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!