HOPSCOTCH- Soccer

A way to get the kids to move while kicking the soccer ball was the idea behind this adaptation of soccer.  For awhile we were just kicking the ball into the goal…which was cool but I wanted to add a little more to it.  So keeping in mind that designated spots work well with kids with disabilities (especially Autism) I thought hopscotch would be perfect! The kids start by hopping the squares and then on the last square they kick the soccer ball into the goal.  Don’t forget the high fives to encourage them.

BOX HEAD

This is personally my favorite learning tool I have developed. Basically I made a really funky hat out of a box.  I put antenna’s on the box head made from cardboard toilet paper rolls and cut slots in them so they could hold flash cards. When wearing box head you become box head, and we ask, ” what would box head do?”  The kids love being box head because it is so silly looking, and I like it because it involves two kids at a time.  One person to wear box head and one person to be the dealer who chooses a question to put in box head’s antenna’s.  The lessons vary but they all revolve around how to become a better friend. Making this so silly keeps the attention of the entire class, a win for everyone!

Awesome coworker, Vy, sporting box head. The card says, “How was school today?”  This lesson was about how to ask your friends questions. So, someone would sit across from boxhead and read the card, then would put the  card in boxhead’s antenna’s and box head would answer the question. During this excercise I made sure to focus on eye contact and clear strong voices.  I also made sure they said the person’s name first…reiterating it is important we know our friends names.

Pumpkins without the carving

This was a project during Halloween, and I must confess came to me by way of Martha Stewart (although I elaborated on it). A brilliant idea really, instead of carving a pumpkin just use chalkboard paint and use chalk to make faces on the pumpkin!  This means you can keep having fun over and over again!  The first step was to take all the guts out of the pumpkin…  I think any excuse to get messy is fun. I of course cut the top off of the pumpkin and then let ’em at it.  Everyone seemed to find this gooey mess entertaining, I sure did.  After the guts were out I painted a square of chalkboard paint on one surface of the pumpkin and let it dry. I picked up the chalkboard paint at HOME DEPOT.  You could do the whole pumpkin but to save time and money I just did a square on each.  You must let that dry for 48 hours.  In the meantime I had the kids color pre-made shapes that I cut from an old cardboard box in my garage and glued them onto dry sticks I found outside (cheap$$).  Pre-made shapes I learned are good because the kids do not get frustrated trying to draw them.  They then painted the shapes and put them inside their pumpkin to create a sort of pumpkin bouquet of shapes. ( Note: You will need to put some floral foam at the bottom of the pumpkin for the sticks to go intom, otherwise they just flop around in there). The results were pretty awesome!

The Adventures of the HOPE kids!

This was an idea I got from watching the, “sit and be fit” channel on T.V. Basically it was an exercise program for the elderly that involved movements while sitting. I thought this had potential for our group because a chair is a designated area.  What I did was create a series of writen Adventures where we imagine the chair turning into something else. For the first story I wrote the chair was a car.  In order to get the kids more involved in the story I left room for them to add to it, a lot like the Mad libs I loved as a kid.  From a bunch of cards I made with different adjective, nouns, and verbs on them they would choose how the story would flow.  Along the adventure I have them do some movements, for example,  pretend to put the seat belt on, turn the key, bounce in their chair because the engine is on, use their foot to hit the brake, move your arms to wave, etc.  Some of the kids really really liked this,  and other’s were more indifferent, but regardless everyone stayed in their seat and moved so I call it a success.  Below is the first story I made:

THE ADVENTURES OF THE HOPE KIDS

Today we are going to drive to ___________.  So buckle your seatbelts and get ready.  Put the key in the ignition and turn. Ah it’s an old car you got to do it a couple times. Woo hoo there we go!  (have them bounce in their seats like the engine is on) Let’s turn on the radio to hear what the weather is to be.  Looks like it will be raining along the way, so we best put on the windshield wipers. (Hands make the windshield wiper movement)

Before we get to (our destination) lets go visit _______________ this person is always so ________ and I’d love to say hi to my friend. I hope they will be home when we get there.  Maybe we should call first on the cell phone and ask?  Dialing….no answer….well let’s just hope for the best.

Ah man looks like there is traffic do to a ____________ in the road.  I wonder how a ( ) got on the freeway. This is shaping up to be an unusual day.  The traffic is stop and go so we must keep pressing on the brake. My brake foot is getting tired let’s switch feet.  The car in front is not moving and he has a __________ in the back seat of his car  so he can’t see me waving my arms to tell him to move.  Why would he have a () in his car…the day is getting weirder and weirder. So I guess we have to honk at him.  He still isn’t moving so we have to honk many times.  He still is not moving so I think we have to get out of the car and find out what is going on.  The man is very angry and  throws a ___________ out of his car at me! Luckily I was quick on my feet and jumped to miss this object. I realize this is a bad situation so we must run as fast as we can back to the car… hurry! Phew, we made it back to the car, and we squeeze by the mean man, finally on our way again. Geez crazy drivers.

Up ahead there looks like a tunnel that is  __________ inside.  How interesting I have never been in a tunnel like that before, but this is an odd day!  Well, here we go into the crazy tunnel.  Man this tunnel is long, seems like we have been in it for at least 5 minutes. Oh look, I can see light up ahead it looks like the tunnel is almost done.  Wow, look at that view what a beautiful scene.  Can you see the amazing __________ocean.   I

 have never seen water that color before how can it be?  Above the (color) ocean there is a flying ____________ ! Are we in a different world….this day can’t get any weirder…or can it…? Look there ahead of us the paved road has turned into a river and we are about to go down a huge waterfall!!!!!!!

Here we go make sure your seatbelts are on tight guys, this car ride is about to become a boat ride.

To be continued….

Step into the paint

This was a fun project that also invovled finger paint.  I got some large butcher paper and taped them up to a folded up table.  They then painted on the paper with the paint.  This became the background for their portrait I was to take.  I then took their picture and printed it out for them to put in a wooden frame they decorated.  This became their Christmas present to their mom.

picture coming

Paint the Shirt and Run!

This idea came to me when my housemate ripped his shirt trying to do a flip on the rings haning outside on our tree.  What a shame to wreck such a nice dress shirt I thought….then I said I will turn it into a project for the kids. I was able to muster up five old dress shirts and I got some finger paint and the art was on!  I had them just go wild on the shirt.  NO rules, just paint on the clothes however you want.  I like this idea because it gives them license to do something that usually you are not allowed to. They really liked it, as did I.  Next I let them dry outside.  At the end of outdoor recreation I then made a little race using the shirts.  I had them stand on one line and when I said GO  they run to another line,  put on thier shirt that they painted and then run back to the starting line.  Whoever won got to lead us back inside.

Shoot in the Circle- a take on basketball

We spend a good part of the afternoon outside.  Games motivated by competition and rules tend to be harder to work then if you choose a game that has a designated spot and destination.  This is why baseball seems to work really well.  For this game I again snuck in the name game.  Again, repetition will help them know our names eventually without the name tags. This game involves a stick of chalk, a basketball and a hoop.  I make a circle with the chalk around them where they stand around the basketball hoop.  One person shoots and after they shoot they look around at their friends and they choose a name.  They then switch circles and I give the ball to another person to shoot, and the process continues. If they do not know the name I try to make sure they ask politely what it is.  I’ll try to take a picture of this soon.

Find the NICE!

This is a puzzle I made that addresses how to be nice.  Below the puzzle you will see the questions that hold the clues to the words they are to find.

  

FIND THE WORD

N	I	C	E	f	k	L	o	T	S
h	y	o	x	n	n	I	i	b	M
j	h	M	c	s	g	S	f	y	I
a	n	P	u	c	s	T	i	e	L
v	m	L	s	r	s	E	y	p	E
F	R	I	E	N	D	N	h	o	v
o	g	M	O	V	E	S	B	Y	E
R	U	E	Y	E	e	R	U	H	I
U	G	N	C	P	I	T	U	R	N
J	K	T	L	O	D	R	U	L	E

 

Find the word printed in RED

 

1.)  One of our rules is to be NICE to others.

2.)  You can find all of our rules in the RULE book.

3.)  An easy way to be nice is to give a COMPIMENT and SMILE.

4.)  Being nice is part of what makes someone a good FRIEND.

5.)  It is important to LISTEN to your friends.

6.)  They know you are listening by giving them EYE contact.

7.)  If you want to meet a new person the first step is to MOVE closer to that person and then make eye contact with them.  If you do not do this they have no idea you want to be friends!

8.)  If two people are already talking and you need to say something, be nice and say EXCUSE me first. If you interrupt it is considered rude and is not nice. They might not want to be your friend if you are rude.

9.)  Always say HI to your friends. This makes them feel like you care about them and are happy to see them.

10.) Always say BYE when you leave your friends.

11.) Make sure when playing games with your friends you give them a TURN.  Being a good friend means sharing and not only thinking about yourself.

Compliment Fred

One of our social skills classes was all about compliments. What is a compliment, why are they nice to say, and what are examples of compliments? To help the kids understand this better I made  a poem for them to read or sing. I also made a man named Fred next to the poem.  The exercise was to find compliments to say to Fred first, then we said compliments to each other.

Does it make you happy or sad?

I made this work sheet to try and get the kids to really associate certain actions with certain feelings.