple of camels to trek around the desert. Underneath the sand there was a picture of the current Egyptian flag to discover.

Recognize an achievement of civilization, such as art, architecture, writing, or technology is a social studies access point.

If you are doing a unit on Egypt you HAVE to include a mummy box! There were a bunch of gauze strips to wrap around a small doll. In our research we learned that the ancient Egyptians also mummified cats so we included a little plush kitty to mummify.

The science access point recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed can be addressed with this activity.

Pomegranate seeds were a favorite treat for ancient Egyptians and still are for modern ones. We didn’t have any dried pomegranate seeds but we thought these red beans made a pretty good stand in. There were 3 letter “E”s to find, as well as a couple of “scarab” beetles.

Match objects by an observable property, such as size, shape, and color is a science access point.

Our messy play shaving cream reminded us of marshmallows—-we can thank the ancient Egyptians for that tasty treat! We printed out the hieroglyphic alphabet to let students try imitating some of the letters.

Most of them were way too hard for our students to duplicate but the semi circle symbol for “T” was a great one to practice.

Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.

Hands were rinsed in our Nile River basin complete with a crocodile! We used strawberry scented Valuetime bubble bath in our water because we learned that strawberry juice is a favorite drink for thirsty Egyptian children.

Match common living things with their habitats is a science access point.

Mango juice is another popular drink found in the refrigerator of Egyptian homes so we finished our group with mango scented lotion. It had a very yummy aroma and our students really enjoyed the scent as we rubbed it on their hands and arms. There were lots of requests for “more”!

Indicate a desire for more of an action or object is a math access point.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we made an ancient Egyptian headdress. Prior to the group the base was cutout of a yellow paper plates (found at Family Dollar store). We just cut across the bottom and then cut a square piece out of the middle. The top piece was cut from the scrap and glued to the top.

First we discussed the color of our plates and asked the students to identify the color yellow using communication symbols.

Identify objects by one observable property, such as color is a science access point.

Then the students cut strips of blue paper using the adaptive scissors.

Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.

We prompted the students to glue 2 of the blue strips on one side of the head dress, and 2 on the other side.

Solve simple problems involving joining or separating sets of objects is a math access point.

TA DA—-time to walk like an Egyptian 🙂

On Wednesday we made an Egyptian pyramid scene for our art project.

We started by discussing the shape of our paper and then counted it’s sides. We also asked the students to identify the color using communication symbols.

Recognize an object with a 2 dimensional shape is a math access point. Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

Then we tore 1 piece of yellow paper into 2 pieces—-great for working on bilateral coordination! These were glued down onto the blue paper to make the “sand” for our scene.

Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.

Next we used a paper cutter to cut the 3 sides of a triangle and glued our “pyramid” onto the sand. Of course, we counted aloud as we cut each side.

The math access point recognize common objects with 2 dimensional shapes is again addressed here.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

Ta DA—–

let’s visit Egypt!

LANGUAGE GROUP

While researching facts about Egypt, we found that children like to drink strawberry juice and mango juice. Since we LOVE making food, we decided to take a stab at making our own juice.

We used the recipes found here: Let’s Make Strawberry Juice and Mango Juice!

We started out by making strawberry juice. Our students helped measure out the correct amounts of strawberries and sugar and we put them in the blender.

We talked about WHERE we had to put the ingredients since all of them went into the blender. We love repetition!

Once the ingredients were in the blender, each of our students got to activate the blender by pressing a switch.

We had to practice holding the button down since our students like to tap the switch which turns the blender off and on.

Once the juice was finished, it was time to taste test!

We counted out cups for the students and then cups for the adults. We had 6 students and 7 adults, so we asked our students to indicate which there were “more” of.

Determine if the quantity in two sets of objects is same or different is a math access point.

While our students were trying out the strawberry juice, we started making the mango juice. It was nice that each of these recipes were almost exactly the same!

Once each student and adult had tried each kind of juice, we voted to see which was preferred MORE.

Mango juice was the winner!

Join us again next week for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!