Many states in the Republic of India are celebrating the New Year this week so we thought it would be fun to learn a little more about the country.

We are lucky enough to have students whose families are from India so that made it even more special for us as they contributed some of the photos we used in our book. The sensory groups explored boxes related to different facts about India. The fine motor groups made art projects with animals that are symbolic of the country and the language group made a yummy ethnic dish to eat!

 

 

 

 

SENSORY GROUP

Our rice was orange, green, and white this week because those are the colors of the Indian flag. There were lots of letter I’s to find both upper and lower case, as well as a picture of a Bengal Tiger, which is the national animal, at the bottom of the box.

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

 

 

 

 

 

We went with the flag colors, paper shred this time, as the base of this box. It was filled with animals that are symbols of the country such as tigers, peacocks, lions and elephants. We learned India is the only country in the world with both lions and tigers—-how cool is that! Cricket is a favorite sport so we included a picture of that also! There was a little teapot and cup in the box because tea is an important Indian export.

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

 

 

 

 

 

The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and is located in Agra. Our students tried their hands at building a replica of the Taj Mahal using our white Floam. Not quite as lovely as the white marble used for the original but our students had fun anyway 🙂

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

 

 

 

 

Dahl or lentils are a staple food throughout India. Our box of dried lentils felt so cool to run hands through—-the students loved it! There were some King Cobras to find AND match in this box.

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

 

 

 

 

 

There were some interesting discovery bottles for the students to explore. One bottle was filled with sequins—-like those seen on colorful saris. If looked at closely enough, a little elephant could be found floating around too! Our peacock discovery bottle was filled with blue and green sparkly glitter which made it pretty fascinating to watch swirl.

Track objects in motion is a science access point.

 

 

 

 

The other discovery bottles were had cotton balls with scents associated with India—-sandalwood and curry. These were some pretty interesting aromas and very intriguing to our students.

Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli—-in this case smell—-is a science access point.

 

 

 

 

 

We put some green and orange glitter into our white oobleck—–once again representing the colors of the Indian flag. It was lots of fun to practice making the vertical and horizontal strokes needed to make a letter I!

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

 

 

 

 

 

Hands were rinsed in our Ganges River, complete with an Indian crocodile—-ours  a very cute one 🙂  India is known for periods of rain called “monsoons” so we created a little one here using a hand operated water mister fan. When pointed above the students heads it created a mini rainfall—-resulting in lots of giggles.

Our water was scented with coconut bath gel as a nod to the fact that it is an important crop in India.

Recognize weather conditions including hot/cold and raining/not raining during the day is a science access point that can be addressed here.

 

 

 

 

 

We finished our group with mango scented lotion. Mangos are the national fruit of India. A perfect scent to remind us of all the things we learned about the wonderful country of India! The students really liked the aroma and as usual they practiced body part identification by indicating where they wanted it applied.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday our students painted a Bengal Tiger using marbles. The tigers were cut from orange poster board using this:  tiger template

First the students identified the color orange using communication symbols.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tiger was placed in a box, then the students scooped 3 marbles out of black paint and put them in the box.

Recognize when 1 or 2 items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 3, is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next came the fun part which our students always LOVE—–time to shake, shake, shake!

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

 

 

 

 

 

The lid was opened and our tigers had their stripes! Googlie eyes and popsicle stick handles were then added.

Recognize that the appearance of an object has changed is a science access point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta Da…………….. GRRRRRRR!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, our students made peacocks—–the national bird of India. We used this:  peacock template

We started by discussing the shape of the coffee filter and asked the students to identify it using communication symbols

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They used blue and green markers to scribble on the coffee filters and then…….sprayed their art work with water.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

The filter was then folded in half and placed on a paper plate (we had cut in half ) to make it a little more stable. The peacocks body was placed on TOP of that then everything was stapled together.

Recognize a half of an object as part of the whole object is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

Ta DA! What beautiful peacocks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE GROUP

We made some curry hummus  in our language group!  This was a neat recipe because there were so many things for our students to SMELL.

We started by putting a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas in our food processor.  One student poured HALF of the can in and another student poured the REST of it in.

Recognize when an object or person is added to (addition) or is taken away from (subtraction) a situation is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

We then measured out some sesame oil and poured that in as well.  Our students got to smell the sesame oil——some liked it and others were not so thrilled about it 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then squirted some lemon juice into the mixture.  This time, our students got to TASTE the lemon juice.  We talked about how it was SOUR.

They made some pretty funny faces when the lemon juice hit their taste buds!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we shook some curry, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into the food processor.  Each of our students had a turn smelling the different spices.

These spices have some strong smells!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the ingredients added, the students used a switch to activate the food processor——-they always love that part 🙂

Observe and recognize a predictable cause-effect relationship related to a science topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once all of the ingredients were smooth, each of our students got to taste some of the hummus on a piece of pita bread.

 

 

 

 

                                                                           YUM!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed our visit to India this week! Join us next time for more fun and learning———–Group by Group!