Tag Archives: zebra

Sep6

Let’s Go On A Safari

Posted on by
Let’s Go On A Safari

We are going on safari—-it is our school wide theme this year! The sensory groups explored animal themed boxes and the fine motor groups made animal themed art projects. The language group made a tasty animal themed treat!

 

 

 

 

 

SENSORY GROUP

This box contained safari themed items such as a toy camera, hat, sunglasses, jeep, compass, and a variety of toy animals.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the students had fun trying on the props 🙂

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our bright colorful “tiger” rice was very eye catching. It might just be our favorite!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were 3 camouflaged tigers to find in the rice!

Math access point: associate quantities with number names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were lots of animals, including monkeys, butterflies, lizards, bees, and bird to find in our jungle themed umbrella.

 

 

 

 

 

We also included a sloth hand puppet and a voice output with jungle sounds.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow and brown pom pom’s filled this giraffe themed box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether just feeling their soft texture or sorting by color, the students really enjoyed this.

Science access point: match objects with similar observable properties such as color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More eye catching colors could be found in our butterfly and caterpillar pasta box.

 

 

 

 

 

There were a variety of other butterflies to find.

Math access point: recognize similarities and differences in size of common objects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The students mixed yellow food coloring with shaving cream to make a fluffy mane for the laminated lion in our messy play.

 

 

 

 

 

Our lion ended up with some pretty wild hair 🙂

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hands were rinsed in a little lake containing a crocodile and hippo.

 

 

 

 

 

Two different sized measuring cups were included for scooping fun.

Science access point: match living things with their habitats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are using up the last of our banana scented lotion with this unit. PLEASE start stocking it again World Market 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Whether placed on hands, arms, neck, or behind ears, this lotion was a hit!

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday the students made paper bag zebras.

First, they identified the paint color.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, they used a fun patterned roller to add stripes to their zebras.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, they added a nose, ears, eyes, and a cool mohawk cut from scrap paper.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TA DA!!

Some zany zebras!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick—–take a picture!!!

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday we made sunset safari pictures.

First, the students identified the paint color.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, the students tore pieces of colorful tissue paper. The students really had fun with this part 🙂

Science access point: recognize a change in an object.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, they used paint brushes to spread glue over the yellow background paper and patted down strips of tissue paper on to the glue.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elephants were added by stamping UP and DOWN.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TA— trumpety trump— DA!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw a herd of elephants.

What fabulous safari pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE GROUP

We made a yummy safari treat this week in our language group.  Here is the recipe that we used:  Let’s Make A Zebra Striped Parfait  Disclaimer: we changed it a little bit by using 2 boxes of mix rather than 1 and using 3 cups of milk instead of 2 due to the amount of kiddos we had.

We started out by PUTTING white chocolate pudding mix into a bowl.  Students who said they would HELP were given the pudding mix box.  We waited for a few seconds while the students tried to open the boxes.  After they were unable to open the boxes themselves, they were prompted to ask for HELP from staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the boxes were open, the mix was poured into the bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, each student got to touch the milk.  They indicated whether it felt COLD or HOT.

Science access point: recognize objects or materials as warm or cold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we used 3 cups, 2 DIFFERENT students got to HELP.  We first measured out 2 cups.  The students were then asked how many MORE cups we needed to add.

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

 

 

 

 

 

Once the pudding mix and milk were in the bowl, each student got to HELP mix it up.

After each student, we LOOKED at the bowl to see if the pudding was ALL DONE or if we needed to mix it MORE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the pudding was ALL DONE, we set it aside.  Each student got a bag with 3 Oreo cookies.  Students had to make sure they each had the correct amount.  Then, they got to SMASH their cookies into pieces.

We used an ice cream scoop as a hammer and it worked perfectly!

Math access point: associate quantities with number names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each student had to indicate that they WANTED some pudding in their CUP.  Then, they each added HALF of the Oreos and repeated the pudding and Oreos again.

 

 

 

TaDa!  A yummy zebra striped treat 🙂

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the safari! Join us next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!

Don’t forget to check your SPAM folder for a confirmation email if you choose to follow us.

Apr1

Week 26—Butterflies and the Letter Z

Posted on by
Week 26—Butterflies and the Letter Z

This week are theme was Butterflies for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. We are finishing the alphabet with Letter Z in our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Butterflies

Cara’s book explored the life cycle of the butterfly with our students asking the question “what happens next” using the voice output device.

In addition to literacy and math access points, we are going to be addressing science access points today!

 

 

 

 

Our first sensory box was filled with colorful flowers, leaves, a variety of  butterflies, caterpillars made from chenille stems and a body scrubber—its that long pink and white thing in the picture—doesn’t it  look like a giant caterpillar :).

This box was so colorful with lots of contrasting colors and textures.

Discussing how these items relate to each other in the life cycle of the butterfly addresses science access points.

 

 

 

Our next box was filled with caterpillar eggs, AKA lentils. Our students hunted for the letter C and found a cute little caterpillar peeking out as well.

The students grasped these lentils by the handfuls—they loved them!  Even our students who are quite tactile sensitive, couldn’t resist these tiny beans 🙂

This box addresses visual and tactile discrimination skills.

 

 

 

 

We used a cookie cutter to cut letter B’s in our purple Bubber (available from Amazon in addition to a variety of catalogs).

We chose the Bubber because its soft powdery texture reminded us of butterfly wings. Its pretty purple color also a lot like that of a butterfly.

Of course, we also just love the way it feels–not just our students but the adults couldn’t put it down 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

The white fiberfil in our next box reminded us of the silky strands of the butterfly cocoon.

Its just so much fun to grab this stuff and shake it around or pull it apart!

Pulling apart the strands addresses bilateral and fine motor skills.

Contrasting smaller pieces from larger pieces addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

Our next box contained some colorful red butterflies (bow tie pasta) and green caterpillars (celletani pasta). Very eye catching with the bright colors. You dye it in basically the same way you do rice but it takes a LOT longer—so be patient!

Pincer grasp skills are promoted when picking up individual pieces. Counting them and comparing the contrasting shapes addresses math access points.

Making one of the caterpillars crawl up a students arm promotes giggles 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

These fuzzy colorful caterpillars (some  pencil covers!) filled our next box. Very eye catching also and our students dived in. They loved grabbing handfuls and watching as they dropped back into the box—or the floor 🙂

Tracking falling objects is a science access point.

Counting caterpillars is an opportunity to work on math access points.

 

 

 

 

We mixed shaving cream and cornstarch which turned into this really cool texture—sort of a cross between playdough and Bubber. It was so much fun to squeeze and mold into cocoons.

We just loved this stuff, its just really hard to resist!

Science access points are addressed in addition to fine motor skills during this fun activity!

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed our hands in plumeria scented water and then rubbed on the lotion, its floral scent reminding us of the flowers the butterflies go to for their food.

Recognizing water as a liquid and whether it is warm or cold addresses science access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Butterflies

On Tuesday we started by reading Cara’s book.  We also practiced making the butterfly sign with our hands.

Butterflies start out as caterpillars and that is what we made in our art activity. We started by dipping pom pom’s into glue then placing them on a clothespin.

This is a great activity for practicing pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We counted the pom pom’s using our multi-message voice output device, addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by adding some chenille stem antenna and googlie eyes.

Aren’t these caterpillars just so cute 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday after we read our book again—- we turned our caterpillar into a butterfly!

First we placed a 3 dimensional butterfly (found in one of the schools science kits) on a light board for our student with a visual impairment.

Of course, all the students enjoyed running their hands over the contours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we began our art activity by counting out our coffee filters (addressing math access points).

Then we colored them using markers. Some of our students made just a few marks but others enjoyed using a variety of colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After they were finished coloring, we sprayed the coffee filters with water.The water makes the colors run, kind of like tie dye—pretty cool.

Squeezing the spray bottle is great for hand strengthening and spraying water is always fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We let them dry for a few minutes and then scrunched them up—working on thumb/finger grasping patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We placed it between the clothespin from Tuesday and…….

Ta Da—the caterpillar has turned into a butterfly!

This student really enjoyed making hers “flutter” around—so cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our butterflies look so beautiful clipped to these branches…..

aren’t they just fabulous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter Z

We started by unZipping bags and taking Zoo animals out (we used Beanie Babies).

The students had fun seeing what animal ended up coming out of their bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A chenille stem loop made a great

adaptive Zipper pull for some of

 

our students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we squeeZed scrap paper to make matZo balls to “feed” our animals a Zesty meal.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we tore black paper into strips—some of them in a Zig Zag pattern.

We glued them onto a white lunch bag.

Tearing the paper addresses bilateral hand functions.

Squeezing the glue addresses hand strengthening

Placing the black paper on the bag addresses visual spatial skills.

 

 

 

 

We adapted this for our students with physical challenges by letting them color their Zebra instead. Our students love pressing the switch to make the airplane color their picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we glued on 2 ears and a snout.

And added some googlie eyes—we love googlie eyes 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look another Zany Zebra!

Our students had so much fun playing with their puppets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everybody had a turn playing Cara’s

sound game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we looked at all the fun Z words we found today.

Whew!  We made it to the end of the alphabet but there is still more fun ahead so  join us again next week Group by Group!