Category: Room 8

Who would have ever thought that a plastic bag, some water and a few bamboo skewers would have kids enjoying so much? Learn how to poke holes in a plastic bag filled with water without spilling a drop. Well, that’s the theory we were testing…and it’s wise to practice your liquid trick over the tray, just in case!

Supplies:

• zip-up bag
• water
• bamboo skewers /sharpened pencils

We filled a zip-up bag about half-way with water and sealed it up. We held the bag high over a tray and the kids poked the sticks straight through the bag, from one side to the other.

We had to be sure that the stick didn’t travel through the bag. We didn’t want to have water leaks.

We kept adding sticks until we had enough. Before removing the sticks, we took a moment to talk about what we saw. When the sticks went into the bag, the bag seemed to magically seal itself around the sticks.

When we were done, we removed the sticks over a tray. So much fun! And so much water everywhere!

Over the current school year, we have created a number of sensory experiences for our pupils. Many of the sensory play activities we create are in the form of sensory bins. 

Shredded paper sensory activity was the cheapest sensory bin we have ever put together. Playing with shredded paper is so much fun. Shredded paper is a tactile sensory learning experience.  But what is the point of this apart from making a mess?

The children have learnt to:

• relax and enjoy the process rather than the end result
• social interaction including co-operative and parallel play
• promote gross and fine motor skill development
• affirm individuality and build self-esteem as they engage in spontaneous play without pre-set ideas
• allow them to explore care free and make a mess
• explore messy play without getting dirty (some children don’t like getting dirty)
• gain social skills and strategies for sharing space to gain spatial awareness

And we know, the activity doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be FUN!!!

One of our favourite activities in Room 8 is ‘The bucket time’.

Attention Autism is an intervention model designed by Gina Davies, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist. It aims to develop natural and spontaneous communication through the use of visually based and highly motivating activities.

This activity helps the children in Room 8:

• To engage attention
• To improve joint attention
• To develop shared enjoyment in group activities
• To increase attention in adult-led activities
• To encourage spontaneous interaction in a natural group setting
• To increase non-verbal and verbal communication through commenting
• To build a wealth and depth of vocabulary
• To have fun!

The Attention Autism programme progresses through a series of stages, building on each skill level. Each new stage is introduced when the group is ready to expand attention skills. Room 8 has reached stage 3.

Stage 1: The Bucket to Focus Attention

Our purple bucket is filled with visually engaging objects and toys, aiming to gain the shared attention of the group.

First, a song is sung: ‘I’ve got something in my bucket, in my bucket, in my bucket. I’ve got something in my bucket, I wonder what it is?”

Next, the adult leader shows each item to the group and uses simple repetitive vocabulary to comment on the various objects. Our favourites are the naughty monkey, the pig, and the horn.

Stage 2: The Attention Builder

Visually stimulating activities are shown to the group by the adult leader, aiming to sustain attention for a longer period. The activities are fun, visually engaging and can often involve delightful mess! The favourite in room 8 is “Splash the cake!’.

Stage 3: Turn taking and Re-engaging Attention

The adult leader demonstrates a simple activity, often modelled with another adult in the group. Some children are then invited to have a turn, but only if they are comfortable to do so.

The children in our group get a turn, which then teaches important emotional regulation skills, as well as the essential skills of waiting, turn-taking and learning through modelling. I could say the favourite activities have been ‘Make your cake – Halloween party’, ‘The bread shop’ and ‘Choose an instrument’.

So far, the Bucket time sessions have been fun and “offered an irresistible invitation to learn”!