Tag Archives: pumpkin

Oct20

Orange and Black

Posted on October 20, 2019 by jd785

It’s all about the colors of the season this week! Our sensory groups explored orange and black themed boxes. Our fine motor groups made colorful art projects and the language group made some orange and black treats—-no tricks 🙂

SENSORY GROUP

There were lots of things to explore and discover in this all BLACK box.

We included different textures such as fur and fabric, as well as things that made noise such as a squeaky rat!

Science access point: recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.

Our ORANGE box was also filled with a variety of objects and textures.

The flashing light toy was especially popular!

Science access point: recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.

Our colorful orange and black rice is always a hit and so very eye catching. There was one letter B and two O’s to find, match, or spell out BOO!

There was also an orange and black picture to at the bottom of the box.

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

We put two black bats and one orange spider in this box of black kinetic sand.

The bats blended with the black sand, but the spider really stood out!

Math access point: recognize two objects that are the same size or color.

The students sorted black and orange pompoms.

They really did a great job!

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

We tinted our shaving cream orange, then added some black glitter.

Fun AND colorful!

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

Two cute ducks—-one black and one orange—floated in the water play this week.

There were two different sized measuring cups and a sifter scoop for scooping fun.

Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.

Orange Mandarin scented lotion was the perfect choice for this week.

A yummy citrus scent that our students loved!

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

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we made an inkblot painting.

First, we identified the color of our paint and paper.

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

We squeezed paint on to one half of a folded pumpkin shape, then folded the unpainted half over the paint and rubbed it with our hands.

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

Then we opened it back up to see the inkblot and glued it to a black background!!!!

TA DA!!!

Inkblot pumpkins!

On Wednesday we stamped with pumpkins!

First, we identified the color of our paint and paper.

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

Then, we stamped UP and Down with our pumpkins. Forks made for perfect handles!

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

TA DA!!!

Orange and Black…..

It’s pumpkin time!

LANGUAGE GROUP

We made an orange and black treat this week for our language group. Here’s the recipe that we used: Let’s Make An Edible Pumpkin Patch

We started out by PUTTING chocolate pudding mix into the BOWL. The student who wanted to HELP was given the package of pudding mix.

Staff waited for her to request HELP with opening the package.

Next, each student felt the milk. They indicated whether it felt HOT or COLD. We got some smiles when we put it up to some of the students’ faces.

We had 2 students HELP measure out 2 cups of milk. If there wasn’t enough milk poured into the measuring cup, students would have to indicate MORE.

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

Each student got to HELP with the mixer. We observed it changing from a liquid to a solid.

Science access point: identify the basic properties of solids and liquids.

Next, we PUT 10 Oreos in a bag. Each student got a chance to crush the cookies.

This was lots of fun for our kiddos 🙂

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

Each student had to request some pudding. They each received one spoonful and were asked if they wanted MORE or if they were ALL DONE.

We added some of the crushed Oreos to the top, again starting with one spoonful and having them indicate MORE or DONE.

Finally, each student got 3 candy pumpkins to PUT on the top. They each counted out 3 and put them in their cup (surprisingly not in their mouths).

Math access point: associate quantities with number names.

A delicious edible pumpkin patch!

YUM!!!!!

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

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Oct16

Fall Fun

Posted on October 16, 2016 by jd785

Fall Fun

The weather is finally getting a little cooler and we are thinking about all the fun things that happen in the fall! The sensory group explored colorful, eye catching boxes. The fine motor group decorated some fall leaves and the language group made a tasty treat!

SENSORY GROUP

Fall festivals are so much fun with hay rides, pumpkins, decorations, and people in costumes! Our fall festival box had a base of raffia hay and silk leaves. There were lots of fall symbols including pine cones, jack o lanterns, turkeys, and squirrels to explore and discover in the box.

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

College football is a big part of fall around here. The students loved the shaker pompoms—-so much fun to cheer for your favorite team! They also had fun filling the game day cups with black and white “referee” paper shred or a little football.

Recognize the change in the motion of an object is a science access point.

We love our orange and black rice box—-it is SO eye catching! The students had fun scooping the rice and beans into the little pumpkin bowl or looking for a jack o lantern picture at the bottom of the box.

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

The Owl Run is a race our school hosts for all the middle schools in our district. It is a popular event that we all look forward to each year. To represent the race, the students stamped our schools’ initials into yellow moon sand—-yellow is one of our school colors! There was also a t-shirt cookie cutter because you always get a t-shirt after a race 🙂

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

We brought out one of our favorite umbrellas this week. Our fall umbrella is a pretty simple one—- just some fall garland and craft foam leaves attached to a yellow umbrella—but it is completely eye catching! A little hand held fan helped add to the experience by blowing the leaves around with a gentle breeze. Some of the students also loved the feeling of the air blowing on their faces.

The science access point recognize a seasonal change in the appearance of a common plant can be addressed with this activity.

This week our messy play was indeed messy—-we used pumpkin puree! The Dollar Tree stocks cans of pumpkin so this was pretty inexpensive. In addition to an interesting texture, it also has a nice aroma which added to the experience. Most of the students were pretty intrigued by the pumpkin—–others not so much 🙂

Use senses to recognize objects is a science access point.

Some craft foam and plastic symbols of fall (such as leaves, the letter F, and bats) were scooped out of the water. Bath and BodyWorks cinnamon pumpkin scented bath gel in the water made it smell really nice.

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

The matching lotion was rubbed on various body parts to give our students a yummy reminder of all the fun they had. They were able to communicate whether they “liked” the scent or not—-it was pretty much a universal LIKE!

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

FINE MOTOR GROUP

Due to a district holiday, we only had one fine motor group this week—-but it was a fun one! We used this template: leaf-template

First we discussed the color of our leaves and the students used communication symbols to identify the color BROWN.

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

Then the students squeezed some gold paint onto their leaves and spread it around using paint brushes. They were pretty intrigued with the metallic paint!

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

Ta Da!

Feeling fallish 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We got back into cooking during our language group and made a fall treat: Pumpkin Fluff Dip! Here is a link to the recipe: lets-make-pumpkin-fluff-dip

We started out by making the pudding. We used the Pixon core 50 communication board throughout the process to model how symbols are used for communication. Our students helped PUT the pudding mix into the bowl. They all took turns feeling how COLD the milk was and then PUT the milk in the bowl as well.

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

Each student had a TURN pressing the switch to activate the mixer. So fun!

Next, we took turns smelling the pumpkin puree. This smell was not a favorite for some of our students but others thought it was pretty yummy!

We PUT the pumpkin puree into a different bowl and added half a container of whipped cream.

Then we added some cinnamon after taking turns smelling it.

We used communication symbols to let the students tell us if they “liked” the scent. For the most part, it was a pretty popular scent 🙂

We mixed the pumpkin and whipped cream and then added the vanilla pudding. We counted out the bowls for our students.

For the ones who are on a puree diet, they ate the Pumpkin Fluff Dip by itself. For our students who eat solid food, we added some crumbled up Nilla Wafers.

YUM!

It looks like we are ready for fall around here! Join us again next time for more fun—–Group by Group!

Oct28

It’s Pumpkin Time book

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jd785

It’s Pumpkin Time book

It’s that time again…Pumpkin time! Our book goes over October 31st and all of the things that we see and do. The students were asked “what time is it?” when it was their turn to read the repetitive line with the pre-programmed voice output device. They loved looking at the different costumes that are seen as well as all of the different jack o’lanterns.

Here is a link to the book: It’s Pumpkin Time!

Oct28

Pumpkin Time and Letter I

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jd785

Pumpkin Time and Letter I

Pumpkin Time was the theme for this weeks Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. Our Language Group learned about words starting with the letter I.

Sensory Group—Pumpkin Time

Our orange themed box was a huge hit, our students loved it!

We filled it with a variety of textures such as yarn, tulle, and fabric scraps. We also put in some play food oranges, carrots, and a variety of pumpkins including bean bag and kitchen scrubber ones.!

Shiny beads, soft pompoms and chenille stems added some more contrasting textures. Plastic stretchy tubes were fun to pull apart and added a fun auditory component. And finally some beads, puzzle pieces, toys—

——all with that lovely bright ORANGE color.

So much fun to grab and shake!

Did we say our students LOVED this box? 🙂

‘

This box addresses the Language access

point of responding to familiar objects

and the science access point of

comparing and contrasting

properties of materials.

This little fish shoots puffs of air

when squeezed—–fun 🙂

Of course if you have an orange box, you have to contrast it with a black one. Lots of textured items from headbands, toy bats and furry fabric to window screening and Mr. Potato Head pieces (like his black hat and mustache).

There were a lot of opportunities for promoting bilateral coordination with our stretchy tubes and slinky spirals.

When pulling these items, the science access point of recognizing that pushing or pulling an object makes it move is addressed.

These boxes also address the science access point of exploring, observing, and recognizing common objects in the natural world.

And, of course, if there are sunglasses and

beads in a box, they HAVE to be put on!

Our students can totally rock a

pair of glasses, don’t you think 🙂

As students place objects on and off

themselves they are building body

awareness and spatial concepts.

Continuing our orange and black theme we brought back our black playdoh for one more time!

Its just so sparkly and squishable.

Our cat cookie cutter let us make a bunch of cute black cats.

In addition to addressing the fine motor skills playing with playdough also addresses the science access point of of recognizing a change in an object.

Pumpkin pie spice was added to our orange playdough

and made it smell wonderful.

It was perfect for our pumpkin cookie cutter.

We had a few students who tried to sample the

playdough but for the most part, everyone played

with it appropriately.

The shapes cut out can also be counted as

addressing math access points.

Our orange rice with black beans is just so eye catching—you can’t help putting your hands into it! Fun to practice scooping and also to search for the letter P…..

and a little wooden pumpkin.

Scooping and filling using measuring cups and spoons helps address the math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers (capacity).

Fine motor skills of grasp and eye hand coordination are also addressed.

We filled our discovery bottles with karo syrup,

orange food coloring, orange beads, black

glitter and some black cat confetti. Hot

glue does a great job of making sure

they can’t be opened—-some of the

students have very busy little hands 🙂

Following the moving objects addresses

the science access point of tracking

objects in motion.

Finger painting in canned pumpkin puree (decorated with black icing)—what could be more gooey, squishy fun in which to practice prewriting patterns 🙂

Still, it was also wet and a little cold so some of our students who are more tactile defensive dove in a little more slowly.

We rinsed our hands and finished with pumpkin

scented lotion from Bath and Bodyworks.

Everybody left smelling just like yummy

pumpkin pies!

A nice strong scent to help everyone

remember all the wonderful things we

learned today.

Fine Motor Group—Pumpkin Time

Body Sox in the sensory room—-OR an alien visitor? Hmmm

The body sox are so much fun and great for getting some nice proprioceptive input from their stretchy resistance.

On Tuesday after returning to the classroom and listening to Cara’s book we let our students choose a mask. Joy found the masks in a $2 grab bag at Michaels—what a deal! Our students chose from a selection of 3 masks—giving them an opportunity to make choices out of a array of 3 which compares to the format of our state alternate assessment.

Taking the markers out of the bags gave us an opportunity to practice working with zippers. A chenille stem (sturdier than a piece of yarn) makes it easier for some of our students to pull.

Putting the markers in and out of the bag addresses the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.

We used markers to color the masks. Scribbling and coloring are important steps in the prewriting continuum. During the activity we made sure to discuss the colors students chose and the different facial features.

Then we tried them on for size….

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again. Our students had just worn costumes and gone trick or treating at our community health department so it was a real opportunity to address the language access point of communicating recognition of familiar objects.

On to our art project!

We counted out 7 pieces of rectangular, black paper and then 7 potatoes carved to look like little jack-o-lanterns. Each time we count out our materials we are helping develop one to one correspondence.

We took time to look at the potatoes and discuss the face carved into them.

This activity helps build hand grasp skills and eye hand coordination. This potatoes have a little weight to them which gives some nice additional proprioceptive feedback.

How many pumpkins did you stamp? We used our number flip chart to help our students address the math access point of one to one correspondence.

Ta-Da!

Language Group—Letter I

We listened for some I words in

Cara’s sound game.

Next we Inserted legs………Into our Insect.

We used the little bugs from the Cootie game for this activity.

This is a great activity for building bilateral coordination!

Our little Insect Isn’t Icky at all…..

Is he 🙂

We picked up Iguanas with our tongs and put them In a bowl.

Manipulating tongs helps build graded motor control which is necessary to manipulate scissors.

In addition, placing the objects into the bowl addresses eye hand coordination and spatial relationships.

Ivan helped out our students who were unable to manipulate

the tongs.

We adapted him using velcro and a shower curtain ring!

We finished by making down lines (just like the

initial stroke of a letter I) on our Iglo0.

We used our adapted toy for our students who

needed switch access

to participate.

It wasn’t so easy finding I words today but we managed to come up with quite a few of them, didn’t we?

Join us again next week its going to be fun…..

Group by Group 🙂

Nov20

Week 12—Thanksgiving and the letter L

Posted on November 20, 2011 by jd785

Week 12—Thanksgiving and the letter L

This week our Sensory and Fine Motor groups had a Thanksgiving theme while the theme for our Language Group was the letter L.

Sensory Group—Thanksgiving

We started our session by reading Cara’s book “On Thanksgiving Day” using the voice output device to say the repetitive line.

Our first discovery box was filled with all sorts of Thanksgiving themed objects such as leaves, felt pilgrim faces, a scarecrow, big and little turkeys, soft orange and yellow yarn, hard gourds AND a plastic turkey leg 🙂

Math access points were addressed when discussing big and little turkeys as well as counting them.

Science access points were addressed comparing the hard gourds with the soft yarn.

Its amazing how much you can fit into one little box!

Our students really enjoyed searching through the box

to find their favorite things. Others got more creative and started dropping leaves on their teachers head as she was bending down to pick something up 🙂

Our harvest mix of beans (reminding us of soup that might be made with Thanksgiving leftovers) contained turkeys and T’s. We were able to work on matching colors in addition to counting.

Finding the letters and turkeys among the beans also addresses visual and tactile discrimination.

The beans were a huge hit in one of our middle school classrooms and as 3 students gathered around the box, one young man made sure to note “look we are sharing”. How sweet!

Our feather boas became soft turkey feathers………..so much fun to touch and drape around necks. For some of our students the soft feel of the feathers was especially enchanting.

We were also able to work on some visual tracking by picking up the boas and moving them around.

We picked up this soft pompom yarn in fall colors from Michaels. It reminded us of a soft warm blanket you might use while watching football games on Thanksgiving day.

It was fun to squish while talking about the properties of materials, a science access point.

Our students also enjoyed being draped with the yarn or working on their fine motor skills by pulling the strands up.

The pumpkin pie scented play dough had a wonderfully yummy aroma,

absolutely delicious but our students resisted the temptation

to sample it 🙂

Hand strengthening was addressed when squeezing the play dough and using our turkey and leaf cookie cutters.

We practiced writing the letter T in sweet potato pie puree, messy but fun!

The texture was a little challenging for our students with tactile issues but most of them at least got a finger in.

And rinsed our hands in Cinnamon Pumpkin (from Bath and Body works) scented water and finished with the lotion to bring Thanksgiving memories for the rest of the day.

Between the pumpkin pie playdough, scented water and lotion, it was quite the aromatic delight for lovers of all things pumpkin!

Fine Motor Group—Thanksgiving

On Tuesday we read Cara’s Thanksgiving book. Our students especially loved the pages with food and loved pointing to their favorites. After our story we made a little turkey that Jeannie designed.

First, we colored a an index card brown. As we passed out the index cards we counted them and discussed their shape, addressing math access points.

The index card was then set aside for a moment (after 2 holes were punched in the middle).

Next, we took a pipe cleaner (pre assembled by Jeannie”s

staff using a small pompom, tiny googlie eyes, a small piece

of pipe cleaner, and a small piece of craft foam) and began

stringing folded (with a pre punched hole in the middle

near the fold) cupcake liners.

Our students had so much fun picking out and counting

the colorful liners.

A quick twist of the pipe cleaner secures everything in place. Then the pipe cleaner is threaded through the holes in the index card to give it a base to sit on. A very cute turkey–sorry, no picture of it finished 🙁

On Thursday after reading “On Thanksgiving Day” again, we made pumpkin pies!

First we counted out 4 strips of orange paper for each student. We also counted the brown paper plates as we passed them out.

Our students tore the paper strips into small pieces, dropping

them into their bowl. Tearing the paper addresses bilateral

coordination and is a good pre-scissor skill building activity.

Our students worked on hand strengthening by squeezing glue onto the plate.

Then they practiced their pincer grasps by picking up pieces of torn paper and placing them on the glue.

We presented 3 spices (nutmeg, cloves, and pumpkin pie) and let our students smell them. After smelling each one they chose their favorite by either pointing or smiling and then got to shake it all over their plates.

Thanks to Laurie B. for this idea. Also the choice of 3 items correlates to our alternate assessment.

With the addition of a dollop of cotton ball “whipped cream” a delicious smelling, low calorie pumpkin pie——YUM!!!!

Language Group—-letter L

We shone a Light to show which puzzle pieces to Lift up. We especially Liked the Lunar moth, Ladybug and Lightning bug!

Holding the wand over the puzzle helps build shoulder stability. Picking up the puzzle pieces addresses following directions and eye hand coordination.

We also counted the puzzle pieces, working on math access points.

Next we Laughed while a squeezing a Little Lion and shaking a Large Lion.

Squeezing this finger fidget works on strengthening pincer grasp.

We hot glued a shower curtain ring to the Large Lion to make it easier for our students with physically challenges to grasp.

Next each student was given a precut Lion face (drawn by Joy) and a paper plate.

We counted them as they were passed out and discussed the circular shape of the plate.

Then our students were asked to make a choice of 3 markers to use when coloring both the lion’s face and paper plate.

Our students have different ways of communicating their choices, these include pointing, vocalizing, facial expression, or eye gazing.

For students with physical challenges, Joy attached markers to a switch toy with velcro. This allows our students to independently color along with their classmates.

Putting the toy in a box lid helps keep the toy contained.

As usual, everyone wanted to use the switch to color also their pictures—and of course we Let them 🙂

After we finished coloring, we glued the pieces together to make a very Lovely Lion!

We finished as usual, by playing Cara’s listening game.

Lots of Laugh’s as usual!

Look at just some of the Lots and Lots of L words found today.

Its sometimes hard to collect all of them for our pictures, as our students really Like to examine them 🙂

What an awesome week! We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and we will see you afterwards for more fun and learning Group by Group!

Oct30

Week 9—Pumpkin Time and the Letter I

Posted on October 30, 2011 by jd785

Week 9—Pumpkin Time and the Letter I

Pumpkin Time was the theme for both the Sensory and Fine Motor Groups this week. For our Alphabet Group, the theme was the letter I. All the groups were so much fun—see what we did!

Sensory Group—Pumpkin Time

We started by reading Cara’s book Trick or Treat. In addition to using our voice output device, the students got to take turns with these goofy finger puppets. Great for working on finger individuation.

For our water play and lotion, we used Pumpkin Pie Paradise (from Bath and Body Works). It had a really strong aroma that wafted all around the room. Everyone enjoyed the yummy, sweet scent.

We looked for the letter P in a mixture of orange colored rice and black beans. In addition to letter and color identification, we were able to discuss the concepts of big and little.

The picture really doesn’t do justice to how brightly colored the rice was. It was very eye catching.Here, one of our students who usually needs some assistance to engage with the materials, just dove on in with both hands.

We also made some pumpkin pie scented playdough to use with our bat and pumpkin cookie cutters. Pushing down on the cookie cutters addresses hand strengthening in addition to working on tactile desensitization.

Despite its rather yummy aroma, almost all our students were very good about not trying to eat it.

We also put some eyeball rings to squish around and find in some plain playdough. As these rings were pretty small, we did put the mixture into a double ziplock bag before our students began playing with it.

Our shaving cream ghost was a hit. For some of our students it is easier to work on a more vertical surface—-shaving cream is a perfect choice!

After the ghost was rubbed away, we worked on making vertical, horizontal and circular motions to address prewriting skills.

This sensory box emphasized the contrasting properties of materials—a science access point. We had rough pumpkin scrubbers and a smooth piece of orange fabric, hard beads and soft garland, big pumpkin bean bags and little black pompoms. We also put in black and orange yarn and a few halloween themed trinkets.

It was fun to see the items different students chose to interact with.

Fine Motor Group—Pumpkin Time

We started by reading Cara’s book and taking turns with the finger puppets again. The we made the cutest mummies using an idea we found at crafts.kaboose.com/juice–box–mummy.html

We started by tearing a piece of white paper into strips and glueing them around a juice box. Tearing paper is a wonderful pre-scissor activity, great for improving bilateral coordination.

Before we started tearing the paper, we discussed its shape (rectangle) and color.

We tore a small piece of black paper and glued it near the top of the box.

And then, we counted out 2 googlie eyes and glued them on the black paper—great for pincer skill practice (Joy being an OT, just had to mention that of course!)

Our artists always “sign” their work but we were particularly excited to see students emerging independence using his adaptive writing utensil.

And now here they are………

MUMMIES!!!

On Thursday we used punches to cut out 1 square and 2 circles (working on math access points and hand strengthening).

We cut the square into 2 triangles….

and glued them onto an orange paper plate (using our home made colored glue to help our students see where to place their pieces).

Then we added our circle and some rectangles—more math access points

…………………Let the trick or treating begin!

Alphabet Group—letter I

We started by putting an Iguana In and out of a jar. Unscrewing the jar works on bilateral coordination, palmer arches, and grasp patterns.

We then played the game “Whats in Ned’s Head”….

and found some really Icky things! On side note, this class is made up of all boys and needless to say, they absolutely loved this game. What can you say, boys will be boys 🙂

We then moved on to something a little more appetizing—Ice cream!

First we practiced cutting along lines to make our triangle cone. This student is using an adaptive squeeze scissors (available from a variety of catalogs).

The cone and a small paper plate were glued onto a piece of paper. Our students colored their plates with markers.

For our students with significant physical differences, Joy used velcro to attach a marker to a switch toy. By pressing a switch, the students were able to color also. Their classmates also enjoyed taking their turn, of course.

We finished by adding a few sequins for sprinkles.

I like It!! !!

Here are some of the I words we found today.

It was certainly another fun week, join us next time Group by Group!