Tag Archives: Fine motor

Apr1

Week 26—Butterflies and the Letter Z

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Week 26—Butterflies and the Letter Z

This week are theme was Butterflies for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. We are finishing the alphabet with Letter Z in our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Butterflies

Cara’s book explored the life cycle of the butterfly with our students asking the question “what happens next” using the voice output device.

In addition to literacy and math access points, we are going to be addressing science access points today!

 

 

 

 

Our first sensory box was filled with colorful flowers, leaves, a variety of  butterflies, caterpillars made from chenille stems and a body scrubber—its that long pink and white thing in the picture—doesn’t it  look like a giant caterpillar :).

This box was so colorful with lots of contrasting colors and textures.

Discussing how these items relate to each other in the life cycle of the butterfly addresses science access points.

 

 

 

Our next box was filled with caterpillar eggs, AKA lentils. Our students hunted for the letter C and found a cute little caterpillar peeking out as well.

The students grasped these lentils by the handfuls—they loved them!  Even our students who are quite tactile sensitive, couldn’t resist these tiny beans 🙂

This box addresses visual and tactile discrimination skills.

 

 

 

 

We used a cookie cutter to cut letter B’s in our purple Bubber (available from Amazon in addition to a variety of catalogs).

We chose the Bubber because its soft powdery texture reminded us of butterfly wings. Its pretty purple color also a lot like that of a butterfly.

Of course, we also just love the way it feels–not just our students but the adults couldn’t put it down 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

The white fiberfil in our next box reminded us of the silky strands of the butterfly cocoon.

Its just so much fun to grab this stuff and shake it around or pull it apart!

Pulling apart the strands addresses bilateral and fine motor skills.

Contrasting smaller pieces from larger pieces addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

Our next box contained some colorful red butterflies (bow tie pasta) and green caterpillars (celletani pasta). Very eye catching with the bright colors. You dye it in basically the same way you do rice but it takes a LOT longer—so be patient!

Pincer grasp skills are promoted when picking up individual pieces. Counting them and comparing the contrasting shapes addresses math access points.

Making one of the caterpillars crawl up a students arm promotes giggles 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

These fuzzy colorful caterpillars (some  pencil covers!) filled our next box. Very eye catching also and our students dived in. They loved grabbing handfuls and watching as they dropped back into the box—or the floor 🙂

Tracking falling objects is a science access point.

Counting caterpillars is an opportunity to work on math access points.

 

 

 

 

We mixed shaving cream and cornstarch which turned into this really cool texture—sort of a cross between playdough and Bubber. It was so much fun to squeeze and mold into cocoons.

We just loved this stuff, its just really hard to resist!

Science access points are addressed in addition to fine motor skills during this fun activity!

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed our hands in plumeria scented water and then rubbed on the lotion, its floral scent reminding us of the flowers the butterflies go to for their food.

Recognizing water as a liquid and whether it is warm or cold addresses science access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Butterflies

On Tuesday we started by reading Cara’s book.  We also practiced making the butterfly sign with our hands.

Butterflies start out as caterpillars and that is what we made in our art activity. We started by dipping pom pom’s into glue then placing them on a clothespin.

This is a great activity for practicing pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We counted the pom pom’s using our multi-message voice output device, addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by adding some chenille stem antenna and googlie eyes.

Aren’t these caterpillars just so cute 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday after we read our book again—- we turned our caterpillar into a butterfly!

First we placed a 3 dimensional butterfly (found in one of the schools science kits) on a light board for our student with a visual impairment.

Of course, all the students enjoyed running their hands over the contours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we began our art activity by counting out our coffee filters (addressing math access points).

Then we colored them using markers. Some of our students made just a few marks but others enjoyed using a variety of colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After they were finished coloring, we sprayed the coffee filters with water.The water makes the colors run, kind of like tie dye—pretty cool.

Squeezing the spray bottle is great for hand strengthening and spraying water is always fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We let them dry for a few minutes and then scrunched them up—working on thumb/finger grasping patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We placed it between the clothespin from Tuesday and…….

Ta Da—the caterpillar has turned into a butterfly!

This student really enjoyed making hers “flutter” around—so cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our butterflies look so beautiful clipped to these branches…..

aren’t they just fabulous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter Z

We started by unZipping bags and taking Zoo animals out (we used Beanie Babies).

The students had fun seeing what animal ended up coming out of their bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A chenille stem loop made a great

adaptive Zipper pull for some of

 

our students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we squeeZed scrap paper to make matZo balls to “feed” our animals a Zesty meal.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we tore black paper into strips—some of them in a Zig Zag pattern.

We glued them onto a white lunch bag.

Tearing the paper addresses bilateral hand functions.

Squeezing the glue addresses hand strengthening

Placing the black paper on the bag addresses visual spatial skills.

 

 

 

 

We adapted this for our students with physical challenges by letting them color their Zebra instead. Our students love pressing the switch to make the airplane color their picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we glued on 2 ears and a snout.

And added some googlie eyes—we love googlie eyes 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look another Zany Zebra!

Our students had so much fun playing with their puppets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everybody had a turn playing Cara’s

sound game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we looked at all the fun Z words we found today.

Whew!  We made it to the end of the alphabet but there is still more fun ahead so  join us again next week Group by Group!

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.

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.

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!

Dec19

Week 15—Christmas and Letter O

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Week 15—Christmas and Letter O

Christmas was the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor groups. Our Language group’s theme was the letter O.

Sensory Group—Christmas

We finished our holiday unit by learning about Christmas this week starting with Cara’s book.  We have our props and sensory boxes ready, so let the merry making begin 🙂

We let our students wear finger puppets while we read our book.Finger puppets are so fun and great for working on finger individuation. For other students, they are helpful for calling attention to and increasing visual regard for their hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After finishing the story, we turned off the lights so we could turn on our battery operated ones! Our students were entranced and loved looking (addressing visual functions) and touching them.

In addition, they were able to strengthen finger intrinsic skills turning them on/off.

We found these lights at Target.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we finally turned the lights back on we opened our first sensory box in which we placed a variety of items related to our theme. We had large jingle bells, some green garland, fat chenille stems, pompoms, mardi gras beads, and yarn in the colors of red and green. We also put in a little doll Christmas sweater, snowman ornament, felt Santa and Christmas cut outs, a tiny stocking, package bows and some assorted theme related toys.

Whew! What a lot to explore and discuss the different properties of!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We cut our candy cane, reindeer and star (all symbols of Christmas) shapes in our gingerbread scented playdough. Some of our students needed reminders that the playdough was “not to eat”. We generally know which of them have a tendency to want to sample things and so make sure to redirect them when needed.

Playdough is great for working on hand strengthening when squishing and squeezing. When pinching small pieces or rolling between fingers, you address finger individuation skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garland is everywhere at Christmas, so we had to have some to explore! Its soft, shiny and easy to grasp. Its also visually very appealing to our students.

They had so much fun holding and shaking it, or—

having it draped around them 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We looked for the letter C hidden among

the red and green beans (Christmas

colors). Also an opportunity to practice

scooping and pouring skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We practiced pre writing patterns in oobleck, which we scented with peppermint extract to remind us of candy canes.

Peppermint aroma has been associated with increased attention and alertness

We also added some red and green glitter for visual interest and to encourage tracking.

We finished by rinsing our hands in gingerbread scented warm water and rubbed on some of the  lotion to help us think about Christmas the rest of the day 🙂

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Christmas

On Tuesday we began by reading Cara’s “Merry Christmas” book and had lots of fun with the finger puppets. Then we made a reindeer!

We started by passing (counting as we did so, of course) out one large floor puzzle piece for each student and painting it brown.

Painting is a fun way to gain practice grasping and using writing utensils.

On an additional note, putting paint shirts on and off helps work on dressing skills—got to fit those ADL’s in where we can!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we passed out 2 slightly smaller floor

puzzlepieces to each student. This time we

counted by 2’s as we passed them out—

math access points!

These pieces were painted black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then glued the antlers to the head, added 2 googlie eyes and 1 red pom pom nose—working on math access points and pincer grasp skills!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here he is—-Rudolph the red

nosed reindeer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday after reading Cara’s book again, we made some snowflake ornaments. Thanks to Alice W. for this great idea!

We started with a snowflake made from puzzle pieces that had been pre-glued together. These were regular size puzzle pieces.

The reason for our puzzle mania this week?  Well, they were FREE —-and we LOVE free!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We painted them with a mixture of white

paint and a little glue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we sprinkled them with fake snow while the paint was still wet. Jeannie put the snow it a sugar shaker to make it easier for our students.

You could put the snow in a bowl and have your students pick it up and sprinkle using their fingers to work on translation movements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at this lovely little flurry of snowflakes!

Just so sparkly and pretty. They are going to look lovely hanging on a tree or window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Language Group—Letter O

First we took Orange beads Out Of the bowl and strung them Onto Orange string!

This activity addresses bilateral coordination and pincer grasp skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students with more significant physical differences used  plastic tubing and larger beads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we pulled apart Our stretchy tubes and joined the ends to make an O.

The tubes help work on upper extremity strengthening (pulling apart) and eye hand coordination (joining the ends).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we took a paper plate (from which Joy had precut a little section) and began making an Owl.

Our students chose which color markers they wanted to use—-they didn’t have to choose Orange 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After they had finished coloring the plate they cut the Orange wings. Some of our students practiced cutting straight lines with the adaptive tabletop scissors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other students practiced cutting curved lines with

either an adaptive or regular scissors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wings were then glued On to the plate. Then we added 2 eyes and 1 beak (math access points) and made sure to put them in the right Order—the beak goes under the eyes (directionality concepts).

We taped a loop of Orange yarn to the back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta Da—Our Orange winged Owl

Ornament!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished the session with Cara’s sound game and looking at all the O words we found this week—Oh so much fun.

Wow, what a week! Well its about time for Winter Break so we will not be doing any more groups until the new year.  We have some great stuff planned so please join us again in 2012 for more fun Group by Group.

Dec11

Week 14—Hanukkah and letter N

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Week 14—Hanukkah and letter N

The themes this week were Hanukkah for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups and the Letter N for our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Hanukkah

We learned about Hanukkah by reading Cara’s “Happy Hanukkah” book and then started our explorations!

Our first box contained an assortment of Hanukkah goodies. We used smooth gold mardi gras beads for the “gelt”, soft big chenille stems in the colors of blue and white, small rough gold chenille stems, curly white and blue ribbons—all these allowed us to compare properties of materials (science access points).

Other Hanukkah symbols included the Star of David and dreidel cookie cutters,  play food donut, and wooden driedels.

Our students loved exploring this box, the curly ribbons being a particular hit!

 

 

 

 

In this box, our students looked for the letter H (for Hanukkah) and the number 8 (for the 8 candles on the menorah) in blue and white rice.

Either scooping or sifting—so much

fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next box contained some potato flakes (to remind us of latkes).

They have a soft, yet crunchy feel which our students really enjoyed.

A plastic “latke” was fun to find and also use as a scoop. Visual tracking was addressed as the light flakes drifted down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students also enjoyed our pompom yarn in shades of blue. One of the Hanukkah colors.

So soft and nice to grab a hold of, shake or drape over shoulders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White (another Hanukkah color) shaving cream, nice and fluffy like the filling of yummy doughnut.

Such fun to swirl around and practice pre writing patterns and letters.

So proud of this young lady, her writing is really improving—look at those perfect letters 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by rinsing hands in vanilla sugar

scented water and then rubbing vanilla sugar

scented lotion—leaving the yummy aroma of

doughnuts wafting through the room.

Happy Hanukkah!

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Hanukkah

On Tuesday we started by reading Cara’s book, using our voice output devices for the repetitive line then proceeded to make a handprint menorah.

First, our students chose the color of their paper. To  help increase literacy, the color choice cards also have the color names written on them.We discussed its rectangular shape and counted them as we passed them out.

Then we applied paint to both hands.  

Some of our students pressed their

hands into the paint tray, for others

we painted their hands using a foam

brush.

 

 

 

 

Candles have to have flames and glitter glue is perfect for the task!

Squeezing the glue is great for hand strengthening but glitter glue is really hard to squeeze! For some of our students, we used brushes instead.

Asking the students to place the glue “on top” of the fingers addresses directionality concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

We glued on a stand and Ta Da—our

finished menorah.

Such cute little hands!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And don’t you just love this Modernistic approach to the classic menorah!

Adorable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we read Cara’s book and again used the voice output device for the repetitive line. We love how much more readily our students are reaching out and anticipating their turn.

After reading the book we began our project—dreidels!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeannie saved and cleaned juice cartons. Then inserted a small colorful dowel through the middle.

Cara printed the symbols on blue paper.

We found this idea on a number of websites (some people are so creative!) and adapted it to fit our needs.

 

 

 

 

 

We used paper cutters to cut our strip into 4

squares (math access points are just

everywhere!).

These paper cutters work well for cutting

straight lines and our students really have

fun using them.

 

 

 

 

 

The symbols were glued to each side—working on hand strengthening and eye hand coordination again!

We also discussed the meaning of each symbol and how the game is played.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is–a fabulous, fun dreidel! 

Happy Hanukkah 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—letter N

We played with Nuts and bolts. This activity addresses so many hand function skills—–bilateral coordination, grasp patterns, wrist rotation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we practiced finger isolation            

turning on and off the switch to the

Neck massager.

The students loved draping this

around their Neck and shoulders.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we used scissors to snip yarn—Nice cutting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We glued them onto the bottom of a rectangular (oh yes we slipped that math access point in!) piece of paper.

Picking up the  yarn works on pincer grasp skills.

We didn’t have to be Neat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, more cutting! We cut along the lines of a paint sample. We made sure to Not go off the road.

Paint samples are of a heavier weight card stock that make them easier for beginning cutters.  Its also nice that they come in varying widths and pre printed lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used our 3 strips to make a letter N

and used our electric stapler to hold it

together—Nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We glued the N into its Nest—Now how about that 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had fun playing Cara’s sound game.              

There are is always a New sound to listen for. Some of them are Noisy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we looked at some of the N words we found today.

Fun, fun, fun this week! Please join us next week as we finish up our holiday unit and learn about the letter M—-Group by Group 🙂