SENSE ational Activities for the Preschool Classroom: A Recipe for Success

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SENSE ational Activities for the Preschool
Classroom A Recipe for Success

• Kathryn Jenkins, Ed.D.
• UHD
• jenkinsk_at_uhd.edu
• Amelia Hewitt, Ed.D.
• UHD
• hewitta_at_uhd.edu

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Lets Mix It Up!

• Which of these do you first reference when
  creating a sensory experience in your classroom?
• Theme
• Content
• Dash to your most often used planning tool!
  (theme or content)

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Making Something Out of Nothing

• Trace your foot.
• Take a minute to analyze the shape.
• Transform your foot into something else using
  markers.
• How did it feel to be required to produce a
  product?
• How did it feel having limited supplies?
• When you were told to create a product, what did
  you first think of? Tangible or Intangible?
• Did you follow the rules/directions?
• Were you missing a tool or material that you
  really wanted?
• How does this change your view of your foot?
• Sensory Experiences DO NOT have to be hosted in a
  sensory table and they are not limited to sand
  and water!
• What else can or do you use?
• Lets take a new perspective on purpose and
  procedure
• for sensory play!

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Add a Pinch of Play

• Play is non-literal.
• Usual meaning for objects are ignored, and new
  meanings are substituted.
• Children escape the constraints of the here and
  now and experiment with new possibilities.
• Play is intrinsic.
• Play comes from within the individual.
• Activities are pursued for their own sake.
• Play is process oriented.
• Child focuses on activity, not the goals of the
  activity.
• Child tries many different variations of the
  activity.
• Play is free choice.
• Children choose what they want to do.
• Free choice differentiates play and work.
• Play is positive.
• Play is for pleasure and enjoyment.
• Children value the activity they are engaged in.

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Measure A Cup of Integration

• Integration brings together content and process.
• It connects what children already know and builds
  their understanding.
• It helps children learn all they can about a
  particular topic.
• Integration addresses interesting questions about
  the real world.
• What do children need to know about their world?
• What interests them?
• Integration provides in-depth exploration.
• Teachers provide materials and facilitation
  necessary for children to explore.
• Teachers question students about what they are
  exploring.

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Include a Scoop of Skill

• Focus on all areas of development physical,
  emotional, social, linguistic, aesthetic, and
  cognitive.
• DAP
• Integrates learning
• Focus on Pre-Kindergarten guidelines or TEKS for
  the specific grade level.
• Goals
• Objectives
• Focus on a broad range of content across subject
  areas.
• Socially relevant
• Intellectually engaging
• Personally meaningful

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SENSEational Samples

• Take time to sample each SENSE ational station.
  
• Arts limit to one visit
• Adventures unlimited
• Make N Take limit to one visit
• As you visit each station analyze the ingredients
  in the sensory experience in terms of themes and
  skills.
• Use the chart paper at each station to record
  your adaptations.
• Share your secrets.

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SENSEational Stations

• Adventures
• Safari Scavenger Hunt
• Mushy Madness
• Magical Movements
• This N That
• Wacky Worms
• Habitat About That
• Out of this World

• Arts
• Marvelous Marbles Painting
• Car Creations Picture Making
• Super Swatters Print Making
• Make N Take
• Stories That Stick
• Crunchy Creations

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Super Swatters

• Use the provided swatters to enjoy your
  print-making process.
• Share your creation with a friend, describing
  your tactics when you have finished.

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Marvelous Marbles

• Experiment with marble picture making.
• Share your design with a friend.

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Car Creations

• Create your own painting with a variety of cars.
• When you finish, try to match your cars with
  their tracks.

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Mushy Madness

• Sort the items into Haves and Have Nots!
• (red and not red, round and not round, with your
  choice of descriptors)
• Explain your stacks to a friend!

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Out of this World

• Create your own Out of This World Adventure.
• Share a unique title for your story with a
  friend.

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Habitat About That!

• Use the assorted items to construct a habitat for
  any animal or individual you wish.
• Then, play!

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Safari Scavenger

• Hunt down the animals and count out to match the
  number cards.

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Magical Movements

• Air moves things!
• Experiment with the items to see which ones are
  moved by your air and which are not!

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This N That

• Sort and Classify!
• Think of other ways that you could sort this and
  that

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Wacky Worms

• Dig and discover
• Line up your worms and tell a friend how you did
  it.

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Stories that Stick

• Use the items to create your very own story bag.
• Tell your story to a friend and have them create
  a story for your bag, too.

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Crunchy Creations

• Use the rebus cards to create an edible person,
  object or animal.
• Name it and eat it

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Recipe for Success

• Pk-Guidelines / Developmental Milestones
• Content Area
• Theme
• Activity
• Materials
• Location
• Teacher Guided/Individual/Partner
• Assessment/Documentation

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A Little Less Of This, A Lot More Of That!

• Which content do you want to integrate into your
  recipes for successful sensory experiences on a
  more regular basis?
• Ask yourself
• What is my goal for the upcoming year?
• Find the content area that you believe you should
  integrate into the sensory station more often.
• Stand in front of that content area.

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Get Cooking!

• Pick up a recipe card.
• Pick up a pencil.
• Record your goals for change.
• Review your recipe for success from time to time.

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Additional Resources

• http//www.perpetualpreschool.com/sand.html
• http//www.preschooleducation.com/ebook/sand.pdf
• http//www.earlylearningactivities.com/PDF/wst.pdf
  

• http//www.preschoolbystormie.com/curriculumindex.
  htm
• http//www.preschoolrainbow.org
• http//atozteacherstuff.com