November
Take a look at last week's Pumpkin Pie activity-
1. paper plate (cut into slices)
2. orange fingerpaint
3. pumpkin pie spices
4. cotton balls
Students helped paint their pie slice and while it was still wet, sprinkled on pumpkin pie spices. Top with cotton balls for cool whip, then let dry. These super cute holiday decorations smell great and provide lots of sensory stimulation!
Pin the feathers on the turkey!
I crafted this turkey with some construction paper cut-outs, laminated him, and added the googly eyes. Then I colored 10 clothes pins and had the students work on fine motor skills while pinching the pins onto the turkey and counting with their voice-output devices + you can add in some color work, too.
Cherry Pie Math
Here I printed out a picture of a slice of cherry pie and laminated it. Using a dry erase marker you can write different numbers at the top- the number dictates how many scoops of whip cream (cotton balls) the students needs to scoop out of a tin with an ice cream scoop and top the pie with. So cute!
Play-doh + Feathers
This is a great multi purpose activity- kids love play doh and it's great for fine motor skills + the feathers add a nice sensory piece. Here they rolled the play-doh then stuck the feathers into it to resemble a turkey. They can of course count the feathers, talk about the color of the feathers etc. Opportunities are endless!
Corn at the First Thanksgiving
We've been reading several books this month as we prepare for Thanksgiving including The 12 Days of Thanksgiving and Indian Indian, What do you see? (a themed play on Brown Bear, Brown Bear). We discussed food that was eaten at the first Thanksgiving feast then made the super-sensory art projects. I had the corn template already made out of construction paper- the kids helped use the microwave to pop the popcorn (listen to it pop and smell that butter!). Then they counted the pieces and we helped hot glued them onto the corn. These cuties have brought in even more compliments than our paint sample Frankensteins.
Paper Plate Mayflowers
Continuing to compliment our reading, we made these Mayflowers out of paper plates. You need a whole paper plate colored blue for the water and half a paper plate colored brown (on what would be the underneath side of the plate). Staple them together, then glue on a popsicle stick and a quarter paper plate left white for the sail.
When we return from Thanksgiving we will get started on some of these Christmas activities...
December
Gingerbread Men (I created these men + their clothing and accessories with laminated construction paper, buttons, puff paint, and string to give them tactile appeal and they are all Velcro-ed on)- this can help with fine motor skills and daily living skills like learning how to dress appropriately for the season.
These festive guys will be great for counting +fine motor work using cotton balls for the snow man and colored pom poms to decorate the tree. It's amazing what laminated construction paper and a little imagination can do for you!
We had fun with our Big R little r activity last week. I printed out brown letters from the computer then used the kids thumbs to make red noses for each letter. Big googly eyes for Big R, little googly eyes for little r + antlers on top turns these plain letters into adorable christmas characters!
January
January has been a month for activities and lessons about snow and Martin Luther King...
Mini Marshmallows make up this sensory snowman. Students got to feel, taste, + help count and glue them on.
Q-Tips make this unique snowflake. Each student's was different and either decorated with glitter or white paint- their choice!
MLK Poems decorated by the students and recited using voice output devices.
Paper plate peace signs- these turned out so cool! Painter's tape lets you keep the peace symbol intact while the students paint water color that takes on a tie-dye look.
February
Great math activities leading up to Valentine's Day! Sorting by color and counting on a graph template. My kids utilized their voice output devices to dictate what colors to sort and assist with counting. I also wrapped the candy in gauze and allowed them to safely get a taste without needing to chew.
April
These fantastic caterpillars were made from egg cartons! We painted them, added goggly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae after we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
We've of course been talking about spring- these tulips were made by using plastic forks dipped in paint and stamped onto the paper. So cute!
This picture does not do these justice- these are paintings we made using textured plastic easter eggs and rolling them around a shallow cardboard hoax with paint and paper. They look fabulous in person- so bright, great texture, and perfectly abstract.
May
Cinco de Mayo Sombreros! Dessert size paper plates with mini styrofoam cups hot glued in the middle. The kids painted the cups and we hot glued pom pons around the plate. I also added a clothes pin glued to the bottom of the plate so the girls could pin them in their hair and admire their sombrero in the mirror while the boys pinned it on their backpacks. I also had devices programmed for the kids to tell the history behind the holiday.
Toilet Paper Roll Bumble Bees- what can't you do with a toilet paper roll? We use them for everything, like learning about bees and pollination today.
Twirling Ladybugs- it was hard to get a good picture but these ladybugs are a great visual addition to the classroom window this spring. When the air kicks on they spin around. The kids learned about ladybugs and we helped them make these multi dimensional spinners after they used devices to tell us ladybug facts.
Today we put together these super thoughtful jars of Brown Sugar Body Scrub to gift to our mom's tomorrow at our Muffins for Mom breakfast in honor of Mother's Day. The "recipe" we used can be found here. The students had an opportunity to help measure, pour, and mix the ingredients. They were then presented with vanilla, apple, and citrus scented oils and chose what scent they wanted their mom's body scrub to be.
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We found a great quote for the card and included some simple instructions on the back.
After learning about bird nests, we took a nature walk where we gathered materials birds would use to build their nest and hot glued it to the paper to create our own bird nests. These are bringing in a lot of compliments from passers by!
For Memorial Day we made star prints from cookie cutters dipped in red and blue paint and fashioned flags out of colored popsicle sticks that the kids could wave to celebrate the holiday.
June
We are so ready for summer and have been learning about ocean animals. We made these cute crabs from solo cups, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes.
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