Americana Center

Independence Day

In celebration of Independence Day on July 4th my boys are learning about America over the next couple of weeks. This will serve for three main purposes for us over the next couple of weeks:

1. It will help prepare my boys for the 4th of July. For most children, this is an exciting holiday. One where family gathers to BBQ, play outside and send off fireworks. However, for my boys and most children on the spectrum, exciting holidays like this can sometimes be more trying than exciting. Family gatherings mean extended family that my children are not familiar with and a large crowd can quickly become overstimulating. Barbequing and fireworks also bring about their own challenges like safety and loud noises. Because of this, it is important for me to prepare my children for the activities this holiday brings.
2. It will educate the boys on the country that we live in. Patriotism is an important quality for the members of our family and we plan to instill this quality even now at a young age. During this center we will educate the boys on the importance of voting, the three branches of government and some important historical sites.
3. It will give us a chance to work on pre academics. In every center I put together, there are activities to work on letters, numbers, colors, etc. In this particular center we work on counting, color sorting, number identification and scissor cutting.

SENSORY

I always add either sensory boxes or sensory bottles to our centers. Sensory activities help to heighten some of the senses that can be distracting for kiddos and keep them sitting longer. These are great activities for all toddlers, not just those on the spectrum. I use the sensory box, like the one pictured above to drive home pre academics the kids need help with. This week Vinny is really working on adding and Max is working on number identification so numbers it was! The sensory bottles I typically use more as a calm down activity as soon as we sit at the table. The calming motions help the boys to relax prior to our table work.

Pre-Academics

I always try to add some activities that are themed related but still help the boys with those tasks they must have prior to kindergarten.

Sorting- I noticed recently that Vinny has struggled with sorting. So we worked on this in a few separate ways this week. First, the color sorting stars. (This is also a good time to incorporate and sensory sensitivities your kiddos have. For example, Vinny struggles with getting dirt, slime, crumbs etc on his hands so I made sure to buy stars for our sorting that would leave sparkles behind on his hands when he touched them so we could work through this.) We also sorted the American flag into small, medium and large to practice sorting. Now he knows what our flag looks like and is learning to sort objects by size!

Scissor work- another skill for Vinny. This one is pretty straight forward. However, I did have to buy special scissors. I noticed he kept bringing home “scissor cut” work from school but knew he couldn’t use scissors! Then I learned about these. The scissors are spring loaded. So it helps him work on the cut but he doesn’t have to open the scissors himself. It just helps to break down the fine motor skill that he hasn’t quite figured out yet.

Numbers- each card has a certain number of objects on it that you match the paper clip to. This helps with number recognition and comprehension. It also helps with fine motor skills! Moving the paper clip from place to place. If you kiddo is not quiet ready to move the clip or (like my youngest) needs to work on pointing, then just ditch the paper clip and have them point to the correct number. You could even modify further (like I do for my youngest) and say “Can you point to the BBQ grill?” Etc. (Another great time to talk about fire safety!

Preparing for the holiday- the last activities help my kiddos prepare for the holiday! One is a small pretend play activity (building the cheeseburger) that helps them identify with what kind of food will be present and again associate them with the BBQ grill and it’s use. The next, is a scavenger hunt. A good time to introduce small fireworks (firecrackers/sparklers) etc. The more familiar they are with the activities they are doing the better they seem to do!

Pretend Play

This station’s “pretend play” is teaching my boys the importance of voting. Vinny is working on writing his name and identifying how old he is, which the voter registration card allows us to work on! We are also going to work on making choices and following directions when we “vote” on what we want to do. My boys don’t quiet comprehend the “what’s your favorite” questions that came with the ballot box. So instead, I plan to make cards that list choices. Which is still a skill they are working on. For example, “do you want to play outside? Or play your game?” “Do you want to read a book? Or do a puzzle” These are still speech skills they are working on and allows them to learn about voting and what it means. If you wanted to go all out, you could even make a poling station! My kids won’t appreciate that yet, but maybe next year.

And that’s a wrap on our Americana Center! I hope it helps you get some ideas for activities for your kiddos!