Non-Live Turtle Gives Birth

Before our staff meeting/holiday luncheon today, one of our handy OTs, Michelle, showed us the critters she had created in an ocean theme.  You won't believe how imaginative this is:

I told her I would come over and clean her bathrooms if she taught me how to make these. 

Sculpey Clay and Diamond Dust--Essential for N'Little Ornament Cuteness

My SLP buddy and I carefully considered which material to choose for making tiny ornaments with our high schoolers with autism.  I wanted resistant material so they would have to exercise their fingers, she wanted something that was easy to spread into a pancake and would be easy to use with the variety of cookie cutters.  The frugal therapist in me wanted to make it from scratch, but bread dough would have to be painted since it isn't exactly a pretty color.  After going through my personal n'little homemade ornaments this weekend I decided that the baking soda/corn starch recipe http://theimaginationtree.com/2012/12/white-clay-ornaments-tutorial.html  that I used a few years ago might be too brittle to make it home successfully with the students.  Alas and alack, I used the Walmart gift card graciously given to us by the school's PTA/PTSO to spend $6 on a l lb. pack of white Sculpey.

Now, when you buy a pack of Sculpey you have to make sure it's sufficiently squishy to allow seldom-worked fingers to manage it independently.  There I stood, in the crafts aisle, squeezing the Sculpey through the little cellophane window of its box.  I found one that was just right.

Students washed their post-snack hands, formed the ball of clay into a thick pancake, then rolled it to about 1/8-1/4" thick with a mini rolling pin.  Many students were unable to flatten it without lots of physical prompting.  It worked best if they used a flat hand instead of trying to push down on the handles.

Students asked for the design of cookie cutter they wanted to use and figured out how to put two cookie cutters on one "pancake"--a little spatial relations challenge.  Then, they asked for the color glitter they wanted and bored a little hole in the top of the shape for a string to later be passed through.  My SLP always is watching me to make sure that I wait until the students use words to ask for what they want to use; I always forget to keep a firm grasp on the items until the students make their requests.

There were a couple of students who did not like the feel of glitter in their palms, so we shook some from the bottle onto the parchment paper for them to pinch and sprinkle over their ornaments.  No, we do not just shake it from the bottle, that is way too easy.

When I was searching at home for glitter to use in this project I came across this little jar of "Diamond Dust," leftover from the 1980's when my personal children spent many snowy days making n'little ornaments of their own.  It has such a magical feel to it, like icy, blue fairy dust sprinkled over the white ornaments.

Wondering why the bottle of glycerin is on the table in the first photo?  Years ago my good, arteest buddy, Angie, told me that she rubs a little drop of glycerin on her palms and fingers prior to working with Sculpey, since the material seems to leech the oil from the skin.  I don't know if she still does this when she makes her beautiful designs, but I think the clay stays more pliable when I use glycerin on my hands.  http://angiewiggins.com/

December Sky

One of the advantages of keeping my little camera with me during the day for photographing student progress is that I also have it handy for taking photos of unexpected sights:

This is the view of the late afternoon clouds over one of my high schools.  I'm sure all the teachers heading for home yesterday thought I was really strange, standing in the parking lot and taking pictures of the sky, or maybe waiting for my drone delivery.  I kept trying to head over to my car but the clouds mesmerized me and I couldn't move from the spot for quite a while.

Thumbprint Ornaments

At an IEP meeting last week one student's mom showed us a photo of ornaments her son had made, with the help of his after-school caregiver:

These start out with thumbprints and, with added details, turn into familiar holiday images.  You can customize them by changing the colors to all blue & silver, or other colors that appeal to your students and their families.

My student was fully assisted to place his thumbprint on the ornament and the details were painted by his caregiver; his mom considers the gifts to be very special.

NEWSELA--a Resource for Readers at Differing Levels

A high school teacher for students with learning disabilities told me about this free, online resource:

https://newsela.com/articles/sesamestreet-autism/id/12953/

The reader can choose articles based on their reading level, or not.  Look into it!

Disclaimer:  I haven't signed up myself so I don't know what info is required to do so--always proceed with caution!  The teacher who told me about it has been using it for some time.

Fine Motor Stocking Stuffers

Just read this post about 10 great ideas for stocking stuffers which are not only fun but might just help develop fine motor skills--thanks Mama OT!

http://mamaot.com/10-stocking-stuffers-to-help-your-childs-pencil-grasp/

Fall Cookies

Our high schoolers with autism made fall cookies this morning.  My SLP buddy and I had planned to have the students blend the food coloring gel into the dough themselves, but after seeing the deep red color all over my hands we switched gears, since it looked an awful lot like blood.  Call me neurotic and overly-cautious but some folks get freaked out pretty easily.

This was our recipe and guide:  Fall Leaves Sugar Cookies

Now, our plan was to make well-blended dough in yellow, orange and red.  The yellow gel blended evenly into the dough but the red and orange maintained a marbleized look, which ended up being kinda pretty.  Thanks to Ms. H for the excellent photos!

Remember, red and yellow make orange...

My SLP buddy drizzled the gel on the dough, then mixed it in with her hands.



We floured the surface and rolling "pin" and rolled the dough about 1/8" thick before cutting it with either a maple leaf or a turkey cookie cutter.  Several students required hand-over-hand guidance to press down firmly on the rolling pin and one student did not enjoy having pressure applied to her hands, not in the least bit.

We used a firm plastic tumbler instead of a rolling pin, since that's all we had.

Students chose coarse, white crystal sprinkles or fine orange sprinkles to dust the cookies before baking.  My SLP buddy is enamored with cinnamon sugar and kept asking the students if they'd like to sprinkle it on, as well.  It probably adds to the taste but it made the top of the cookies look dull beige.

Students used hot pads to safely place the tray in/out of the little toaster oven in the classroom.  I stood next to them with my own hot pads to assist, but it wasn't necessary.

Of course, the SLP and I "sabotaged" the location of the materials and kept ingredients and tools out of the students' reach, so they would have to ask each other to pass something. 

It was an excellent activity for practicing thorough hand washing...