November 1 is International Author’s Day so we decided to learn about one of the most popular authors on the planet! Our sensory groups explored boxes related to JK Rowling and her books.  The fine motor groups made simple but magical art projects and the language group made a yummy magical treat!

 

 

 

 

SENSORY GROUP

There were lots of things to discover in this box. We started with a base of shredded paper—-JK Rowling wrote BOOKS after all 🙂 There were some plush and laminated characters from her books as well.

 

 

 

 

Of course, the wizard hat, Harry Potter glasses, and “magic” wands were especially popular. We also included items such as pink beads (her favorite color), a British flag, and some play food sushi (her favorite food).

Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In blue and white rice were letters J and K as well as a picture of the Scottish flag at the bottom of the box.

 

 

 

 

 

We picked the rice colors to match the colors of the Scottish flag. JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter books in Edinburg Scotland.

Science access point: match objects with similar observable properties, such as shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JK Rowling came up with the idea for the Harry Potter series while on a train. We put a wooden train engine (actually a chunky puzzle piece) in some tea leaves—-we figured since JK Rowling is British she MUST drink tea 🙂

 

 

 

 

There were a couple of train pictures to find at the bottom of the box.

Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The students sorted pompoms in the colors of the different Hogwarts houses.

 

 

 

 

 

Red for Gryffindor, blue for Ravenclaw, yellow for Hufflepuff, and green for Slytherin.

Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since our school mascot is the owl, we HAD to dedicate a box the Harry Potter’s owl Hedwig!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two owls—-1 big and 1 small as well as a fluffy feather boa made this a very touchable box!

Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oobleck in JK Rowling’s favorite color became a little more magical with the addition of some shiny confetti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The confetti was fun to watch as it swirled around or dripped down the oobleck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science access point: track objects in motion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mermaids and sea serpents are some of the magical creatures found in JK Rowling’s books.

Two different sized measuring cups and a funnel added to the fun in our water play this week.

 

 

 

Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

 

 

 

 

 

Bath and Body Works vanilla sugar was as close we could get to Butterbeer, but we think it totally worked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sweet scent left our students with yummy memories of all the fun we had!

Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we made some wizard hats!

First, the students identified the color BLACK and a TRIANGLE.

Science access point:  identify objects by one observable property, such as color.

Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.

 

 

 

 

 

Then, the students used paper cutters or switch operated scissors to cut a triangle out of black paper.

Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, they stamped golden swirls on to their hats.

 

 

 

 

 

Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.

 

 

 

 

 

TA DA!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What cute little wizards!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, we made magic wands out of sticks.

First, the students chose a wand and identified  the color of their chenille stem.

Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, they wrapped the chenille stem around the stick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tip of the wand was dipped into glue and then some gold glitter.

Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TA DA!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for a little magic…..

……our wizards are ready for work 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE GROUP

We had lots of fun making cute little edible owls this week!  Here’s the recipe we used: Let’s Make An Edible Owl

The students first had to indicate that they WANTED a rice cake.  Then they had to locate PEANUT BUTTER to request it.

Students were given the small container of peanut butter.  If they were unable to open it, they had to request HELP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students then had to SPREAD the peanut butter on the rice cake.  Again, if this task was challenging, they had to request HELP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, each student got 2 slices of banana and 2 blueberries to serve as the eyes.  They counted out each fruit as they received them.  They had to PUT the bananas and blueberries at the TOP of the rice cake.

Then, they had to request 2 apple slices and PUT them on the SIDES of the rice cake.  We compared these “wings” to our arms.

 

 

Students got to PUT 1 dried cranberry beak on their owl, making sure to put it UNDER the eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, they added some Cheerios as feathers.  Each student was given only 1 or 2 Cheerios at first and had to request MORE.

These turned out so cute…..

 

 

 

 

…….and yummy!

 

 

 

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

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