Tag: sensory

Oh Monday. How I didn’t miss you.

I am actually normally a very positive person who really tries to make the best of a Monday. However, all that positivity went out the window (literally) when, at 7 am, I walked out to my car in the pouring rain only to realize I left all four windows rolled down after taking Macie to the park yesterday. I had to attempt to keep my bottom dry by sitting on my stash of re-usable grocery bags in the car.

Not exactly the best way to start out a week, but at least it made me thankful to get to work and get out of my car!

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In the spirit of fall, I thought I would share a simple fall craft that I did last year with my students. My first two years of teaching, I taught students with multiple disabilities in an elementary school. My students had little to no fine motor skills, so I had to get creative in order to make sure they could all still participate in making crafts.  This simple Indian corn craft is perfect for students with developing fine motor skills! It’s also a good sensory activity; my students love the feel of dipping their fingers into the paint!

You will need:

-yellow construction paper

-green construction paper

-brown, orange, and red finger paint

-small bowls or a plate for the finger paint

-glue (or you could use a gold brad if you want to make the leaves moveable)

-scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut the orange construction paper into the shape of a large oval. If the child has the fine motor skills, you can have him or her cut this paper after you draw a simple outline. I made my oval “bumpy” to look like the edge of an ear of corn.

2. Cut out two green leaves. I free-handed this step but if you are not comfortable with that, I’d suggest finding an outline online to trace and use as a template.

3. Here’s the fun part! Have the child dip their fingers into different colors of paint. (For some of my students with more limited abilities, I used a paint brush to apply paint to their fingertips.) Then they can make kernels all over their yellow ear of corn. They can do a pattern or just dot away until the ear is full of kernels!

4. Allow time for the paint to dry. After it’s dry, attach the leaves to the ear. I used glue to keep mine in place; however, I wish I had used a brad to attach the leaves so the students could have practiced pulling back the husk to reveal the corn!

This would also be a good lesson around Thanksgiving to teach about the first Thanksgiving and the help that the Native Americans gave to the Pilgrims in planting maize.

Enjoy!