When Andrew was younger, it became obvious that sitting at the kitchen counter to practice school work or therapy words was not going to be easy or fun, for either of us! That is one of the main reasons for coming up with My Obstacle Course. We needed something different and one of the things that I realized right away was how easy it was to turn basic skills he was working on into easy games or sorts. These sorts also allowed him to show what he knew without needing to be intelligible. I was … [Read more...] about Spring Themed Word Sort
Archives for March 2011
Spring Colored Containers
I love containers! I don't know what it is about them, it just always makes me feel good to know that something has a place. When I began doing My Obstacle Courses with Andrew, I began collecting inexpensive containers (paper or plastic cups included!) that went along with themes that would not only help me create a fun, colorful adventure but also really helps me with organization and Obstacle Course set up. I found these spring colored pails at Target and thought they were so cute but in … [Read more...] about Spring Colored Containers
Building Hand Strength with Frosting and Food Coloring
I was looking for ways to build Andrew's hand strength, particularly the muscles that allow the hand to squeeze and squash things. I have shown how I've used frosting in a cake decorator (Cookie Cutter Decorating) to work on this and was particularly excited about his interest in making colors with food coloring and thought about combining the two. Knowing that he doesn't really like to get his hands sticky (neither do I!) I turned to one of my favorite items for containing messy things - the … [Read more...] about Building Hand Strength with Frosting and Food Coloring
Calendar Numbers – Not Just For Calendars!
I was strolling through the aisles of my local teacher supply store (One of my favorite things to do! What can I say? Some people love to browse for shoes and clothes, I love to browse for educational supplies! :) ) and noticed that there was a whole section devoted to calendar supplies, especially thematic calendar numbers. Obviously, I knew that they carried these materials, I just hadn't thought to use them in a different way. I guess that's one of the many things that Andrew has taught me - … [Read more...] about Calendar Numbers – Not Just For Calendars!
Easy Theme Reinforcers – March
One of the main reasons I came up with My Obstacle Course was to find a way to engage with Andrew at home while doing reinforcement activities for therapies and school. I found that utilizing a theme for each Obstacle Course allowed me to work on skills in all developmental areas while being purposeful and meaningful for him. The themes can range from a general monthly theme to a specific theme that is reinforcing what your child is learning about in school but what they do is help to tie all … [Read more...] about Easy Theme Reinforcers – March
Greater Than/Less Than Using Sticker Cards
Here is a link to a previous post, Sticker Cards, that I did showing how to make what I call sticker number cards. These are modeled after a deck of cards but because I make them with stickers and colored index cards, they can be made quite easily to go with the theme we are doing in My Obstacle Course. I love ideas or things that I can make and keep to use in a variety of ways to expand on concepts and skills as his knowledge and abilities expand. In the past I have used these cards to work … [Read more...] about Greater Than/Less Than Using Sticker Cards