My Obstacle Course: Engage, Encourage and Empower

A fun, structured, systematic way to work on your child's strengths and weaknesses at home!

Problem Solving

Farm Themed Station Ideas Using Items Found At Home

These are some other basic station activity ideas that I have included in a farm-themed My Obstacle Course for Andrew. The great thing about them is that I used things that I already had at home so this is another reminder to look around in your child’s stuff to see if they have toys that fit with the theme you are doing. When doing my own “treasure hunt” for this theme I found a farm puzzle, his Fisher-Price Farm set with the animals, some plastic animals we accumulated somewhere (possibly Michael’s), and some farm-themed books.

Farm Puzzle

Large Farm Puzzle

Puzzles can be done in a variety of ways, depending on what your child is ready for.

  • Put the puzzle together ahead of time and remove several pieces. When the child gets to the station, they put the pieces that have been removed into the puzzle. This helped us tremendously because Andrew would get overwhelmed at all of the pieces in front of him, not quite getting how to look for edges and corners. When he put the pieces into the puzzle, he felt as proud as if he had done the whole thing and the next time I would remove a few more pieces to challenge him a bit more.
  • Separate the edge pieces from the middle pieces. Create the frame first before strategically introducing the other pieces. With beginner type puzzles, this is not difficult to do. Just look for pieces that fit in the spaces next to the edge pieces and hand them to your child.
  • Complete puzzle in the typical fashion.

Fisher Price Farm

  • While this is meant for more pretend play, you could make it a more direct activity by having your child place the animals in their correct spaces, having them make the sounds that the animals make or match the animals with the animal name written on a card or cutout. For these, I would probably incorporate some sort of mystery pouch so that they have to reach in, choose an animal and then do the activity. Doesn’t take much to make it more intriguing! Here is a post I did a while ago on mystery pouches.

Plastic Farm Animals

  • Provide clues for the animals that you have and have your child match the animal that goes with the clue. (Ex. What kind of animal likes to roll in the mud? Pig!) I would use the same mystery strategy I mentioned above.

Farm Books

  • Books can be read as a read aloud (where the adult reads while the child listens or vice versa), read together (adult and child read together or take turns reading pages) or talk about the pictures and point out things on the pages without reading the text that is on the page. This can be as easy as saying, “Where is the barn?” or “Point to the cow.” Include some post-it notes so you can label these items (without ruining the book) to add word and picture connections.
I encourage you to go on your own treasure hunts and see what you can find. Remember that things don’t always have to be used in the way they were originally meant to be used. Get creative! Think simple! Remember to meet your child where they are and build the skills they need.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Beach Themed My Obstacle Course: Station Activities Using Shells

I know that it is now August and people are probably in “back to school” mode but we just returned from a vacation at the beach and I got lots of ideas for a beach themed My Obstacle Course to use with Andrew before school starts again. Don’t worry, I have LOTS of ideas for the fall but since it is still summer I’m going to try to remain in the present and enjoy the rest of the season, even if a chill in the air would be a dream come true!

Shells

This was our third trip to the beach but the first time that Andrew was willing to walk a little bit in the sand. One of the ways we gave these walks some purpose was to gather up some shells. In typical Andrew fashion, he began by wanting to know exactly how many shells he had to get before he could go back. He would then grab that number of shells as quickly as he could get his hands on them and run back to our spot. We learned and then gave the beach walks a certain length of time or a certain distance, such as walking to a specific house before turning back. This helped a bunch, knowing that there was an end to something he wasn’t really crazy about (a familiar theme for us!). He eventually became VERY interested in finding shells because he learned that they could be glued together to make shell ceiling fans (thanks Tina!). He was not only able to gather up shells but was really focused on finding ones that were all a similar size and shape to give the fans similar blades. These shell ceiling fans are now hanging from the pull chains of his bedroom ceiling fan and are a prized possession of his.

Andrew's Shell Ceiling Fan

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Sorting Shells

Now, my station activity idea is not to create shell ceiling fans, unless your child is crazy about ceiling fans like mine is, and if so, go for it! I was thinking more about using shells to work on skills like:

  • Sequencing the shells by size (smallest to largest)
  • Sorting the shells by shape, size or color
I did not bring any shells back from the beach because my suitcase was packed so I am going to check out Michael’s to see if they have some, which I’m sure they do, perhaps even at a discount because they probably have Christmas items out on display!! I digress – back to My Obstacle Course station ideas.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Shell Description

This is a really basic station activity using one shell and working together to see how many words we can come up with to describe that shell. This is aimed at increasing vocabulary and descriptive language regarding a single object. I would do this activity with a dry erase board or sheet of paper and I would probably do the writing since that is not my objective, however, if your child is ready for that and is still able to come up with ideas, go for it! You can always take turns if it ends up being an issue.

Some examples:

  • smooth
  • curved edges
  • has ridges
  • round
  • flat
  • sharp
  • pointy
  • brown
  • speckled
  • striped

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Shell Creations

Another fun activity is to gather some shells and see what you can create using them. In the bunch of shells I found at the beach, I was able to make a dolphin, turtle and queen, complete with hula skirt :).

Have fun, get a little creative and help your child build skills using something a little out of the ordinary!

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

Summer Themed Memory Match

If you’ve been following my posts, you know by now that Andrew is crazy about memory match games. Using colored index cards and stickers makes it so easy to create new, thematic memory match games that go with whatever we are doing. (Here is the link for the original Thematic Memory Match post with step by step instructions.) Since it is summer and we are still in our “beach” theme, I made a game with lots of different colored fish.

Through this basic game, we work on social skills and game playing rules by taking turns (which isn’t always easy when one of us knows where the matcher is! 🙂 ). It also allows me to work on visual discrimination skills and descriptive vocabulary while noticing out loud how each pair is unique.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Summer Themed Memory Match

Colored and unruled index cards + thematic stickers = Fun and easy memory match game!
Stickers on in the middle of the card.
Matching pairs ready to mix and play.
Memory match game set up.
Matching pair of fish found!

This activity can be modified to incorporate some movement by creating a “Crawl and Match” or “Run and Match” station where the child picks up a card and has to go down and match it with its partner.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

 

Party Tray Sorting: Buttons and Coins

I shared a few weeks ago about these fun, colorful plastic party trays that I found that can be also used for sorting items. (Here is the link to Party Tray Sorters.) Here are two more ways to use them with things that you probably have lying around the house. Using a party tray like this makes it super simple to set up, easy to have the items contained while also providing a good space to sort into.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Sorting Buttons By Color

I have a huge bag of buttons that I have accumulated over the years but also found these great little containers of different colored buttons at Michael’s. (Here is a previous post on Button Sorting using a winter theme.)

Party tray + buttons = Easy sorting station
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Sort the buttons by color
Sorting buttons by color.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Sorting Coins

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Coin Sorting
Coins sorted.
Andrew sorting coins.

We did this particular station activity during our last My Obstacle Course. It was great to see him able to identify the coins but also learn the difference between nickels and quarters by placing close attention to the details on the coin. I got to point out the different presidents and also remind him that Monticello is on the nickel and is a place that he has visited when we lived in Virginia.

He sorted them systematically, sifting through them to find the specific coin he was working on. He was also talking to himself, reading the words on the coins as he was sorting, saying things like, “Liberty” and “In God We Trust.” It was very sweet to listen to! 🙂

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

 

Make the Same – Part 1

One of my favorite My Obstacle Course station activities is something I call, “Make the Same.” This is a station activity that I came up with to help Andrew build imitation skills. After using it a few times, I realized that this activity not only helps with imitation, but also fine motor skills, visual and spatial planning, and is helpful if your child has toys that they do not play with (maybe it’s because they don’t know how!).  By breaking down the toy into smaller, more manageable tasks that they can copy, you can help build these play skills.

I love the versatility of this activity. It is an activity that can incorporate almost anything, like blocks, pattern pieces, objects, stickers, shape drawing, and eventually letter and word writing.

It is so easy to set up and works on skills that provide the foundation for more complex skills needed in the future.  The basic idea is to make something, provide your child with the same parts or pieces that they will need to make what you’ve made and then work with them to make it.  When beginning, provide the exact blocks or pieces they’ll need and as they progress you can make it more challenging by providing more blocks or pieces so they have to choose only the ones they’ll need.

Here are some ways I have used it in past My Obstacle Courses:

My Obstacle Course station activity: "Make the Same" using blocks.
My Obstacle Course station activity: "Make the Same" using blocks.
My Obstacle Course station activity: "Make the Same" using pattern beads and pipe cleaner.
"Make the Same" activity completed.

These next two station activities could also be combined with a clothesline and clothespins to incorporate fine motor skill building.

My Obstacle Course station activity: "Make the Same" using ocean themed pattern cards.
"Make the Same" activity completed.
My Obstacle Course station activity: "Make the Same" using soccer themed pattern cards.
"Make the Same" activity completed.

A toy that had not been played with is broken down into manageable parts.

My Obstacle Course station activity: "Make the Same" using Magformers

The great thing about “Make the Same” is that you can make it as basic as you need or as complicated as your child needs (right now I’m thinking Lego creations since we haven’t gotten into Lego-mania yet!).

Tomorrow’s post will be another version of “Make the Same” using some basic, easy to find materials to help your child with more intricate fine motor skills and planning.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!

 

April Memory Match Games

This month I have two different memory match games to share, one using butterfly stickers and the other with Easter themed stickers.

My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Memory Match Game or Find the Same

Spring Butterfly Themed Memory Match Game:

I like to use calendar cutouts or colored index cards cut in half…

Umbrella Shaped Calendar Cutouts (April Showers)

and thematic stickers. Place matching stickers on two separate cutouts or cards.

Sheet of butterfly stickers that I used.

(The butterfly memory match is one of the more difficult ones we have done because he really has to pay attention to the details of the butterflies to distinguish between them.)

Set them out face down and that’s it!

Note: When we first began doing this game, I placed the cards face up and we played “Find the Same” to work on finding matching pairs. This helped him with visual discrimination and also gave him an introduction to what we were going to be doing once the cards were turned over.

Memory Match Game Set Up
Matching pair found!
Matching pair up close.

Easter Themed Memory Match Game:

Memory Match Game with Easter Stickers
Matching pair!

Note: There are tons of different kinds of stickers out there so if you don’t celebrate the holidays I am sharing about or if you have a child who is really into something, like vehicles or sports, you can substitute those kinds of stickers and make a game that will be appropriate for your family and motivating for your child.

Engage, Encourage and Empower!