Tag Archives: Occupational Therapy

Sep26

Pirates

Posted on September 26, 2020 by jd785

Yo Ho Ho—-it’s pirate week mateys! Talk like a pirate day was September 19 but we decided one day was not enough—-we needed a whole week 🙂

SENSORY

Our pirates dug in the sand for buried treasure!

There were 3 gold coins to find.

Science access point: recognize objects as the same.

More pirate booty was had here, beads became more treasure—-gold, silver, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires!

Fun to wear or shake and they made lots of noise when moved around on the tray!

Science access point: track objects in motion.

We put 2 pirates and 1 map or treasure chest in the black kinetic sand this week.

The students had lots of fun with the pirate figures.

Math access point: associate quantities with number names.

Shaving foam became “sea foam” this week.

We drew letter X in the shaving foam——X marks the spot!

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

There were some pirate ships and pirate duckies floating in our mini oceans.

A few lucky students even spotted an old shipwreck.

Science access point: apply a push to move an object.

We chose Bath and Body Works ocean scent this week.

The perfect scent for a seafaring unit and a hit with the buccaneers!

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

GROSS MOTOR

For pirate week, our gross motor activity was walking the plank.

Students walked on a balance beam or landscape timber in forward or lateral directions to work on balance.

Our students using wheelchairs or adaptive equipment, rolled or walked on a painted line on the sidewalk. They had to look down to make sure they kept the line between their wheels.

At home you could use pillows, couch cushions, paper plates, a board, duct tape, etc. to make your own plank. You can have your child walk forward, backward, or laterally. Whatever your plank is, the object is to stay on the plank and to avoid falling in the water.

FINE MOTOR

For project one, the students made a treasure map and used this template to put themselves in the picture: pirate figure

First, the students identified the shape of their paper and the color of the stamp pad ink.

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

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

The students drew lines on their paper. We encouraged them to draw serpentine lines but they could do whatever they wanted.

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

The students had to press DOWN and then lift the stamp UP when adding an X to mark the spot of their treasure. They also stamped a skull and crossbones flag.

We used double stick tape to adhere the stamps to our kitchen scrubbers.

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

After the students’ faces had been added to the pirate figure, it too was glued to the picture and……

……TA DA!!! Let’s search for buried treasure!

For project two, the students made a pirate puppet using paper bags and this template: pirate puppet

First, the students identified the color and shape of their paper bag.

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

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

Then, they cut stripes for the pirates shirt.

Switch operated scissors were used when needed.

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

We counted 3 stripes which were then glued to the bag.

Math access point: associate quantities with number names.

Next, the students glued to face to the TOP of the paper bag and a colorful head scarf.

Math access point: recognize when an object has been added to a situation.

One googly eye completed the look.

Math access point: match an object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence.

TA DA!!!

Arrgggg—–our mighty pirates are ready to set sail!!!

LANGUAGE

We had a pirate worthy treat today! Here’s the recipe that we used: Let’s Make Ocean Water (this is a copycat recipe for the Sonic Ocean Water drink)

We started off by PUTTING sugar into a glass container. Then we PUT some water in the same container and stirred it around.

Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.

We had to microwave the sugar water for 45 seconds. Students had to predict whether they thought microwaving would make the sugar water hot or cold.

Science access point: recognize a temperature change from cold to warm.

Once it was heated up, we stirred it up again. Students observed the sugar water and said if they saw the sugar in the water any more once it had dissolved.

Science access point: recognize examples of materials that will dissolve in water.

We PUT the water into a pitcher. Then we added some coconut extract. We put some on Q-tips so that each student could SMELL the coconut extract. They had to indicate whether it smelled GOOD or BAD.

Science access point: recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli.

We PUT in 1 liter of Sprite and 5 drops of blue food coloring. Students HELPED by counting out the number of drops. We watched as the color changed from clear to blue. We stirred it one more time.

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

Students had to indicate what they were going to do with the ocean water: EAT or DRINK.

They had to request their drink and also their goldfish. Arggg!

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

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May23

Hello Summer

Posted on May 23, 2020 by jd785

Hello Summer

Well it has certainly been a different end to the school year! This will be our last post until we start back again in the fall. In anticipation of some free time with school over, our OT, PT, and SLP have come up with some activities for you to do at home since our students are Too Cool for School 🙂

We don’t have a central theme this time, it is simply all about FUN—-enjoy!

SENSORY

Our students always enjoy messy play with shaving cream but we recently found a way to make it even more fun—–add some jello powder! Just sprinkle some on top of the shaving cream and it becomes this cool substance—still shaving cream but more durable and moldable!

You really need to try it!

Another fun activity is making your own Discovery Bottle. There are lots of YouTube videos out there but the general instructions are pretty easy. You need any empty plastic bottle that has been well cleaned. Add a generous amount of clear glue, mineral oil, or baby oil. Add glitter and if you want—a few small beads or toys. Fill with water AND—this is important—-securely GLUE the lid closed!!! Now it is time to SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE.

At school, any time we shake something we sing along to that old KC and The Sunshine band song—always turns it into a fun time 🙂

Your child will have a blast but be sure to supervise carefully 🙂

GROSS MOTOR

Just as this 4th 9 weeks has been different, summer will be different too with the Summer Olympic Games being postponed. So, what if you had your own Summer Olympic Games with your family?

You could divide into teams or compete as individuals. Have each person or team come up with a team name or represent a country (you could even include some social studies by doing research about different countries, but it is summer so that is up to you).

Then choose your games or activities. There have been a lot of activities listed in previous posts that you could use or you can look online for others. Maybe even let each participant/team choose one or two activities, so you have a variety. Modify the activities as needed, so everyone can participate.

Finally, hold your Olympic Games. They could be held inside, outside, or a combination of the two. They could be held in one day, over a week’s time, or throughout the entire summer if you did one or two activities a week. If you do the later, you could “hold practices” to practice the skill to prepare for the “big day” much like an athlete would practice their sport.

It would also be fun to have family members that live outside of your home watch to cheer you on using FaceTime, Zoom, Teams, etc.

Lastly, come up with a way to keep points or score until the end of your Olympic Games. And of course, at the end of the games, have an award ceremony to recognize everyone’s achievements and to celebrate a job well done. Everyone will be a winner because you created, competed, and celebrated together.

Have a safe and wonderful summer!

FINE MOTOR

Two fun projects for you—one quick and easy, the other will take a little more time.

If you don’t have balls handy for your Olympic Game—-you can make your own!

Grab a piece paper, fold it in half, and crumple it up into a ball (this is a great activity for building hand strength and working on bilateral coordination). Have your child squeeze it really hard to make it as compact as possible. They can knock, drop, kick, or throw to make a goal/score a point!

Make ENOUGH paper balls to almost fill a plastic shopping bag. Tie the bag closed and VOILA—instant beach ball 🙂

Another activity to do with your child is to make a Summer Scrapbook! I did this with my children when they were little and it made such great memories. It is also a great way to practice writing and cutting skills. Here are a few suggestions for pages:

Stamp your child’s HAND and FOOTPRINT on a page on the first day of summer break. Then do the same at the end of summer.

Draw a self PORTRAIT and a picture of the SUN.

Pick favorite MOVIE, BOOK, TOY, TV, VIDEO GAME, PLACE, SONG etc. and have your child draw a picture about it. If your child needs to practice writing have them write a sentence as well.

Gather old magazines and have your child tear or cut pieces of their favorite COLOR and glue down to make a collage.

Of course, take lots of PICTURES and add them to the scrapbook!

LANGUAGE

We’ve had some summertime beach thoughts lately, so this week I’m including 2 different recipes that can hopefully quench your thirst for the sandy beach.

Here is the first recipe: Let’s Make Sonic Ocean Water This is a recipe that copies the Sonic ocean water drink. We made this with our students in 2018 so we included some pictures on each of the pages of them putting together the recipe.

Here is the second recipe: Let’s Make A Beach In A Cup We made this recipe in 2017 with our students so again, we have pictures of them carrying out the steps of the recipe.

While making these recipes, make sure to use your child’s communication system if they have one in place. We always emphasize core vocabulary words like PUT, TURN, HELP, WANT, MORE, AGAIN, and ALL DONE. Talk about how the ingredients feel: wet/dry, hot/cold, hard/soft. Talk about the taste of the recipes: good/bad, sweet/sour, like/don’t like. Talk about how the ingredients look when they are mixed together–how they can change from a liquid (milk and pudding mix) to a solid (pudding when it has set).

What’s most important is to have fun, be together, and always keep modeling and using language for your child/student. Repetition is KEY so repeat, repeat, repeat!

LITERACY

Books based on some familiar stories are always a hit—here are a few of our favorites!

We recommend this book from October 2015: Let’s Go To Neverland!

We also recommend this one from March 2019: Who Are The Characters In Aladdin

Finally, one more from December 2015: Who Will We Meet in Arendelle

Thank you all for following along with us this year. Please join us again in the fall for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!

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May17

Family Game Night

Posted on May 17, 2020 by jd785

Family Game Night

This week we are playing games! Our OT, PT, and SLP have come up with a variety of things to do. So break out the board games, gather everyone up, and have a fun family game night!

SENSORY

Here are two fun sensory based versions of games to play with your kids!

We often put a hidden picture at the bottom of our sensory boxes. The students have to push the contents of the box to see the picture. You can easily adapt this to an I-Spy game at home using magazine or old calendar pictures. Look for a picture with lots of different things to find and tape it to the bottom of your container (cookie sheet, roasting pan, casserole dish, storage box etc) and then add sand, rice, or oatmeal. See how many details they can “spy” as they move the contents around.

One of my favorite games to play with my students is What’s in Ned’s Head. Students reach into “Ned’s Head” and try to identify an object before they pull it out OR pull the object out and match it to a picture. You could make your own variation of the game and play Bingo by putting a variety of toys in a drawstring bag. Pick toys with different textures, shapes, sizes ex. balls, hand fidgets, cars, action figures etc. Make simple Bingo boards with names of the different objects. Have your child act as the “caller” and pull out one object at a time.

GROSS MOTOR

Over the past few weeks, I have talked about a lot of different games you could play with your kids to incorporate gross motor skills, so this week I thought a fun activity would be to make your own board game and incorporate various gross motor activities into it. This could be done indoors or outdoors using a variety of materials that you have at home, as well as, for students with different ability levels.

Use painters tape, chalk, paper plates, construction paper, large boxes, etc. to make a path for your child to follow. Make lines straight, curvy, or zig zag for your child to walk, jump, or crawl on. A hop scotch path could be fun to incorporate into your path too.

Incorporate challenges for them along the way using pool noodles to step over or walk on (if they are cut in half), cones to weave through, streamers to crawl under/step over, hula hoops to step through or walk around, couch cushions to walk on to challenge their balance. You could incorporate different textures to such a bubble wrap, sand paper, carpet, tile, grass, sand, etc. and play bare footed for extra fun.

You could incorporate a targeting game that they have to master before they can continue to move along the path. For example, a ring/bean bag/ball toss to a basket/bucket/box. You could also include targeting skills focusing on kicking a ball into a box/basket/between 2 cones, throwing a ball to a target on the wall, or rolling a ball to a target (think bowling).

You could also incorporate a movement activity along the path. For example, jumping jacks, wall pushups, etc. Also, use various ways to move along the path (for example, bear crawl, frog jump, etc.).

Use a dice, number cards from a deck or cards, numbered strips of paper in a cup/bag to draw from to determine how many spaces to move forward (if you want to work on numbers). You could also work on colors or letters if you wanted to instead of numbers using colored pieces of paper or alphabet cards, as long as, colors or letters are incorporated into your path/game board.

Use the above ideas, ideas from previous posts, or create your own ideas to make your own floor or outdoor area board game. The most important thing is to get everyone involved and have fun! Have a good week.

FINE MOTOR

We are lucky enough to have things like an All Turn It spinner to adapt games at school, but there are still ways to simply adapt things at home.

Here are some ways to adapt board games for easier access:

Put dice into small snack containers. Let your child throw the container or knock it off their tray when it is their turn to roll.

Use a section of a pool noodle with a slit on the top to hold playing cards.

If picking up small cards (ex. Candy Land) is difficult, tape colored paper to match game pieces to the sides of a small box. Let your child throw or drop the container—the color on top is their card.

Limit the amount or which cards are used, for example with Memory use fewer cards or in Uno remove all the reverse/skip/etc cards to simplify the game to simple color matching.

Tape a small photo of your child to their playing piece to make it easily identifiable.

To exchange a small playing piece for a larger one that is easier to grasp, you can use an empty medicine bottle or spice jar. Adding some coins or play dough inside will make it more stable.

LANGUAGE

Here is a fun and engaging game that your child and you can play while working on the common core words GO and STOP. Here are the symbols that you can use: Red Light Green Light

You can take turns being the person in control of the “light”. Hold up the symbol for GO and for STOP whenever you are saying the words. You can also use the color symbols. It’s always fun to be able to control things that are happening so your kiddos should have a good time controlling the movement of people 🙂

For this game, you can either use either a Memory board game or these pictures: Memory game

Turn all the cards over face down and take turns choosing 2 cards at a time. Talk about if they look the SAME or if they look DIFFERENT.

LITERACY

We suggest this book from November 2018: Let’s Play Candy Land

We also suggest this book from September 2016: what-video-game-should-we-play

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

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May10

Numbers

Posted on May 10, 2020 by jd785

Numbers

We are taking a mathematical turn this week with a unit all about numbers—-enjoy!

SENSORY

Time to break out the messy play again—but this time with shaving foam! Place a generous amount of foam on a tray, cookie sheet, or if you are feeling especially adventurous—-on the kitchen table 🙂

Have your child use their fingers to practice writing numbers in the foam.

GROSS MOTOR

This week use dice or playing cards to determine how many of an activity your child does. For example, roll a dice or pull a card from the deck to see how many jumping jacks, wall pushups, or frog jumps your child does. Or to determine how many seconds they can stand on one leg or how many times to catch and throw a ball without dropping it. I have some oversized playing cards and light up large dice that I like to use at school, but you could us regular playing cards or dice, Uno cards that have numbers, put number magnets or strips or paper with numbers written on them in a cup/bag and draw one, or make your own dice out of a cube shaped box if you want to. Make up your own rules and use activities that your child enjoys. The fun part is letting the dice or cards decide how many you do.

Online, I found an activity where you tape various pieces of paper on a wall (choose the wall and ball carefully, so that the paint doesn’t get messed up and nothing gets broken) with numbers on them and have the child throw a ball to the requested number. You could have them draw the number out of a cup as mentioned above and throw the ball to the matching number or call the number out to them verbally. This could be done in standing, standing on a pillow for a challenge, in tall kneeling or 1/2 kneeling, in bench sitting, supported sitting, or while sitting in a wheelchair. It could also be done by touching, reaching, or looking at a number to identify or match the number.

Also, you could make number lines out of tape, paper plates, or chalk and have your child move to a requested number. You could also incorporate addition and subtraction, by having them start on one number and take steps forward and backward and see where they land. You could also have them crawl while pushing a toy car to a requested number or “numbered parking spot” if they are non-ambulatory.

Hopscotch is also a fun game with numbers. Make a path out of chalk or tape, either a traditional path or create one of your own. You can play by traditional rules or make up your own. You could incorporate different movements in the game such as side stepping, walking backwards, bear walking. Be creative and have fun.

Have a great week!

FINE MOTOR

A scavenger hunt is perfect for a numbers themed activity! Below is a list of items to find around the house.

After you count the item, there is a visual motor activity included with each to target a wide variety of skills.

Happy Hunting!!

1—backpack: practice opening/closing the zipper.

2—shoes: practice tying shoe laces.

3—pillows: identify the shapes.

4—spoons: scoop water or rice and pour from one spoon to another.

5—toy cars: drive the cars along straight, curved, and zig zag roads.

6—coins: hold out your hand palm down at chin level, stack the coins on your hand.

7—stuffed animals: sort from biggest to smallest.

8—books: stack the books, and then read one of course 🙂

9—crayons: use each color to draw a picture.

10—socks: match the pairs.

LANGUAGE

Because a lot of our students are motivated by food, our language group typically consists of recipes to make. This week, though, I have a few different things you can do with counting while cooking:

Count ingredients one by one. Start with a small number (1-3) and help your child count the number of pieces of food, using a finger to point to each piece. Children often don’t realize that each piece only gets counted once, or they try to count too quickly and skip numbers. Help them to keep track by moving the already counted pieces into a new pile.
Count the total number of ingredients. Help your child count the pieces of food and then say how many pieces there are all together. After they finish counting, ask, “How many?” Move up to larger numbers as they get more comfortable with counting.
Guess which pile has more ingredients. Make two small piles of food and ask your child to show/tell you which one has MORE in it. Count the number of pieces in each pile to see if they are correct. You can then talk about the pile that has LESS in it.

Here are numbers 1-10 along with cards with dots and animals to count and match to the number. The number cards can be used as visuals during your cooking activities or you can also use them to help your child count the objects and match them to the number. Here’s the link: Numbers 1-10

LITERACY

We suggest this book from April 2015: I Can Count to 10

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

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Apr12

Color

Posted on April 12, 2020 by jd785

Color

Distance learning continues and we hope everyone out there is doing ok. Our SLP, OT, and PT have some more fun activities for you. This week we are going with a COLORFUL theme!

Once again we pulled some photos from our library 🙂

SENSORY

Let’s make OOBLECK!

This is a pretty messy activity so you might want to go outside for this one. Where ever you choose to do this, definitely have a basin of water, hose, or sink nearby! It you follow our blog regularly you know that oobleck is one of our favorite sensory experiences and SO easy to make at home—-all you need is cornstarch and water!

Mix 2 parts cornstarch and 1 part water and pour onto a cookie sheet. Put a few drops of food coloring on one side and a few drops of another color on the other side. Let your child dive right in with BOTH hands! Talk about the colors they SEE and watch the oobleck change colors as the food coloring swirls and mixes together.

So much fun 🙂

GROSS MOTOR

To address gross motor skills, make up some games to play to work on color identification and incorporate motor movements. For example, you could place different colored pieces of construction paper or objects on the floor and ask your child to go pick up a certain colored piece of paper/object and bring it to you.

Have them change the way they travel to the colored paper/object. For example, use movements like crawl, crab walk, bear crawl, hop like a bunny or frog, log roll, walk backwards, side step, etc.

The skill could also be worked on while sitting, by presenting two choices and having your child reach for a requested color. This could be done in supported sitting or independent sitting. You can make it even trickier by moving the choices around (up, down, out to the side, forward, etc.) or having them reach with a certain hand. Hopefully that gives you a few simple ideas to try.

Enjoy!

FINE MOTOR

We saw this idea on Pinterest and we were totally inspired! You will need a black permanent marker, regular kids’ markers, and a paper towel folded in HALF. We found that the cheaper paper towels work best! You will also need a cookie sheet with a layer of water. This activity gets a little messy so you may want to go outside for this one too 🙂

For students who need help using or are learning to use classroom tools: draw an outline their initials or name in block letters with the BLACK permanent marker. Go over the outline a few times!

For students that are more proficient writers: have them draw a word of choice.

OPEN the towel up—you will see a faint outline of the design that was drawn on top.

Use DIFFERENT colored markers to FILL IN color each letter on the bottom half of the towel.

If your child can’t do fill in coloring, just have them add color to the bottom half of the towel—the end product will be great either way!

Once you have finished coloring, fold the top back over and place the paper towel on the water—–and watch the magic happen!

The colors will bleed from the bottom sheet onto the top sheet—-HOW COOL IS THAT 🙂

LANGUAGE

You can download this simple color board to point to the different colors that you are targeting. Here’s the link: color board

Some fun activities to incorporate color:

Pick out one color and go around the house to find different things that are the same color. You can take the color board with you around the house and point to the targeted color as a reminder. You can also use the board to show your child if what they found matches the targeted color or not.
If you have an ice cube tray, you can make colorful ice cubes by freezing water mixed with food coloring. You can put them in a glass of water and watch the water change color. You can also put 2 different colors of ice cubes in the water and see what new color it will make. Try yellow+blue, blue+red, and red+yellow 🙂

LITERACY

We recommend reaching this book from April 2018: Look At The Colors Of The Rainbow

Here is another book from February 2016: The World is Full of Color

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

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Jan19

Hobbies

Posted on January 19, 2020 by jd785

Hobbies

For National Hobby Month we let staff take center stage in our book this week. The sensory groups explored boxes related to specific hobbies. The fine motor groups made art projects using techniques from some of our hobbyists and the language group made a tasty treat!

SENSORY GROUP

Ms. Trenisha collects elephants—-how cool is that! There were lots of different elephant items in this box including a hat, plush toys, and a discovery bottle with floating elephant beads.

There was also an accordion tube the students could use to form their own elephant trunks.

The accordion tube was a hit!

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

Ms. Laurie loves to cross stitch.

Students stamped letter X’s into purple Bubber——our version of cross stitching 🙂

Science access point: apply a push to move an object.

Mr. Noah and Ms. Betsy enjoy gardening. We put a variety of vegetables in our play dirt this week and let the students dig their own gardens.

We also included a small rake.

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

Coach Kevin likes to golf in his spare time!

The students made golf balls with white Floam.

Math access point: recognize three-dimensional objects, such as balls.

Ms. Kim enjoys reading.

Since animals are always fun to read about, we put some cool magnets that spelled the animal words into a box of beans.

Science access point: match objects by an observable property, such as shape.

Ms. Brenda loves to bake! For her box we brought out some chocolate cloud dough.

A variety of different sized scoops and spoons were used to fill up a small cupcake tin.

Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.

In her spare time, Ms. Thea likes to go kayaking and fishing.

The students had fun seeing how many fish they could catch in our pond.

Math access point: associate quantities with number names.

To go along with our gardeners, we chose a fruity scent this week.

Strawberry guava was a perfect choice!

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

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday the students made a tissue paper collage on a paper plate!

First, they identified the shape of their paper plate.

Math access point: recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape.

Next, they tore colorful tissue paper into smaller pieces and glued them down on to their plates.

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

TA DA!!

We made collages like Ms. Jessica!

On Wednesday the students practiced their painting skills by painting with water! Thank you Ms. Jeannie for donating “paint with water” coloring books!

First, they identified the shape of of their paper.

Math access point: recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape.

Next, the students dampened their paint brushes with water and began painting. It was so cool watching the paint appear!

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

Glue was added to the back of the picture—-we followed the shape of the paper reminding the students that it was a RECTANGLE.

Then they glued their picture on to a BIGGER rectangle!

Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.

TA DA!!

We are artists like Ms. Judy!

What a great hobby!!!!

LANGUAGE GROUP

We made yummy banana pudding parfaits this week in the language group. Here’s the recipe that we used: Let’s Make Banana Pudding Parfaits

We started out by PUTTING instant vanilla pudding mix into a BOWL. The student who HELPED was given the box of pudding mix. If they were unable to open it, they requested HELP.

Once the pudding mix was in the bowl, we measured out 2 cups of milk. We poured one carton of milk into the measuring cup and found that we needed MORE. We found that 2 cartons of milk from the cafeteria equals 2 cups!

Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions, using language, such as enough, too much, or more.

Each student had a change to HELP MIX the ingredients up. Since each student helped out, they were asked “who’s next” after their turn.

Next, we crushed up some vanilla wafers. Each time a student was finished HELPING, we observed the bag to see if they needed to be crushed up MORE or if we were ALL DONE.

We adapted our glitter song and sang “crush your cookies instead of shake your glitter 🙂

Each student had to request a CUP. Then they had to request the ingredients to build the parfait.

First, they requested the crushed cookies. We PUT some pudding on top of that and then added 3 slices of banana. Each student counted out 3 slices.

Math access point: associate quantities with number names.

Finally, we PUT some whipped cream on top. Each student was only given a small amount, so they had to indicate whether they wanted MORE or they were ALL DONE. When the parfait was all ready, they had to request a SPOON.

I think we can all agree with Ms. Brenda that cooking can be a very fun hobby 🙂

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

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Apr23

Beatrix Potter

Posted on April 23, 2017 by jd785

Beatrix Potter

This week we decided to learn about author Beatrix Potter who wrote lots of books including the tale of a very famous rabbit named Peter! Our sensory groups explored boxes related to facts about her life. The fine motor groups made art projects based on characters from her books. The language group made a vegetable garden inspired smoothie—-Peter Rabbit approved!

SENSORY GROUP

Beatrix Potter was born in England so we filled this box with rice in the colors of the British flag. There were letter B’s and P’s to find and match, as well as a picture of Beatrix herself at the bottom of the box.

Recognize objects as the same is a science access point.

The students really had fun with the rice this week 🙂

Since Peter Rabbit is Beatrix Potter’s most well known character we decided to dedicate a box just to him. The students had fun stamping little Peter Rabbits in moonsand. We chose the blue moonsand because Peter Rabbit wore a blue coat in the story!

Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.

With a base of paper, this box contained some plush characters like the ones that appeared in some of her books. Since all of the tales take place in England, we also put in some British flag garland. There was even a board book featuring the Tale of Benjamin Bunny!

The social studies access point associate an object with a person can be addressed here.

In addition to being an author, Beatrix Potter was also a farmer. She even wrote a scientific paper about mushrooms! We brought out our box of coffee grounds “dirt” and some play food and dried beans for the students to plant.

The science access point recognize that plants grown can be addressed here.

Beatrix raised prize winning sheep on her farm. There was some soft wooly fabric to touch, a cute plush lamb puppet, and some picture cards with the word “sheep” in this box.

Match animals that are the same is a science access point.

Ok, so the lamb puppet was totally the favorite thing in the box 🙂

We continued the sheep theme with our messy play. A little bit of a stretch here, but we thought shaving cream looked a little like fluffy sheep wool.

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

In the story, Peter Rabbit hid behind a watering can so along with a large scoop, we included one in our water play this week. This was a total hit—-the students had a blast with it!

Recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids is a science access point.

We chose Bath and BodyWorks cucumber melon scent this week because we figured little bunnies would like to munch on those if they found them in a garden!

Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday the students made an art project based on the story of Peter Rabbit using this watering can template and a rabbit shape cut from the Ellison machine.

First we discussed the color of the paint and identified it using communication symbols.

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

Then the students stamped some GREEN grass using our craft foam painting tool (a fringed and rolled up piece of craft foam).

We emphasized stamping UP and DOWN.

Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship is a math access point.

As each student added a watering can and a rabbit to their pictures we discussed its spatial orientation ex. beside, over, under etc.

Recognize when an object is added to a situation is a math access point.

Ta DA!!!!!!!!

——hippity hoppity!

On Wednesday the students made an art project based on the character Jemima Puddle duck and once again used a shape cut from the Ellison machine.

First we identified the color of our ducks. The students did a great job—-everyone got it right!

Once again, the science access point identify objects by one observable property is addressed.

They also used communication symbols to identify the shape of Jemina’s puddle.

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

Then the students used blue markers to draw water LINES on their circles.

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

Time to glue everything DOWN!

Recognize when an object has been added to a situation is a math access point.

TA quack quack DA!

These are some happy ducks!

LANGUAGE GROUP

This week, we made a snack that we think Peter Rabbit would really enjoy! We made a fruity carrot smoothie using this recipe: Let_s Make a Fruity Carrot Smoothie

We started out by POURING 2 cups of orange juice into a blender. We talked about how we put in the LIQUIDS first.

Recognize when an object or person is added to a situation is a math access point.

Next, we added the coconut yogurt. It called for 4 tbsp but we ended up using the whole carton.

Recognize when items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 4 is a math access point.

When we poured out 1 tbsp of honey, we talked about how it came out of the bottle SLOWLY.

Recognize an action as fast or slow is a science access point.

We added some frozen mixed fruit, but before we measured it, each student got to feel the fruit. We talked about how it felt COLD.

Recognize objects as warm or cold is a science access point.

Finally, we added our chopped carrots.

Again, recognize when objects have been added or removed from a situation is a math access point.

Our students took turns activating the blender using a switch.

The science access point recognize that electrical systems must be turned on in order to work.

Finally, we counted out our cups and drank our yummy smoothie!

YUM!!!!!

We throughly enjoyed learning about Beatrix Potter this week. Join us again for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!

Jan15

Past and Present

Posted on January 15, 2017 by jd785

Past and Present

We are complimenting our student’s Unique Curriculum theme this week by looking at how activities familiar to our students were done differently in the past. The sensory groups explored boxes related to different activities. The fine motor groups made some fun art projects and the language group learned made a yummy snack from long ago.

SENSORY GROUP

How we get to places has REALLY changed over the years! From horses to spaceships, we put a variety of transportation vehicles for the students to find in this box. The spaceship was especially popular because of its spinning light.

Recognize a model of a real object is a science access point.

Fashion is another thing that has changed over the years! We put lots of fabulous fashion accessories for our students to try on in this box. We had fun seeing what piece each student was attracted to. They had a blast—-total fashionistas 🙂

The science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed here.

Our students totally know how to rock a hat.

Just too cute—–and such style:)

While we prepare food differently now, we still GROW it in the ground. There were some vegetable play foods growing in our little plot of coffee grounds dirt. We included some bean seeds for the students to plant and there was also a picture of a fruit bowl to be found at the bottom of the box.

The math access point recognize two objects that are identical to each other can be addressed with this activity.

Back in the day, the abacus was the height of technology for doing math problems—-thank goodness for calculators 🙂 The students counted and sorted “bead shaped” pompoms. The soft texture of the pompoms made them especially inviting to touch for our students.

In addition to being counted, this activity can address the science access point identify objects by one observable property, such as color.

Today kids often play games on electric devices rather than board games. We filled this box with a variety of game pieces such as cards, checkers, and board game pieces. Smaller game pieces such as dice and jacks were sealed in a plastic jar—–such fun to shake!

Recognize objects that are identical to each other is a science access point.

Like people of long ago, the students used a plastic feather to write with this week.

Of course, people of long ago didn’t write in shaving cream but that made it much more fun 🙂

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

We put an old fashioned water wheel in our water play this week. Lots of scooping and pouring fun for sure!

Track objects in motion is a science access point.

It was a little tricky picking a scent for this week but we decided on Bath and Body Works cotton scent because both in the PAST and in the PRESENT we use cotton. It was a light scent that the students really liked.

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

FINE MOTOR

On Tuesday we talked about how people used to cook all their food over an open fire and then made a picture of one!

We counted the logs on our sample and used communication symbols to identify the number 2.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

The students used a paper cutter or switch operated scissors to cut 2 logs out of brown paper. They all did a great job!

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

Then they added glue with a glue stick and put their logs onto a piece of paper.

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

Next they crumpled up pieces of yellow and red tissue paper to make some flames.

Recognize when an object has been added to a situation is a math access point.

Ta Da—–let’s get cooking 🙂

On Wednesday our students made hourglass pictures using this hourglass-template.

First we discussed the color of the sand we were going to use and used communication symbols to identify the color PINK.

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

Then they painted some glue onto their hourglass. We added a little pink paint to the glue so the mixture would show up better against the white paper.

Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.

Pink sand was then added—–an old spice jar made a perfect shaker! The students really liked this part 🙂

We glued it down onto a nice bright green piece of paper.

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

Ta DA—–lets tell some time!

LANGUAGE GROUP

Today, since we LOVE to cook, we made a recipe that is from the 18th century! We made Whipped Syllabub. Here is a link to the recipe: lets-make-an-18th-century-whipped-syllabub

We started out by pouring some heavy whipping cream into a bowl. Our students helped POUR the cream in. We talked about how we needed MORE after putting 1 cup in since it called for 2 cups.

Solve problems involving small quantities of objects using language such as enough, too much, or more is a math access point.

Next, our students got to use a switch to activate the mixer. Each of our students had a chance to turn ON the mixer. It took a while, but we saw the cream change from a LIQUID to a SOLID. Very neat!

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

Then, each of our students got to use a lemon squeezer to SQUEEZE out some lemon juice into a DIFFERENT bowl. We squeezed out juice from one lemon and one orange. It smelled so good!

The math access point solve problems involving small quantities of actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more can be addressed here.

Then, our students got to POUR some sugar and sparkling grape juice into the lemon/orange juice mixture. After that was stirred together we added it to the whipped cream and stirred it all together.

The math access point recognize when an object is added to a situation is addressed here.

We counted out how many cups we needed and voila! We got to enjoy our 18th century syllabub.

Thanks for joining us this week. See you next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!