Fall Curriculum, Day Ten

Today is a sensory extravaganza! First, you can do a cool fine motor and sensory activity with your students. Trace different leaf shapes onto sandpaper. Have the students feel the sandpaper and talk about the texture. The students can choose which shape of leaf they would like to have, then cut out the leaves. I haven’t talked about this yet, but did you know that you can get switch-operated scissors? Ablenet sells them! They are battery-operated scissors that you hook up to a single-hit switch (such as a Big Red or Jellybean). Students with physical disabilities can hit the switch to power the scissors while an adult or another student holds the scissors and the paper. This allows the student to be involved with the cutting of their own art project! I digress…..once the students have cut out their leaves, give them a cinnamon stick. Talk about the smell of the cinnamon stick, then have them rub the stick all over their sandpaper leaf. The cinnamon stick will leave a light coating of brown color on the sandpaper, as well as a wonderful smell!

For a cooking activity today, you will extend your cinnamon smell theme. Make oatmeal from scratch (it doesn’t really matter if you use old-fashioned, quick-cooking, or instant oatmeal). Work together to pour and mix the ingredients and talk to the students as you cook the oats (if you have a hot plate or access to a stovetop-if you don’t, you’ll have to settle for a microwave!). When the oatmeal is cooked, let the students look at it and stir it and discuss how it has changed from before it was cook. After it has had time to cool a bit, put some in a bowl for each student then let them top it as they would like-with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins or fruit (check your child care licensure guidelines-there are some restrictions about raisins, etc. due to a risk of choking), canned pumpkin, butter, maple syrup….the sky’s the limit! Talk about the smells and tastes of the oatmeal.

Connect your sensory table to your activities by filling it with cinnamon or apple pie scented potpourri. You can also make sensory jars with film canisters (does anyone still have any of those?), baby food containers, or tiny food containers. Put a little bit of cinnamon oil or cinnamon potpourri oil or spray on a cotton ball and place it in the jar. You can also use vanilla, lemon, orange, strawberry, peppermint, and other extracts, scented home oils, and even “stinky” things like garlic and onion powder. Store them in a baby wipes container or a small box. Pass the jars around and let the students decide which ones they like the best!