Tag Archives: Pinterest

May1

We Love Star Wars

Posted on May 1, 2016 by jd785

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

SENSORY GROUP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Track objects in motion is a science access point.

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

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

FINE MOTOR GROUP

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ta Da……..

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

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

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

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

We did the same thing for the nose.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

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

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

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

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

Ta Da!!!!

The force is strong with these young padawans 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

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

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

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

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

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

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

They REALLY like this part 🙂

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

We think we hit this one out of the galaxy!

YUM!!!!!

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

Apr6

Springtime in Tallahassee

Posted on April 6, 2014 by jd785

Springtime in Tallahassee

Flowers, birds, butterflies, eggs—-its springtime in Tallahassee! Spring is a really special time in our hometown and we had a great time celebrating the season this week. Our sensory group boxes were filled with bright colors and textures. The fine motor group made some fabulous butterfly and bird art projects. The language group dyed eggs in different ways and decided which way was the best!

SENSORY GROUP

We used some bright yellow basket filler as the base for this box. Then we put in a variety of flowers, carrots, eggs, bunnies, chicks—-all symbols of spring! There was also a little toy clock to remind us that daylight savings time happens around this time of year. We also included a pair of silly glasses with a flower motif, just for fun 🙂

Distinguishing between a plant and animal, which is part of learning about the organization and development of living organisms, is a science access point addressed in this activity.

Colorful beans—-what would we DO without food coloring!—-looked like tiny eggs scattered on our green rice lawn. Ok, this may totally be our new favorite rice box!

Visual and tactile discrimination skills are addressed as students find the letter S hidden amongst the beans and rice.

Springtime in Tallahassee means the Rough Riders are coming to visit our school before marching in the Springtime Tallahassee parade. These people are really wonderful as they bedeck everyone at the school with beads and give a teddy bear to each of our students—-how cool is that! In their honor, this box is filled with colorful beads and teddy bears. There were 2 bears in the box, 1 little and 1 big one to compare and contrast.

The access point recognize differences in size of objects, related to ordering objects by measurable attributes, is the math access point addressed in this activity. Another math access point addressed is recognize length of real objects, such as big, little, long, or short.

This lovely spring weather we are having, makes everyone think about planting gardens. Our garden box contained coffee ground dirt and some “carrot seeds” (actually brown beans) to plant. We also included some toy carrots and a little scoop. Our students had a great time with this box, they especially loved scooping up the dirt and filling the tops of the carrots!

Recognize that plants grow is a science access point addressed in this activity.

The math access point associate quantities with number names can also be addressed.

While some people plant vegetable gardens, other plant flowers in hopes of attracting butterflies! We have used our colorful pasta box before and we really love it——pink butterflies and green spiral pasta, just so pretty. A laminated butterfly picture and wooden caterpillar were also tucked into this box.

Students were encouraged to match the different pastas which addresses the math access point recognize two objects that are the same size or color.

Store shelves are filled with yummy spring treats including marshmallow peeps in a rainbow of colors. We mixed shaving cream, cornstarch, and some yellow food coloring to make our peeps. This mixture really does end up with a marshmallow consistency. It is light, soft, and moldable—–completely cool!

This is a totally fun and messy way to explore the science access point apply a push to move an object. Most of our students LOVED this gooey mess………others not so much 🙂

Well, that marshmallow mixture is quite messy so we rinsed our hands off in sun-ripened raspberry bath gel from Bath and Bodyworks! We thought a fruity scent was perfect since it reminded us again of spring gardens. Along with 2 different sized measuring scoops, we included a little carrot shaped container for more scooping fun.

Recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids is a science access point addressed. Another one is recognize one way people use water.

We finished with the matching lotion—-leaving our students smelling like yummy little raspberries! The students liked the scent this week, it was quite a hit. Some of our students really anticipate this part of the group and immediately start putting out their hands when they see us bring out the bottle. Rubbing lotion on different body parts is a fun way to promote body awareness.

Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point addressed in this activity.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

Our Tuesday art project evolved from an idea we got from Mr. Chris (thanks again!). We started with these cute and colorful butterfly placemats we got 2 for a dollar at Target—-we may have mentioned how much we love the dollar section before 🙂 We cut a butterfly stencil out of some black poster board (a freebie on the giveaway table—–another score!) using one of the placemats as a pattern.

Each student got a placemat and when it was their turn, we put the stencil on their placemat while they colored their butterfly with Crayola Pipsqueak markers. We like making our stencil black because we thought it helped reinforce where we wanted the color to go. The markers were used for 2 reasons. First, we like their size which works well for our students little hands. Second, markers have low friction and bright color—-as opposed to crayons—- which is more visually appealing to our students.

We also used our communication cards to work on color recognition as the markers were passed around the table.

This activity worked on lots of science access points including share objects with a partner, recognize a change in an object, identify objects by one observable property, and recognize a change in an object.

TA DA—-

our artists were just so proud!

For our Thursday art project we made little bird nests! We saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it fit perfectly with our springtime theme. Our students started by gluing green paper shred onto a small paper plate. Squeezing the glue works on hand strengthening and eye hand coordination is addressed as the paper is put onto the glue.

Next we used our adaptive scissors to cut 1 diamond shape into 2 triangles—–perfect little wings! Then we did it again because we are making 2 birds!

Recognize an object with a 2 dimensional shape is a math access point. In addition, associate quantities 1 and 2 with number names is another math access point addressed in this activity.

The wings were attached (with tape and a little help) to the 2 halves of a plastic egg that had been pre-decorated with googlie eyes and a beak.

Ta da, our little birdies are now tucked into their nests looking quite adorable!

Just like our students 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We decided to have a little spring experiment! Since people dye eggs during the spring, we decided to find out which way is the best way to dye eggs. We used the colors pink and purple for our experiment. To obtain those colors, we used PAAS Egg Decorating Kit, McCormick’s Neon food coloring, and Kool-Aid.

We used small, clear, plastic cups so our students were able to see the eggs change color. Each cup had a label on it to show us which dye we were using.

We started by taking out a boiled egg which had been in the refrigerator and letting each student feel it. They were asked if it was WARM or COLD and also if it was HARD or SOFT. Then we brought out a plastic egg—-in some ways it was the SAME as the real egg but it was DIFFERENT in other ways!

Recognize the temperature of items as cool or warm is a science access point addressed by this activity.

Recognize similarities and differences in size of common objects is a math access point addressed.

After touching the eggs, the students each picked which color they wanted their real egg to become. Identify classroom objects by one observable property such as color is a science access point.

Very CAREFULLY, and without a lot of adult assistance, the students put their egg in the dye. Yes, we do like to live life on the edge 🙂

We used small, clear, plastic cups so our students could see the eggs as they changed color. Every few seconds, we used a spoon to stir the egg around.

After a few minutes, we lifted the eggs out of the dye and put them in the egg carton. They all came out so differently and SO colorful!

The students told us which egg they liked the BEST. After the eggs dried a little bit, the students put a sticker on the egg they liked the best to decorate it.

It was a neat experiment! The boldest colors came from the PAAS and the neon food coloring, while the Kool-Aid eggs had texture on them. It was lots of fun to see the differences!

As with all our groups this week, we finished by doing the chicken dance along with our dancing chicken 🙂

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Join us again next week for more fun, learning, and occasional dancing——Group by Group!

Jan27

Winter

Posted on January 27, 2014 by jd785

Winter

It is pretty chilly out there—-even in our part of the country 🙂 Perfect timing for this weeks winter theme! We explored a variety of wintery textures and scents in our sensory group. Our art projects were all about snowmen in our fine motor group, and in the language group we explored the concepts of warm and cold.

We also brought back our snowflake umbrella which was a hit in all the groups.

SENSORY GROUP

We made our snowflake umbrella by using packing tape to attach a variety of dollar store snowflakes to a clear umbrella. Then we strung silver and white beads, snowflake ornaments and white pompom yarn from the spokes and around the edge. It looks pretty fabulous—–if we do say so ourselves 🙂

Our students were quite entranced and loved watching the dancing snowflakes when the umbrella was slowly twisted back and forth.

The science access point tracking objects in motion is addressed here.

This artificial snow (a purchased powder with added water) is pretty fantastic, it looks and feels like the real thing—-especially when put into the fridge for a few minutes! It certainly had our students quite fascinated, they were not quite sure what to make of this interesting texture.

Just like the real thing, we were able to make small snowballs by grabbing a handful and squeezing it together—-FUN!

The science access point explore, observe, and recognize common objects in the natural world is addressed here.

We made more snowballs with our white Floam. This stuff with its’ slightly tacky texture is perfect for making snowballs because it molds and sticks together easily.

Of course, some of our students got even more creative 🙂

The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed and the math access point recognize 3 dimensional shapes (sphere) are addressed in this activity.

More snow fun with our shaving cream and cornstarch mixture—-equal parts of both. This stuff is really just so COOL! It is squishy but can be molded and has such an interesting texture.

Recognizing that pushing an pulling an object makes it move is the science access point addressed here.

All that snow sure looks like fun BUT we don’t get many white winters around here. So as a nod to our Florida winters we HAD to include a box with sand!

We used our moonsand for this box. It is more dense than sandbox sand and more like the sand you would find on a beach. A round cookie cutter was included. Our students had fun using the cookie cutter to make circles in the sand. Some of them also went ahead and made some Florida “snowballs” 🙂

The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed here. The math access points recognize a 2 and 3 dimensional objects is also addressed.

Brrr—-time to warm up by the fire! We made our “fire” by attaching colorful shiny ribbon strips to our switch operated fan. It was fun watching the smiles and giggles of our students as the ribbons fluttered and the breeze hit their faces.

Indicating awareness of air moving is the science access point addressed here.

We used the “chimney” scent from our Follow Your Nose Game to add to the sensory experience of this activity. We started by holding it near our students noses but then got the idea (thanks to Jimmy our new OT intern) to hold it behind the fan so the aroma really wafted around the room!

Recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli is another science access point addressed in this activity.

This pompom yarn would make a wonderful warm afghan to snuggle under on a cold winters day! Our students love its’ soft texture. Some of them like to drape it around their shoulders or heads while others just love to pull it apart or shake it around.

Then you have those who like to do BOTH 🙂

The science access points addressed here are use senses to recognize objects and recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes if move.

We made this discovery bottle by mixing a little bit of glitter glue, glitter, and snowflake confetti—-we were really pleased with the way it turned out. The snowflakes looked so pretty as they swirled and drifted around with the glitter.

Tracking objects in motion is the science access point addressed with this bottle.

Twisted peppermint from Bath and Bodyworks was our scent this week. Whether scooping water with our measuring cups (and addressing the math access point recognize differences in containers that hold liquids) or indicating which body part to rub the lotion on (addressing the science access point recognize external body parts)——it was the perfect cool aroma to help us remember our winter theme!

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we started our group by talking about snow globes. We brought out our snowflake umbrella so our students could experience what it felt like to be in a snow globe.

They really got so excited when it was their turn to be under the umbrella and were very good about just touching (rather than pulling at) the dangling items.

Our students got to work on the art project by using a small circle punch to cut out pictures of their faces. This was a little tricky and they did need some help with alignment. To make it easier to use the punch, we had the students push down on the lever rather than try to pinch it. Either the way, it is still a great hand strengthening activity.

After punching out their faces, they glued them onto a snowman. The snowman was made using heavy card stock and glued to a card stock circle—–thanks again to Jimmy the intern!

In addition to eye hand coordination, the math access point recognize a 2 dimensional shape (in this case circle) is addressed.

Then we instructed the students to scoop 3 spoonfuls of artificial snow into a small clear plastic cup. We used our number chart to help our students identify the number 3. Most of our students still need help in this area.

The math access points recognize quantities 1 to 3 using objects, pictures, or number names and solve problems involving joining or separating sets of objects to 3 are addressed in this activity.

The adults hot glued the cup to the snow man base and VOILA—–a snow globe!

Our students were pretty fascinated with their creations and kept turning them around to watch the snow move about. Tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is the science access point addressed here.

Such cute little snowmen!

On Thursday we made melted snowman pictures. We have seen this art project all over Pinterest and thought it would be perfect for our students.

We started by discussing the colors (blue and white) in our project and asking our students to point to the color using our communication symbols.

Identify common objects by one observable property, such as color is the science access point addressed here.

Recognizing a 2 dimensional shape—-the rectangle paper—-is a math access point.

Then we used paint sponges to paint our mixture of glue, shaving cream, and fake snow onto the paper. We saw the idea for adding the fake snow on the Growing a Jeweled Rose blog—-such a great blog with so many creative ideas!

Applying a push or pull to move an object is a science access point addressed.

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

Next we added paper hats, scarves, triangle noses, and googlie eyes onto our mixture. The beauty of this project is that is doesn’t matter where they go as long as they are on the glue! Thanks to our volunteer Courtney for cutting out all the little pieces!

We also added the words “my melted snowman” to increase the literacy component.

The math access point recognize when an object is added to a situation is addressed in this activity.

TA DA!

These pictures are super cute—-and when dry the shaving cream and glue mixture will feel just like puffy paint!

LANGUAGE GROUP

Today our focus was on teaching the concept of cold versus warm. We had 5 different objects that were found around the room, such as metal spoons, scissors, and jars. We used 2 of each object. One of the objects was left out and the other object was put in the freezer or the refrigerator (i.e., one spoon in the freezer, one left out and so on).

We made a small board with the Boardmaker symbols for “cold” and “warm” on it. Each student got to feel an object and indicate if it was cold or warm using either their words or indicating the picture symbol.If the student had difficulty correctly indicating, we would place a warm object and a cold object on their cheeks and ask them to show which one was cold/warm. This helped them to decipher the difference a little easier.

The science access point recognize the temperature of items as cool or warm is addressed in this activity.

The language access point communicate about a selected object using nonverbal expression, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is also addressed.

After going through each object, we decided it was time to warm up with some hot chocolate—-of course for safety it will actually be “warm” chocolate! First we opened the package and let our students smell the chocolaty goodness!

This addresses the science access point recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli. They definitely recognized and responded to this scent 🙂

We emptied the chocolate powder into a cup and added water. This addresses the math access point recognize when an object is added to a situation.

Each of the students took turns stirring the mixture, addressing the science access points apply a push or pull to move an object and sharing objects with a partner.

And what good is warm chocolate without marshmallows! We drew out a number board with 1, 2, and 3 written on it along with dots under the numbers. The students chose how many marshmallows they wanted in their drink and we counted them out as they were put on the number line. We counted them again as they were dropped into the student’s cups.

In addition to working on pincer grasp skills, the math access point match objects to marked spaces to show one-to-one correspondence for quantities 1 to 3.

And, of course, it also addresses the language access point communicate a preference for familiar objects.

After tasting its yummy goodness, our students again used the Boardmaker symbols to indicate if the chocolate was warm or cold.

That is all for this week, join us again for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!