Hearing!

Today we started the day in the most unpredictable, sensory stimulating way we possibly could have!  The lights were flashing in the hallway, the lights were out in the classroom, there was a constant beeping coming from the power box, AND the Touch and Feel pool was full of instruments!  Goodness what an overload!  The kids handled it like champs and by 10:45 all was good and everyone was back in the groove.

Ms. Michelle came today, and even that required some flexibility from everyone.  It was too dark in the room we usually use for OT, so we moved it into the classroom.  And the playground was super wet from all the rain last night, so we went on a walk instead.  To say the morning was off schedule, would be an understatement!  Once Ms. Michelle got set up, we crawled through the fish tunnel and then had to sort foam squares into matching colored containers with tongs. While the other friends were waiting for a turn, they built things from blocks.  Then, we used wiki sticks at the table to make letters, numbers and shapes.

Our story today was "The Sensational Sense of Hearing." We learned some cool new words. We hear because of the vibrations in our ear. Inside our ear, we have an ear drum and tiny hairs. We need to take care of our ears by not listening to really loud music and wearing ear plugs when the noise is too loud. The kids learned that if someone has trouble hearing, they can wear a hearing aid. Also, some people are not able to hear and they use sign language to communicate. After the story, we discussed things that we can hear with our ears. We can hear loud and soft noises.

For science, we recorded each of the kids saying "I like school." out in the hallway.  Then we played the audio back for the kids to listen to see if they could guess which friend was talking. We had to be really quiet and think about who were heard talking. The kids did a great job identifying their friends....it was a great listening activity and a perfect demonstration of how different all our voices sound.  The highlight for each kid was hearing their own voice and watching how easily their friends knew it was them.  Big smiles all around!

Feeling Scared!

Ms. Laura came for music today!  We sang our "Hello Sunshine" song, helping Ms. Laura learn our names, and singing loud and soft.  Next we sang our toothbrush song- we practiced brushing "up like a rocket, down like a plane, then brush all around like a choo choo train!"  We sang our bath time song "Rubber Ducky", and chose picture of things to put in the tub:  washcloth, soap, sailboat, and rubber ducky.  Next we told Ms. Laura what we had learned about feelings.  She taught us a song about begin happy, sad, disgusted, mad, and scared, and how all of these feelings are ok, because they are part of us.  We sang our feelings song, and told Ms. Laura what things make us happy or sad, or mad.  We then read a book about a cat named Pete.  He kept stepping in blueberries, strawberries, and mud, and his shoes kept getting dirty.  He didn't get mad or sad though, he just kept walking along and singing his song!

Today's book was What's That Noise? by Michelle Edwards.  One dark night, two brothers are put to bed, and in the dark they start to get scared.  There are scary shadows, and lots of spooky noises.  But, in the end, they wind up in the same bed singing about how not-scary those noises were!

For art we made scary monster puppets.  We talked extensively about things that you might be scared of....and how some of those things are real....and some are not.  Monsters are not real.  Neither are dragons.  But, they could both be scary in a book or a movie.  The monster puppets had many eyes and super scary teeth....but after we were done.....we knew that they were just for pretend!

Cold Pricklies and Warm Fuzzies

Ms. Michelle was here today with an obstacle course for us to follow.  First the kids had to follow the directions of the colored dot....the first one said touch your toes and, then the second one told the kids to tip toe to the next station.  They had to push the weighted ball through the tunnel before throwing it to knock down three bowling pins.  Then two more colored dots.....frog jumping, and hopping back to their seat.  The second time through Ms. Michelle changed the colored dots so the kids had to slow down and read the words or look at the pictures.  Finger fun was in three small groups.  The first group used tongs to sort fruit into colors, the second group searched for shapes inside a bowl of plastic noodles, the third group used clothespins for a matching activity.  

Today's book was If You're Angry and You Know It by Cecily Kaiser.  This book gives us some good strategies to use when we are angry.  We can stomp our feet, walk away, take deep breaths, and tell a friend.  Everyone gets angry, but we have to make good choices about our behavior even when we feel angry.

We made a chart of all the feeling words we could think of....and the kids came up with some good ones.  They were able to describe situations that might make them feel certain feelings....and we all had fun making faces to match the emotions.  

The second part of the language activity was talking about Cold Pricklies and Warm Fuzzies.  Cold prickles are things that make us sad or mad....and warm fuzzes are things that make us feel happy or good.  We only want to use warm fuzzies in our classroom.  We are all friends and it's important that we do things to make our friends feel good. We practiced some things that we could say and do to use warm fuzzies.  Saying please and thank you, being helpful, waiting our turn, and saying kind things are all good ways that the kids talked about.

For art, we made paper plates with Warm Fuzzy Faces and Cold Prickly Faces.  The kids drew faces for each side and then we played a game.  Ms. Tiffany would tell us a situation, and the kids would show the face of how that would make them feel.  It was lots of fun....and hopefully will give us some language to talk about behavior and how it makes others feel.

Take A Bath!!

The Touch and Feel Pool was full of sponges and paper towels this morning.  We talked about things that you could wash and why we washed them at all.  The kids talked a lot of washing dishes and clothes.....but when they got started talking about washing themselves....the body part name game was on.  They named all sorts of body parts!

Ms. Michelle was here today with a fun Valentine's obstacle course.  First the kiddos had to crawl through the rose petals on the floor and under the Valentine streamers.  Then they had to hop along the red balance spots, before ending with a single scoop of hearts into a bowl.  We each took two turns....getting faster and definitely more confident on the second turn.  Finger fun was three stations of fine motor tasks.  One group put candy shaped paper into a heart candy box.  One group sorted red and white pom poms using tongs, and the last group scooped out sequined hearts into bowls.

Today's book was Rabbit Ears by Amber Stewart.  Hopscotch knows what he likes and what he doesn't like - and he DOESN'T like getting his ears washed.  In fact, he'll do just about anything to avoid it.  But, when Hopscotch's big cousin Bobtail comes to spend the night and doesn't even flinch when it comes to the dreaded ear-washing hour, Hopscotch makes a startling discovery:  big rabbits wash their own ears!

For art we made bubble bath pictures.  The kids glued down their bathtubs on blue paper and added a poem abut taking a bath and drying off.  Then we added Floam as our bubbles.  They turned out super cute....but left a trail all the way down the hallway!