Finger Painting! A wonderful, soothing activity to express creativity with cold, wet paint on a blank canvas of white paper - for some that is. For others, it is definitely a non-preferred, "avoid if possible" activity. Why is this? Some people, especially those with sensory sensitivities, do not like getting things on their skin. There is something about the feeling of something that doesn't belong there that they cannot stand. When I imagine a child like that finger painting, I see them … [Read more...] about No “Ick” Finger Painting
Archives for February 2011
How Do They Feel?
My Obstacle Course Activity Idea: How Do They Feel? Sorting Station This is a station activity I used with Andrew to work on recognizing how other people might be feeling during certain situations. This is a very easy station to make and only takes a short amount of time to write the situations, especially if you think about things and people who are relevant to your child. I used calendar cutouts to write the scenarios on and the mailboxes for sorting but you can use whatever you have … [Read more...] about How Do They Feel?
Lite Brite Heart
We have a lot of toys that Andrew does not play with (click here for a previous post about new toys) and so I began including these toys as station activities in My Obstacle Course. I do this so I can teach him how to play with them (in case that is why he doesn't play with them) in small steps, with a good deal of structure and guidance. My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Make A Heart On A Lite Brite I think that a lot of times it is intimidating for children with planning issues or … [Read more...] about Lite Brite Heart
Candy Heart Math
Candy hearts are another way to sneak in some math while using something that is really easy to find this time of year. My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Match Up Numbers With The Same Number Of Items (Clothesline Clipping An Optional Add-On) This activity helps to build one to one correspondence, which involves being able to match an object or group of objects with the number that represents it. Setting Up This Station: I placed a certain number of candy hearts inside of a small … [Read more...] about Candy Heart Math
Word Family Sorting
Word Family Sorting- I have been asked a number of times by parents about what they should work on with their children after they have mastered ABC recognition and letter sounds. The next step is putting together the sounds to form small words and this is easily done by building word family recognition. Here is a link to a word family list at a favorite website of mine, www.enchantedlearning.com. Word families are basically common word endings that become new words by switching out the … [Read more...] about Word Family Sorting
February Puff Sorting
Puff Sorting This is a basic activity to work on visual discrimination of color and size using colored puffs. I purchased a large bag of colored puffs, in different sizes, from Michael's a few years ago and am still finding ways to use them in My Obstacle Courses to build different skills. Since it is February (almost Valentine's Day!), I chose the white and red ones to use in these station activities to go with our theme. My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Sorting By Color I placed a … [Read more...] about February Puff Sorting