Week 6

This week in Ally's class we enjoyed lots of Easter themed activities. Our story this week was We're All Going on an Egg Hunt. The children enjoyed exploring the story in small groups. We went through the long wavy grass, which they enjoyed feeling and sprinkling around. We crossed a cold river, the children enjoyed splashing in a tray and squeezing a squirty bottle. Then we had to go through some gooey mud, which the children enjoyed digging in. Before we found the Easter bunny we had to pass through a rainbow, the children enjoyed creating their own rainbow with some adult help. We had lots of fun.

As part of our Easter celebrations, some of us went to St Paul's church to explore the Easter story through small sensory stations we could explore. 

We had an Easter tuff tray set up with lots of Easter themed characters for us to count. The children were encouraged to count objects and find the number or match a quantity to a number. Everyone had lots of fun exploring this tuff tray by touching, sprinkling, looking and counting.

For our sensory baking activity, we made some chocolate Easter nests. The children poured cereal into a bowl, they mixed the chocolate in and scooped it into cake cases. Everyone explored them when they were cooled by eating, touching or smelling.

To finish our week we went outside on an Easter Egg Hunt. The children enjoyed running round, collecting eggs and engaging with adults.

Have a lovely half term everyone.

Week 5

We have enjoyed going out in the community this week. We have been for a walk to the local park, took turns with our friends and showed good understanding of familiar routes. We went out on the bus to Bickerstaffe park for the first time. The children enjoyed exploring a new place with familiar staff and playing with their friends.

In class we have been doing really well in Sensology sessions engaging in small groups and independently exploring our senses. Some children had fun accessing Lego Therapy activities, making models and showing great communication skills. 

On Thursday we celebrated World Down Syndrome Day and had lots of exciting, colourful activities. We also decorated our own odd socks in an art activity. 

We have enjoyed messy play mark making activities, making sandcastles and filling buckets. This week we had lots of fun exploring a game called 'custard splat' on the interactive screen, the children loved pressing the screen, listening to the sounds and watching the effects. 

Week 4

Our story this week has been The Magic Train Ride. We have enjoyed exploring activities related to space, under the sea and the jungle. these are the three places we visit during the story. We used communication boards to comment on what we could see in the story and the props we wanted to explore.

During our Attention Autism sessions this week the children have shown fantastic engagement, they have enjoyed taking turns in tray activities which has been amazing! 

We have had lots of opportunities to take part in shared activities and play with our friends building sandcastles, playing with the train track, using blocks and playing with Mr Potato Head.

The children had an afternoon exploring pictures, tuff trays and art activities linked to St Patrick's day. They made some pictures by painting and printing with their hands. In the tuff trays they explored filling and emptying pots as well as finding gold coins, shamrocks and rainbows!

This week we have enjoyed going out in the community and walking to our local park. The children explored the instruments in the sensory garden and climbing, swinging and bouncing on the playground. 

Throughout the week we have had lots of sensory mark making activities and the children have used their hands and paintbrushes to explore making marks. We have had a lovely week!

Week 3

This week in Ally's class we have enjoyed lots of sensory activities, linked to our topic of Magic World and Mother's Day.

During our PE session we explored some new communication boards, to say how we wanted to use the equipment and what help we needed from an adult. The children enjoyed swinging fast and slow, they enjoyed climbing and jumping as well as some deep pressure activities to end the session.

The children have enjoyed lots of colour and construction activities this week. We have done some colour sorting activities using lots of toys we could find around the classroom. The children enjoyed naming the colours and matching the toys to the colour mats. They have explored building with castle blocks, making small castles and tall castles. We have also used the magnetic blocks to make 2D and 3D shapes.

We have enjoyed listening to Singing Hands songs this week, they have been very popular. Some of the children have joined in with the signs to the songs and a favourite was The Wheels on the Bus.

During our sensory baking session we made some chocolate cookies. The children loved pouring the ingredients into the bowl and mixing it together. 

For Mother's Day we explored playdough using modelling mats, sticking flowers in the playdough and practising our fine motor skills. We have had frozen flower potions, which we enjoyed breaking up and helping them to melt so we could play with the water. The children also did an amazing job at making Mother's Day cards, choosing colours and printing flowers for their Mum's.

Week 2

We have continued enjoying The Gruffalo story this week in Ally's class. The children have enjoyed reading the story in small groups and 1:1 sessions, exploring the resources linked to the story. We have used communication boards and sound buttons to name characters in the story. 

This week we have enjoyed dough disco activities using scented playdough, we chose our favourite scent during our Sensology session.

We have explored colours, numbers and size this week by building big towers. Using the characters from the story we made big and small towers. 

To finish our Gruffalo story we went to the Beacon to follow a Gruffalo trail in the woods. The children were able to find the characters and explore the woods, travelling through a log pile house and finishing at The Gruffalo in the middle of the woods. After this we enjoyed a play on the park, before going back to school.

Our Sensory Colour Run was a huge success. Thank you to all the parents who sponsored the children and attended. The children enjoyed exploring all the sensory trays and we hope you enjoyed it too.

On Friday we had fun making cakes, practising our independence skills. We also had lots of fun doing PE, climbing and having some sensory.

Week 1

Our theme this have term is 'Magic World'. We have enjoyed reading The Gruffalo this week in Ally's class. The children have enjoyed exploring the characters and our tuff trays related to the story. We have used sound buttons to link to different parts of the story and soft toys to represent all the characters.

The children enjoyed a sensory PE session to begin the week, we had lots of regulating activities for the children to explore and they were really good at exploring them with increased independence.  

We explored lots of early maths skills with our tuff trays - filling, emptying, pouring as well as fine motor skills using tools, picking up small objects and sprinkling sensory materials. 

During Art activities this week the children used symbols to select colours, using spaghetti to make marks on the paper. They all did a fantastic job of choosing colours and exploring the paint. 

We have enjoyed lots of messy play activities this week through our Sensology sessions and Attention Autism sessions. 

This week the children have really enjoyed The Gruffalo, we set up some sensory trays for a Gruffalo walk and enjoyed some 1:1 time exploring parts of the story through touch. The children spent time listening to the sound buttons and exploring trays related to the characters and habitats. 

For our sensory baking activity this week, we made some fruit kebabs. The children were able to choose and cut their fruit before threading it onto their skewer. They did really well choosing, touching and practising their independence skills using tools.