Pom-poms - Page 12 of 13

Ice Cream Scooper

Use brown, yellow, or white construction paper. Draw a 1/4 of a circle with a six-inch radius, and ask the child to cut the shape out. If needed, make the line bolder to increase accuracy. If using white paper, you can let the child color/paint it in any color he wishes to.

Assist the child as needed to fold the 1/4 circle into a cone shape. Secure with tape.

Provide the child with tissue paper sheets that are at least 5″ x 7″ in size. Instruct the child to crumble each sheet into a ball (scoop), and place it in the container.

Have the child hold the ice cream scoop in his dominant hand and the cone in his other hand. Instruct the child to scoop the paper balls one at a time, using the ice cream scoop, and put it into the cone.

Using strips of construction paper in different colors, ask the child to tear small pieces to use as sprinkles. Promote pincer grasp by having the child pick up one piece at a time to sprinkle on his ice cream.

To grade the activity, use different ice cream scoops (i.e. with the thumb lever, spring-loaded handle, etc.) or other materials for ice cream, such as pom-poms or play-dough.

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Feel the Turkey

On brown contraction paper, draw the turkey’s body.

On different colors construction paper draw 6-7 turkey feathers.

Place a variety of materials with different textures on the table. I used cotton balls, Velcro, buttons, felt, dry beans, googly eyes, and feathers.

Ask the child to cut the turkey’s body and feathers. Then, have him glue the feathers to the back of the body. You can also let the child draw the turkey’s face on.

Present the child with different materials. Talk about the different textures (soft, smooth, rough, ticklish, etc.). Ask the child to glue a few pieces from each material on each of the turkey’s feathers.

You can use this turkey as a seasonal tactile board. Gobble, Gobble!

Sensory Salad

You will need to use green construction paper (light and/or dark) and assorted small different textured objects (i.e. pom-poms, buttons, small blocks, etc.). You may also want to use different size and color straws.

First, explain to the child that you are going to make a salad. Let the child tear up the pieces of paper using both hands, to make lettuce leaves, and place the pieces in the bowl.

Then, have the child cut the straws into different size pieces and add them to the bowl. Ask the child to add the pom-poms, buttons, blocks, and think of creative things they can be (e.g. red pom-poms for cherry tomatoes, blocks as croutons). Have the child “toss” the salad by hand, allowing him to feel the different textures.

Use the tongs to “serve” the salad. To focus on social skills, ask the child to serve you/other peers/ themselves/co-treating therapists and say things like “more please!”, “no more, thank you”, etc.

Touch and Match

A young child searches through a bowl of dried beans to find foam shapes that match the ones placed on the table.

For the purpose of describing the activity, we chose beans and foam sheets. You can use any media you would like to fill up your container (i.e. corn kernels, cotton balls, macaroni, bird’s seeds, send, etc.)and any objects to hide (i.e.buttons, pom-poms, pegs, coins, etc.).

Use the foam sheets and cut pairs of different shapes (you can also use different color sheets and cut a pair of the same shape in each color). Fill up the container with the beans. Hide one shape from each pair inside the container and place the other shape in front of the child.

Have the child dig his hands through the beans and find the matching shapes, taking them out one shape at a time.

Fall Foot Tree

Have the child trace their foot on brown construction paper to make the trunk of the tree. Then have the child trace their hand in different fall leaf colors. Have them glue on the pieces they cut onto a larger piece of construction paper. Provide assistance as needed. For older children, working on handwriting, place lined paper on the bottom of the tree, and have them write a story about the tree or about fall. Both older and younger children enjoy decorating the tree and its surroundings with tissue paper (crumbled), sequins, pom-poms, etc.

You can relate this activity to a specific holiday or the different seasons.