Jack-O-Lanterns

This week, the preschool made Jack-O-Lanterns!  They were given a blank pumpkin to color.  The students then searched the rug for various parts and glued them to the pumpkin.

A lot of orange!

Looking for eyes!

The stem looks like a hat!

A happy Jack-O-Lantern!

Look at our wonderful work!

Leaf Lanterns

In Kindergarten this week, we started working on our Leaf Lanterns.  We started off the class with a really fun movement song, Listen and Move by Greg and Steve.  The song tells us what to do and we follow along.  Then, the directions disappear and we have to remember what to do by just the music that accompanied each movement!

We then moved on to our lanterns, which were modified from DLTK's Crafts for Kids.  The students were given versions with their name in one of the "boxes" and asked to write their name two more times in the remaining boxes, using "Kindergarten writing" or "lowercase letters".

After writing their names, the students were asked to color the leaves using "fall colors", which we brainstormed together.  They worked hard to stay in the lines!  Next week, we'll work on turning these masterpieces into lanterns using scissors and glue!  If your child attends Kindergarten at Effingham Elementary School, they have already finished their lanterns, so ask to see them :)

Go Away Big Green Monster!

This week, the kindergarten classes and the preschool class met the Big Green Monster!  We read Ed Emberly's Go Away Big Green Monster! using the iPad app.


First, they were given a blank monster with circles at the top spelling out their names, as well as round stickers with letters.  The children needed to peel off the stickers and put them on the circles to spell their first name; in preschool, the letters were given in the right order, but in Kindergarten there was an added challenge of scrambled stickers!










Then we read the book one page at a time and the children colored their monster according to the narrator.  When the book was finished, we listened to the sing-along version of the book.  The children really enjoyed the animations that the app provided!

Laying on your stomach helps
to build muscle strength!

April is Occupational Therapy Month!

Happy OT Month!  Make sure to give your favorite OT a big hug :)

Here is a picture of the OT room door at NDS.  The little "game pieces" have faces of students and were colored by them and placed on the game board.

Occupational Therapy - Skills for the Game of Life!

When a child is determined to require occupational therapy services, I like to explain to the student (at their level) why they are seeing me.  We talk about what's hard and why and how we're going to work on making it easier.  Every April, I ask the students "What is OT?"  Some (typically the older students) can tell me what it is and why they are there.  Others can tell me why they come (after I remind them that coming to see me is "OT") and others don't remember :)  It's a good opportunity to review!  The kids were given a prompt of "OT is" and asked to finish the sentence.

OT is drawing. - Devin

OT is fun. - Joshua

OT is a time to learn and write things neat. - Dakota

OT is work hard. - Domenick

OT is fun! - Haleigh

OT is a time to learn time to work. - Nick

I got two "OT is fun!" answers...to me, that means I'm doing my job well :)

Duck! Rabbit!

We read the book Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.   It's about two people who look at the same thing and see two different things - one sees a duck, one sees a rabbit.  They argue and show their perspective throughout the book.  "Two unseen characters debate the identity of the creature at the center of this clever book - is it a duck or a rabbit?  Readers will join in the discussion, because the creature could, in fact, be either.  Just as each of the debaters begins to see the other's perspective, the duck/rabbit runs away and they see an anteater.  Or is it a brachiosaurus?"  

After reading the book and talking about our perspectives, we made a duck/rabbit (or "drabbit" as one student liked to call it!)  

Coloring the duck

The duck!

But if I turn it around...

See my duck?

It will be this bunny!

Relaxation Bottles

I've had requests for more information on the relaxation bottles the preschoolers made earlier this year, so I will do my best to explain how they were made.

Here is where I got most of my information.  There was some trial and error involved to find the best combination and ratio, but this site helped a lot.

First, I took some glitter glue that I bought in the scrapbooking section at Wal-Mart.  I squeezed about half of the bottle of glue into a bowl with hot water.  I used a whisk to break down the glue until it looked like sparkly water.  I did get some foam, but just used a spoon to get rid of it.  I didn't put a lot of hot water in, since I only used a 10 oz. bottle for the preschoolers.  At this point, I also found it easiest to add in some clear gel glue (either tacky glue or Elmer's clear glue works).  Since the water was still hot, I whisked the water to melt the glue. 

After it cooled slightly, I poured this combination into the water bottle.  Make sure the water isn't too hot or it will warp the bottle!  I poured some ultrafine glitter (also found in the scrapbooking section at Wal-Mart - make sure it's ultrafine or the glitter will just sink) into the bottle and shook.  Again, you will get foam!  Just pour it off the top and add more water if needed.

After you have the color combination you want, you need to make a decision.  Do you want this bottle to be a "timer" with a specific set time or are you happy with the way it looks and falls?  ***As the water cools, it will fall more slowly***

If you are satisfied with the way it looks, add enough water to fill the bottle and allow it to cool. When cool, give it a test shake.  If it still passes the test, then super glue the lid closed and you're finished!

If you want this to be a timer:  adding more clear glue will increase the time it takes to settle.  You can melt additional clear glue in hot water and add slowly to the bottle to make a timer.  Wait until the bottle is cool to check the time.  When satisfied and the water is cool, make sure the bottle is full, super glue the lid closed ,and you're finished!

If you're having any trouble, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to help you figure it out or add some pictures to the mini-tutorial :)  The kids love them and I'm so happy that people are using them!

The Big Green Monster Visits Preschool

The Big Green Monster strikes again!  This time, he visited preschool.  We listened to the story and created our own Big Green Monsters as the pieces were discussed.

We started by coloring the center of the small paper plate green

Then adding two yellow eyes, a bluish-greenish nose, and a scary red mouth with sharp white teeth!

Go Away Big Green Monster!

Roll A Monster

Most of my students love dice games and I've found many "Roll A..." games online.  It gets even the most reluctant pencil user to draw.  Since it's Halloween season, in some individual and group OT sessions, we've been playing "Roll A Monster".  

The students roll a die, then call out the number represented by the number of dots on the die.  This ability is called "subitizing" (to perceive at a glance the number of items presented) and is a wonderful math skill!  Then student then finds the intersection of their number and the part they are working on.  

Together, we focus on the detail in the drawings, the proportion of the pieces, and the orientation and location of the body parts.  We are also working on pencil pressure and drawing lightly enough to fully erase our lines.  The students love seeing the goofy monsters they come up with!  I've included some of the monsters I've rolled (as models) so you can see a few of the possibilities.

Spiders!

In individual OT sessions, some students have been working on weaving spider webs and creating spiders to live inside!  First, we used pipe cleaners, yarn, and pony beads to make our spiders.

Then the students cut out the center of a paper plate and used a hole punch to make one hole for each number written on the plate.  After they had 16 holes, they needed to lace the black yarn through each hole, creating their spiderweb.

It took a lot of yarn!

Then the students attached their spiders by threading the spider's yarn through a hole and tying a knot (or using tape, for the younger students).

Some wanted their spiders arranged in their new homes, while others wanted them to hang down and scare someone!

A scary entrance to the OT room at NDS!

Boo!

The preschoolers made some very scary ghosts this week!

First, they looked for two eyes
in the pile of pieces
 scattered on the rug.

Then they looked for a mouth!

I have my eyes and mouth glued on!

How about some arms?

Now we need the spooky strips! 

Gluing down the arms

How does it look?

Very scary!