Other Play Strategies
If you are interested in creating a safe and motivating area which encourages independent
play, here are some tips to share...
New! Step by Step Drawing
To create sequenced drawing books, visit Gary Harbos web site. (www.garyharbo.com)
He graciously posts a monthly drawing sequence in single page format so it can be printed
out, trimmed and laminated for Drawing Flip Books. Each new line in the drawing is
highlighted making it easy for the students to follow and copy. We have also used these
with students who dont have particularly good fine motor skills, but they often
are more motivated to work on them and produce some really good attempts at the picture.
Try it out! Once they can do these on their own, it's a nice activity for a play or
leisure schedule.
New! Play Trays
Large (18' x 18') plastic trays are great to encourage cooperative activities when there
is more than one student in the play area. They define the area to be played in and
encourage awareness of and tolerance for a nearby student. Try some of these, seating the
students across from each other:
- Put two bingo magnets and magnetized bingo markers in the tray. Demonstrate how to collect and remove markers from the magnets; how to dangle a string of markers and generally explore how they move. Caution: not to be used without supervision.
- Put several windup toys in the tray to play together.
- Put a layer of sand in the tray and small trucks to move around
- Put 2-3 tennis balls in the tray. Students hold opposite sides of the tray and try to roll the balls back and forth without having them fall out.
- Tape large paper to cover the bottom of the tray and provide interesting writing/coloring utensils: giant markers, fat colored chalk, multicolored crayon chunks, dot paints, stamps.
New! Calendar practice
Staples, K-Mart and other office supply stores now sell large sized childrens desk
calendars. The calendar page for the month can be laminated and hung on the easel with a
wipe off marker. The student traces or copies the numbers on the calendar for writing practice.
For a child just learning to complete non-inset puzzles, creating an outline jig can help. Place the completed puzzle on tag board or heavy paper. Remove one piece at a time and outline the empty space on the paper using a black marker. As you remove each piece write a number on it and then write it on the paper in the spot where the piece will be correctly placed. After this has been done with all pieces, laminate the paper and place it in the play area with the puzzle pieces in a small bin or basket. The child can then complete the puzzle by matching the numbers or use the additional visual cues of the shapes outlined on the jig. This process can also be used for inset puzzles if desired.
Dress Up
Learning to pretend can sometimes be a challenging skill to teach. For novice players,
it can be overwhelming to have a variety of clothing, shoes, hats, etc. from which to
choose. We like to start with just a few items. Place 3-4 interesting hats in a basket
next to a mirror. When dress up is on the play schedule, help the child sit
in front of the mirror to try on a few hats. Initially this is a very short activity. After
trying on the hats, help the child put them back in the basket and go on to the next
activity. Once the dress up routine is established, you can begin to vary the
clothing items to shoes, then large jackets, etc. Be sure to use items large enough to
be easily manipulated. Later theme sets can be used, which combine clothing
and related items. (for example, doctors coat, stethoscope, band-aids and picture
illustrations or book.)
Filling Containers/Openings
This can be very satisfying for young children who are novice players. Typically the toy
parts are relatively large for ease of handling. Place only the correct number of parts
in a basket with the item to be filled. This helps build understanding of one-to-one
correspondence, keeps the activity short and gives it a clear ending. Some game parts
can also be used in this way. Some examples:
- Connect Four: Put just enough checkers in a basket to fill all the slots
- Large plastic piggy bank: the hole on top can be cut larger if needed to accommodate poker chips or checkers.
- Large pegboard or rubber pegboard with fat pegs
- Ice cube tray with 12 Fisher-Price people. Place one in each slot
Pretending with Play Sets
The Fisher-Price playground set is a nice beginning for this. Put the merry go round,
swing and slide in a basket with enough people to fill all the seats. Help
the child place one person in each spot, then move them appropriately. Keep the number
of pieces small initially and the play time short. This also works nicely with 'house'
items, chairs and beds. In the beginning, the child is finding a place for each person
and grouping them together, later placing them in a dollhouse in the appropriate rooms.
Easel Play
Large stencils taped to paper at the easel give some structure to this for children
whose drawing skills are still developing. Provide easily manipulable coloring tools
for the child to use in filling in the stencil (fat markers, chalk or crayons).
Providing a simple picture model taped to the easel or a large dot to dot can be fun
for more able students.
Comfort Zones
Small, confined spaces can sometimes help a child sit calmly to play, or encourage
interaction with a peer sharing the same space. Some examples:
- Blanket or sheet draped over a card table
- Large box with soft pillows and an enticing toy or book
- Tunnel made of plastic or material
- Side by side bean bag chairs
Good ideas to add? Email play@includingme.com