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Topic “Activities”
This sheet contains activities.
Make a choice between snacks
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Snacks A small choice of snack items to choose from - in small pieces - for example banana, apple, orange, crisps (the idea of having the items in small pieces is that it gives lots of opportunities to practice the request); Something uninteresting - e.g. a piece of paper; Pictures of the food items. |
| Key strategies - you may need to come back to these as and when necessary: Introduce each food item; Check which ones the people are interested in; Demonstrate the asking for and getting of an item - e.g. with another member of staff; Wait - give time for the person to respond or initiate; Offer a "forced alternative", e.g. "apple or orange?" - swap around the order in which you give the alternatives to check that the person is not just saying the last thing you say; Make it difficult for the person to communicate by pointing by having the choices close together and out of reach - so if they point you actually don't know which one they pointed to; Be sensitive to if the person is getting frustrated - think of ways to help them get it right first time - e.g. by reducing the choice down to one item (temporarily). Using forced alternatives: Always give the person the thing they said/signed for. If they are having difficulties with this - for example they always say the last thing in the alternative, try the following: Have one of the forced alternatives being something uninteresting (e.g. the piece of paper); Have the last alternative as something the person doesn't want (if the person always says the last thing); Give more emphasis to the desired item, e.g. "Banana or paper?", you could also try only signing the desired item. Over time, reduce the difference in emphasis. Improving clarity Sometimes the person may say/sign what they want, but you don't feel it is clear enough (perhaps you can understand it in this context but might not be able to in another situation). To try and improve this, you can try: Saying 'pardon?' or something equivalent; Look confused and say, for example '(Do you mean) apple or banana?' (saying and signing these) - this will often encourage the person to produce a clearer version; Simply re-inforce with the clear version, e.g. you say "Oh, banana" (saying and signing it then passing it over); Try to avoid simply asking the someone to repeat after you as there is no communication and it's not a natural way to communicate - by asking someone to repeat you have shown them that you have understood, and so this is now a different repetition activity (and perhaps a bit insulting!) - it also has the danger that it could reduce the accuracy of what they originally said or signed as they didn't get a direct result from this. |
Make a choice at snack time
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Snack activity Food items - in small pieces - which the children like, for example banana, apple, orange, crisps; Something uninteresting - e.g. a piece of paper; Pictures of the food items. |
| Key strategies - you may need to come back to these as and when necessary: Introduce each food item; Check which ones the child is interested in; Demonstrate the asking for and getting of an item - e.g. with another member of staff; Wait - give time for the child to respond or initiate; Offer a "forced alternative", e.g. "apple or orange?" - swap around the order in which you give the alternatives to check that the child is not just saying the last thing you say; Make it difficult for the child to communicate by pointing by having the choices close together and out of reach - so if they point you actually don't know which one they pointed to; Be sensitive to if the child is getting frustrated - think of ways to help them get it right first time - e.g. by reducing the choice down to one item (temporarily). Using forced alternatives: Always give the child the thing they said/signed for. If they are having difficulties with this - for example always say the last thing in the alternative, try the following: Have one of the forced alternatives being something uninteresting (e.g. the piece of paper); Have the last alternative as something the child doesn't want (if the child always says the last thing); Give more emphasis to the desired item, e.g. "Banana or paper?", you could also try only signing the desired item. Over time, reduce the difference in emphasis. Improving clarity Sometimes the child may say/sign what they want, but you don't feel it is clear enough (perhaps you can understand it in this context but might not be able to in another situation). To try and improve this, you can try: Saying 'pardon?' or something equivalent; Look confused and say, for example '(Do you mean) apple or banana?' (saying and signing these) - this will often encourage the child to produce a clearer version; Simply re-inforce with the clear version, e.g. you say "Oh, banana" (saying and signing it then passing it over); Try to avoid simply asking the child to repeat after you as there is no communication and it's not a natural way to communicate - by asking the child to repeat you have shown them that you have understood, and so this is now a different repetition activity - it also has the danger that it could reduce the accuracy of what the child originally said or signed as they didn't get a direct result from this.
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Activities to develop understanding of a negative and a noun, e.g. "no hat"
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Dressing up - Some everyday clothes eg hat, gloves, scarf, sun glasses - Large soft toy - Digital camera or phone with a camera. |
| |
| - |
Request a desired item
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Snack time
|
See the comments on the right as to how to respond to some typical situations. | What to do in common scenarios The person points at or tries to take the item. Hold or place the items in such a way that they can't easily take them and so that even if they point it is not clear which one they are choosing (once you know - and the person knows you know - which one they want simply now asking them to repeat what you had hoped they would have requested is much less powerful for learning). The person always asks for the last thing you said (e.g. always asking for a crisp): Try reversing the order of the choice you give them; If they don't seem to care which one you give them, give them a choice of a desirable item and a boring item - saying the boring item last - then respond to their request for the boring item. To stop frustration, you might need to quickly follow this up with another go where you only offer them one item (the desirable item); Encourage them to point to a picture to show you which one they want - then reinforce this by signing and saying the word. General strategies Model the asking and requesting with someone (e.g. other staff) to show what you are hoping people to do. |
To use language to describe the characteristics and functions of objects
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| What's in the bag? - Bag - A selection of objects or pictures - click below for printable object pictures: - Question prompt cards - click here to print.
| 1. Explain to your child/student that you are all going to take it in turns to put something in the bag and describe it for others to guess. 2.Model the game for the first turn. Give a description of your obejct for the others to guess. 3. Swap and let your child/student have a turn. If your child/student is finding it hard to think of things to saym you can use the questions cards to help support them. | |
| Treasure Hunt - Objects to hide around the room (optional) | ||
| Taboo! . |
Aware of changes in daily routine
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Usual timetable Picture symbols which represent each activity in the day (and/or use words if the child understands these) with velcro on the back; Velcro board to stick them to; A normal day! You can find picture symbols with the Commtap Symboliser. |
| This activity is about ensuring that the child understands their usual timetable. Do this activity on a 'normal' day (or at least one that is likely to be normal). The child should be able to understand the pictures or words you use for the timetable. If not, you should spend some time showing the child the picture symbol word when they are doing the activities in the routine. See also: "Use a visual timetable" on the Commtap site. If a whole day is too much, you could do this over a part of the day - for example the morning or the afternoon. |
| Timetable - day which is different Picture symbols which represent each activity in the day (and/or use words if the child understands these) with velcro on the back; Velcro board to stick them to; A day which is different. You can find picture symbols with the Commtap Symboliser. | Ideally, the child should already be able to construct the timetable for the 'normal' day with minimal prompting. |
Develop language skills through cookery
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Deciding on the ingredients Pen; Paper; Optional - picture symbols for food items you need; An idea for what you are going to make. If using, you can make picture symbol cards using the Commtap Symboliser for PowerPoint. |
See comments for variations on doing this. | Making it easier: Have a set of pictures of ingredients which are appropriate for what you are making, and some other ingredients. Get the children to choose the appropriate ingredients. Even easier: Have a set of pictures for the ingredients, and some further pictures which aren't food (e.g. pictures of furniture, clothes). Help the child to choose those which are food items. Harder: Get the children to draw and/or write down the ingredients themselves. |
| Buying ingredients
You can make a shopping list with symbols using the Commtap Symboliser for PowerPoint. | On subsequent occasions, you can pretend that you have a really bad memory, and you need the children to help you to remember what to take. If they don't remember everything, you can look a bit confused, and say something like "I'm sure we need to take something else...". You could also use ideas based on the comments in "Deciding on the ingredients". | |
| Making the item
| If the children are familiar with cooking this item, but they sequenced the pictures for doing the activity incorrectly at the beginning, you don't necessarily have to correct them straight away - you can correct it at the point when it becomes a problem - e.g. if you get to the putting the pizza in the oven bit before you've put the sauce and toppings on (look very confused!). Sketches for the sequence - these do not need to be accurate at all - they will be useful for this activity no matter what level of drawing ability you have. The children can also help with this. You can incorporate a number of maths concepts into the activities, for example: "full", "empty", "more", "less", "hot", "cold". Safety. Clearly you will need to manage any dangerous aspects of the cooking process as appropriate for the children you are working with (e.g. use of knives, the cooker). |
include relevant details in story retell
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Story Retelling Short stories 'Who, Where, When, What happened, What happened next, the end', prompt cards. Pencils | Tell the story yourself first. Discuss the prompt cards with the children, and explain that it is important they remember to answer all of the questions on the cards when they are telling their stories. Have one child at a time take a turn to retell the story. Go over the cards to see if they have included all the details. | If it is a familiar story to the child you could just give them time to remember it instead of telling it yourself first. |
tell an adult what happened
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Naughty puppet "What happened?" prompt (e.g. from Black Sheep Press Narrative Pack) Large hand puppet (such as "Molly" from LDA) or large rag doll or soft toy. Classroom equipment | 1. Stick the "What happened?" prompt on the board. 2. Produce the puppet and introduce it to the children. 3. Explain that you are going to practise talking about what happened, and that Molly (or whatever you call the puppet) will help the children to do this. 4. Explain that Molly is sometimes a bit naughty. 5. At this point, the other adult makes an excuse and leaves the room. 6. While the second adult is out of the room, make Molly do something naughty (e.g. take rubbish out of the bin, hide something in the cupboard, kick someone, jump on the furniture, or play with the light switch etc.) 7. The second adult returns to the room (send a child to collect them if necessary). 8. When the second adult comes back, ask the children to explain what happened while they were out of the room. 9. Steps 5-8 can be repeated a number of times if necessary. 10. The children can write up what happened in their literacy books. | This works best as a group activity. This activity compliments the "What happened?" work from the Black Sheep Press Narrative Pack. You need two adults for this activity - or alternatively you could have two puppets. One of the puppets goes away whilst the other one does something a bit naughty. The children then have to tell the puppet who went away what happened. Having the children describe what happened to a person who didn't see is more natural than asking them to talk to someone who also saw the event. It gives them a reason to communicate. To start with, have Molly do one or two things while the adult is out of the room. As the children become more used to the activity, increase this number. This gives them more to remember. If working with a mixed ability group, the more able children can be asked to use the language of sequencing (e.g. "first", "second", "then", "next", "last" etc.) |
understand and use less for quantity
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Less food 3 soft toys Plastic tea set Plastic food |
| Avoid working on "less" and "more" together as there is a risk that the child may confuse them. When the child is able to use "less" and "more" on separate occasions in separate activities, you can then use both together in this activity - e.g. ask "More/less banana here?" and so on. |
| Fruit Salad Two bowls and fruit to cut into fruit salad | You could do this activity at snack time - sharing some fruit between two or more children. | |
| Using "less" with various materials See-through plastic cups Materials to put in them, for example: water beans sand pegs bricks pens Optional: symbol for 'less' - this can help to reinforce the concept for some children. If you don't already have one, you can get a symbol for "less" through the Commtap Symboliser. | You need to make the learning very visible. Allow the child to explore materials and give time to respond to questions. Give lots of opportunity for repetition. Provide a central group of items against which 'less' can be compared. Avoid working on "less" and "more" together as there is a risk that the child may confuse them. When the child is able to use "less" and "more" on separate occasions in separate activities, you can then use both together in this activity: use three beakers, have more in one beaker and less in another (than the central beaker). | |
| Sharing out materials Materials, for example: beans sand pegs bricks pens Symbol for 'less' 2 different coloured sheets If you don't already have one, you can get a symbol for "less" through the Commtap Symboliser. | Avoid working on "less" and "more" together as there is a risk that the child may confuse them. When the child is able to use "less" and "more" on separate occasions in separate activities, you can then use both together in this activity: use three sheets, have more in one sheet and less on the other (than the central sheet). | |
| Biscuit decorating Biscuits Something to sprinkle on to them | Avoid working on "less" and "more" together as there is a risk that the child may confuse them. |
consistently acts on objects
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Playing with action toys Drum Jack in a box Pop-up toys Toys which need to be squeezed or a button pushed to produce an effect | Sit in the child's sight line in a quiet room and choose an action type toy to have on your lap. Gain the child's attention by stroking their face/clapping your hands or calling their name. Use the toy. Show happiness and/or surprise as you do so. Wait to see if the child makes a move to request a repeat. Repeat the action if the child requests. If the child does not request a repeat do the action again as above. After a few repeats take the child's hand and help the child activate the toy. Gradually reduce the amount of help you give the child to activate the toy. Can the child activate the toy independently if you show the child the toy? Move on to a different toy and follow the procedure above. | Work in short bursts. Keep the experience fun and light hearted. Give the child enough time to explore the toys and enough time to try to use the toy themselves. Give lots of praise for any success. |
| Snack time Small edible treats (biscuits/fruit/crisps) Transparent container with a lid. | You want the child to be able to open the container independently and help themselves. Give lots of time to explore the objects and praise for any success. Give lots of opportunities to learn by repeating the activity. | |
| Favourite toy Small toys e.g. car/squashy ball |
recall story details and retell them
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Storyteller Stories the child is unfamiliar with. They can be extracts from reading books or made up. Photocopy of the story (optional) | 1. Explain to the child that they are going to tell a story. You are going to tell it first and then it will be their turn. 2. Tell the story. It should be about 150 - 200 words. Make sure that there is enough detail in the section you have chosen or in the story you have made up. 3. Have the child tell the story back to you, or to another child. 4. Look at the photocopy of the story together and highlight all the details the child remembered (optional). | You can have the child use a puppet when they are telling the story |
| Quiz Story, description or explanation the child is unfamiliar with. Photocopy of this (optional) | If the child is finding it very difficult, make your questions easier, so that the child finishes the activity with success. You can ask easier questions, give the child clues (e.g. multiple choice answers) or read part of the story / description / explanation again. | |
| Messages Story, description or explanation the child is unfamiliar with. Photocopy of this (optional) Pens and paper or whiteboards | If you can, try and put yourselves at different ends of the room so the second child cannot hear the message when you say it! You could make the activity more interesting by setting the scene and sending the messages in character - e.g. shopping, an adventure story or something related to a literacy or history topic. | |
| Comprehension Activities Curriculum topic activities |
Activities to encourage the use of 'first', 'next' and 'last' when describing a sequence of events.
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Sequencing cards - sets of 3 picture sequencing cards - you will need to source these. | 1. Choose a set of three cards and mix them up. 2. Ask your child to sort the pictures in the order that they happened. If your child finds this hard, put them in order together. Match them to the symbols. 3. Describe what is happening in the pictures using the words first, next and last - you can point to the symbols as you say the words. 4. Encourage your child to describe what is happening using the words first, next and last. | If the child finds it difficult to remember whether to put the pictures in order from left to right, or right to left, you can draw a large arrow (→) on the sheet. Numbering the boxes 1-3 can also help. |
| Photo sequencing |
|
Identify key information in stories with question prompts
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Story String String Pegs Who-what-where-what prompt sheet using symbols, colour-coded:
Who (orange) What (i.e. objects - green) Where (red) What (i.e. actions - yellow)
Picture cards in separate bags or envelopes follows: Who envelope: e.g. various people, animals, monsters, spacemen, football players What (objects) envelope: e.g. football, car, rocket, computer, stick, box, bicycle Where envelope: e.g. park, mountain, house, beach What (actions) envelope: e.g. jump, sleep, fly, fall, cry, drive You could also use the Commtap Symboliser for PowerPoint to get picture symbols for these items. | 1. Pick a card from each envelope and peg them onto the string. 2. Make up a simple story which has everything on the string in it. 3. Have the child recap the main parts of the story to you, using the prompt sheet. 4. Take it in turns to make up the story, but have the child do the retell of it every time. | |
| Story Retell A familiar story, and key pictures of who, where, what and what happened in the story. (You might be able to photocopy this from a book). Who-what-where-what prompt sheet using symbols, colour-coded:
Who (orange) What (i.e. objects - green) Where (red) What (i.e. actions - yellow) You could use the Commtap Symboliser for PowerPoint to get symbols. | Example: Goldilocks - book Pictures: Who: Goldilocks, 3 bears Where: house, forest What things: porridge, chair, bed What happened: hot, walking, eating, breaking, sleeping, come back, run away You could vary this by watch short clips of film / computer programmes instead of having the book. | |
| Walk the walk A wind up toy (e.g. Simon the Sheep) Pictures of things it might see or do on its walk Who-what-where-what prompt sheet using symbols, colour-coded:
Who (orange) What (i.e. objects - green) Where (red) What (i.e. actions - yellow) You could use the Commtap Symboliser for PowerPoint to get symbols. | ||
| Any story or recount of an event Who-what-where-what prompt sheet using symbols, colour-coded:
Who (orange) What (i.e. objects - green) Where (red) What (i.e. actions - yellow) You could use the Commtap Symboliser for PowerPoint to get symbols. |
make predictions about physical actions
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| What would happen if? Selection of the following equipment as appropriate: Candle and matches/ lighter; Balloon and pin; Building bricks/ Jenga game; Jug and cups, access to sink; Glass, water and instant coffee granules | Using appropriate equipment, ask the child to predict what will happen, then carry out the action to see if they were right: What will happen if you... Touch a flame to the candle's wick? Hold the candle horizontally? Blow onto the candle's flame? Blow into the balloon? Touch the balloon with the blunt end of the pin? Touch the balloon with the sharp end? Put a large brick on top of a smaller brick? Build a tower using all the bricks? Pull out a brick from lower down the tower? Start the tower on an uneven surface? Put lots of water (more than it can hold) into a cup? Have the cup upside down when you try to fill it? Put some coffee granules in the glass, then add cold water? Fill the glass with water, then sprinkle coffee granules on the top? | |
| Science activities Equipment as appropriate to the science activity. |
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