In Store Activity

Adapted Toys for Children with Physical, Sensory, Cognitive Disabilities

In Store Activity

Acadia University 5173 Activity

Evaluator names :Kari MacDonald

Store: Have at Home but bought origianally at BrainCandy



Disability Category:              Rating:  **** or * stars

Physical                                   ***

Sensory                                   ***

Communicative                       ****

Cognitive                                ***

Toy Company: Melissa and Doug

Price:                                       $16.99

Box Age Range:                     3+ years

# Pieces:                                  one

Washability:                            wood but can be wiped down

Storability:                              easily stored

Directions:                               child needs to match up the vehicle to its correct home by sliding the wooden pieces through the maze

Play Locations:                       anywhere

Adjustability:                          cannot be adjusted

Levels of Play:                        several levels of play depending on child's development

Batteries:                                 none

Description general: This is a wooden puzzle that has nine colorful vehicles that slide around the scene of a town on slotted tracks. The vehicles can move around the puzzle put are connected so you cannot lose them. Each vehicle has a home such as the fire truck goes to the fire station. But it creates a game because you can move the vehicles around the town.

APPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Physical          Rating: ****

Description	A child with a range of disabilities could use this as it does not require very much physical movement. It would be good for a child who needs to strengthen their fine motor skills. -Easy to grasp -Puzzle small enough to fit on a wheelchair or tray -Durable, easy to wipe down -Played on any flat surface -
Skills	-Using hands they move the vehicles through the wooden slats. -Use fine motor skills -Use wrist motion to move vehicles around -Finger manipulation -Controlled hand movements
Play Ideas	-Have child grab a vehicle that is further away to promote reaching. -Have a child with less accurate movement grab for a specific car or move it to a specific spot.
Adaptation Ideas	Affix Velcro to the wooden slides and make a wand with the other end of the Velcro could be moved around with mouth or hand with children with limited movements.

Sensory           Rating: ***

Description	-Puzzle has high color contrast -Cars are realistic -There are no loud sound or blinking lights to startle a child who is sensory defensive -Block are smooth and nice to hold on too
Skills	-Challenged to use their vision to find a vehicle or one that they are being asked to find. -Visual attention is encouraged by the bright and contrasting colors -Visual processing is necessary to discriminated between the different types of vehicles
Play Ideas	-Feel through the maze by touch.
Adaptation Ideas	-Put braille dots on the vehicles and places for children with visual impairments. -Play with the puzzle on a dark surface to increase the color contrast.

Communicative         Rating: ****

Description	-There are 8 vehicles so two children could easily play at the same time. -Very hands on, easy for children to comprehend and talk about -Attractiveness encourages children to use it over time for longer periods.
Skills	-Multiple vehicles promote social interaction and working together toward a common goal. -Encourage early literacy skills by reading the place names -language and vocabulary development -Memory and recall –what car would go where and how do I get it there You can have a wide range of conversations about where the vehicles are going.
Play Ideas	Parent and child can take turns telling each other where they want them to put the vehicle. Make up stories about what the trucks are doing. -Have children identify the vehicle and where it should go -Make up a song too the tune of old MacDonald or wheels on the bus to go with the different vehicles. -Point to a vehicle and have them name it or tell what it does. -Look for those vehicles in the neighborhood. Have a child repeat a sentence such as This is the fire truck it _____
Adaptation Ideas	Name the vehicles instead of conversations.

Cognitive        Rating: ****or*

Description	-Can use sign language to have children move the vehicle to a certain location. -Pictures are visually attractive to children. Very bright and life like. -Can match the vehicle to its home. -Need to figure out how to get the vehicle there which way should I move it -Open ended play. Some children may just be able to move the vehicles around randomly while others can move them around to their correct home or make stories up for each place it visits. -Familiar objects that children see in their environment or on other toys.
Skills	-Associate the vehicle to its home ex: fire truck to fire station -Memory and recall -Sequential thought -Problem solving -Literacy skills-reading the names of places
Play Ideas	-Have parent make up a story and then the child can retell it -Have the child make up their own story -Each can take a turn bringing the vehicles home. -Have a child found the vehicle they have been asked to find, they could be asked to bring it to a certain location
Adaptation Ideas	-Label each vehicle and location with the same color dot or number for ease of finding its “home”

FEATURES AND BENEFITS       CHECK IF APPROPRIATE

ü	Durable
ü	High Contrasting Colours
	Tactilely Stimulating
ü	Visually Stimulating
ü	Wide Age Range
ü	Inviting Due to Uniqueness
ü	Open-ended
ü	Innovative
ü	High quality
ü	Detailed
ü	Hands on Approach to learning
ü	Easy to grasp/hold
ü	One-piece unit
	Upright position for play
	Other:

DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES PROMOTED

ü	Visual attention
ü	Visual tracking
ü	Visual processing
ü	Memory and recall
	Cause and effect
ü	Action concepts: in/out, push/pull, on/off, go/stop
ü	Fine motor
ü	Eye-hand coordination
ü	Problem solving
ü	Finger and hand control and dexterity
	Physical range of motion
ü	Deliberate finger movements
ü	Precision
ü	Directionality
	Wrist rotation
ü	Hand and finger grasp
	Pointing, one isolated finger
ü	Motor planning
ü	Self esteem
ü	Manual dexterity
ü	Sequential thought
ü	Reaching
ü	Strategic thinking
ü	Turn taking
	Patience
ü	Spatial relationships – over, under, on, off
ü	Reaching/arm extension
	Functional finger movement and exploration
ü	Coordinated movement
ü	Sorting and classification
ü	Early Literacy
	Texture Discrimination
	Object Permanence
	Tactile Discrimination
ü	Problem Solving
ü	Directionality
ü	Cooperative Hand Movement
ü	Letter Recognition
	Life Skills
ü	Pre-Literacy
ü	Social Interaction
	Foot Placement
	Weight Shifting
	Core Strengthening – Trunk Strengthening
ü	Colour Recognition and Identification
ü	Word Recognition
	Number concepts
ü	Visual Acuity

Our Invention

Sticky Tray

So for our class my group with Michelle and Adele needed to invent a low tech device from materials found at the dollar store. We invented a tray that we would attach items to using suction cups. These suction cups were two way cups. We used one plastic tray, package of suction cups, plastic bowl, and a book. This was all purchased for under $10.00.

This tray would be good for students with fine or gross motor difficulties as it would allow them to access items without worrying about them falling off the tray. On our tray we stuck a bowl and a book. The bowl would be great for of course eating but would be good for holding an assortment of materials that a student might want to keep track of. We also put a book which allow for easier page turning. My four year old son was able to turn the pages with ease.You could only stick items with a shiny or plastic backing. We tried to stick a puzzle but the cups do not stick to paper. Here are a few pics of our invention!

Bowl with suction cups

Book with suction cups.

Caleb trying out our invention.

Book suction cupped to tray.

Our invention( we tried to stick the puzzle but the paper backing would not stick)

Here are 16 of the low tech tools found at the Dollaramma!!! It is amazing what you can find as you walk through the store using a different way to look at everything.

Low Tech tools found:

1.     Feather duster

 Use for raising hands for a student with physical difficulties.

     2.     Bath mat for standing.

Stability for a student with physical difficulties

Spatial awareness for student who has trouble staying put

       3.     Tap light for non-verbal student

“Raising hand”

Answering questions (yes/no)

 

          

 4.     Coloured tape

Lineups

Outline personal space

Outline spaces in classroom (eg, teacher's space)

      

 5.     Ice treads

Provide stability outdoors

6.     Felt insoles

 Spot-holder for standing (eg. concert)

            

7.     Sandpaper for letters

Tactile reinforcement for visual disabilities

8.     Waxy strips

Use to form letters, numbers, shapes for visual disabilities

         

9.     Foam heart for keeping beat (music class)

Used for visually impaired student

10. Mirrors

Pronunciation

Reinforcing identity, responsibility

11. Lava lamp with timer

Calming, time-out

        

12. Bubbles

Blowing for speech and/or calming

13. Flying disc

For sitting on

Large Frisbee

14. Garden signs

 Answering questions

             

15. Eye shades 

Calming

Reducing stimulation

16. Chart with 3D numbers

For visual impairment

Tactile reinforce

Day Three- June 2

New and Amazing Apps!

Apple TV If students are on their own wireless they can mirror from their desk. Each student would just take over from their seat. This might take the place of a smart board as students can interact from their seat. Our class did our presentation using mirroring. Each group was able to make their presentations form their own seat.

Frog Dissection $3.99- You can see the life cycle of a frog, gives you great information like a text book but so much better. Incredible Graphics and Videos.

Barefoot  World Atlas $7.99- Has a rotating globe where you can travel anywhere in the world and click on information about that place.

Back in Time: $8.00Timeline of Evolution Goes back to the beginning to time. Includes amazing videos.

In class today each group presented their favorite app from webinars on specific topics. Our webinar was about executive function. Executive function was explained as the CEO of the brain. It controls time management, emotional response etc.

Our top  3  (Couldn't just leave it at three) apps were: 

Sock Monkey- Free My Favorite!!

Places sock monkeys is a variety of settings and talks when you are talking. Great for any social stories or Supt's, especially for students who don't like to make eye contact. Would also be good if students made their own reader theatre. I also thought it would be good for students who have speech delays.

Let Panic Go $2.99 

 Great for students who have panic attacks, and anxiety issues. Is a calm down mechanism that has deep breathing exercises. It is a good distractor for whatever is stressing you out.

Shredder $0.99

Good for students with anger issues or anger management. Take your bad thoughts and shred them.

Take A Chill: Stressed Teens $0.99

is a way for teens to manage their emotions and redirect behaviour.

Sound Curtain- $0.99

creates a quiet workspace, great for students who are easily distracted, the louder the environment the louder the sound curtain becomes.


Favorite Apps of the Day: These wre apps introduced by other groups today!

Jib Jab- Free!!!!!

For early learners. Take students picture and it will place it in the story. One downfall is that it does not read the story out loud.



Kiddie Questions:$2.99 Asks children questions, great for speech, differnet types of questions. Child would listen to the questin and then say the answer.




Math App Symmetry Shuttle: Great app to show flips and reflections in math.



Pocket Pond- Free!!!  good for sensory regualtion, learning about ponds



Science 360- Free!! Science videos



TourWrist-  Free!!See pictures and videos from around the world. Great for geography lessons!

Social Stories

Usually used for students with autism. They may have self regulation issues, OCD, difficulty comprehending.
In the past it was done with paper but students sometimes have sensory issues. Putting it on an Ipad devince enhances the deliver of the social story. Allows the student to rehearse it themself expecially if you have auditory. Ends on a postive note and you don't show the bad behavior.

Social stories are a way to teach students how to deal with certain situations or changes that may happen during the day.

This is how social stories used to be created without technology.



This is how they can be with technology.



We used book creator to make a social story. You can add your own pictures and voice. This app allows teachers to quickly create social stories that are personalized to the student.



Here is a screen shot.