May Teaching Ideas with Rhyming Multisensory Stories

As always, we are delighted to share a blog post from Victoria from Rhyming Multisensory Stories. Here are her ideas for May!

Featured

• National Walking Month
• National Smile Month
• May 1st National Sun Awareness Week
• May 1st Hedgehog Awareness Week
• May 5th Space Day
• May 5th African World Heritage Day
• May 9th Europe Day
• May 12th Florence Nightingale’s Birthday
• May 13th World Migratory Bird Day
• May 16th Vesak Day
• May 24th 1844 First Morse Code Message was sent
• May 28th Whistun

National Walking Month

• Go on a listening walk around the school.
• Go on a nature walk. Find five things to look at, four things to touch, three things to listen to, two things to smell, one thing to taste. Collect nature items: feathers, grasses, leaves, pinecones, seed heads- use them to create a sensory artwork.
• Make a sensory pathway. Use different textured materials and natural items to form a pathway (sand/gravel/carpet/water/leaves/wood/foam etc) Encourage students to walk barefoot to stimulate their senses.

May 1st Hedgehog Awareness Week

Let’s Explore…Hedgehogs

• Promote Physical Development, Coordination, Balance, Control & Movement & Imaginative Play
• Can the student move like a hedgehog?
• Can the student forage looking for items as they walk on all fours?
• Can the student curl up into a little ball?
• Build Understanding of Animal Habitats and Develop Creative Thinking Through the Use of Different Materials
• Hedgerows are a hedgehog’s natural habitat and our gardens also make a good habitat. Explore a Hedge
• Mark a section 1m x 1m and count how many different species of plants you can find in that area.
• Make a Hedgehog Habitat
• Layer a container (tuff-tray or cardboard box) with fern/bracken, dried grass, straw and leaves. (Alternatively, find a patch in an outdoor area amongst shrubbery, or in leaf/wood piles) Hedgehogs roll the leaves and grass into balls, can the student roll the leaves and grasses into balls?
• Explore Hedgehog Food

A hedgehog’s main diet consists of beetles, along with caterpillars and earthworms. Head outdoors. Lift plant pots, stones and logs and see if you can find any of these insects. Use a magnifying glass to see more detail

Make a Hedgehog Sensory Box

• Line a shoebox with leaves (I used vine leaves, rosemary leaves, curry leaves and bay leaves for an extra sensory element)
• Add a SSCD with a recording of a hedgehog snuffle.
• Add hedgehogs (Spiky pom poms, pinecones and a nail brush represent the spikiness of a hedgehog or make hedgehogs by rolling Playdoh into a ball then create the spikes using dried spaghetti)

Simplify

• Place a few items in the box for sensory exploration.
• Remove the items the student doesn’t interact with, replace them with other items.
• Keep changing the items to keep the activity interesting and motivating

May 1st National Sun Awareness Week

Create a Sensory Sun

Class teacher Vicky Ormerod-Jordan explains how the Sparrow Class Hebden Green School in Winsford, Cheshire, celebrated the sun!

‘We danced with a yellow stretchy band which is the centre of our sun.

We added oranges and lemons,having smelt, touched and tasted them.

We explored sweetcorn, peeling off the leaves.

We smelt yellow marigolds and added them to the sun centre.

We bounced, tennis balls and rolled them down a ramp.

We enjoyed a song I wrote called ‘The Sun will Shine,’ where we shone a torch on various body parts.

The best part of the picture was making hand and footprints in yellow paint for the sun’s rays. Very messy!’

Discuss the importance of staying safe in the sun (link to skin cancer Awareness Month)

Make a sun safety box and place sun protection items inside for exploration

• Sunscreen
• Hats
• Sunglasses
• Protective clothing (round neck cotton t-shirts)
• Bottle of water
• Sunshade
• Extend Learning

Can the students tell you what the items are used for how they protect you from the sun?

May 5th – African World Heritage Day

This a day to celebrate of the culture of the Continent of Africa.

Discuss the importance of Africa and its vulnerability due to climate change and poaching.

Explore animal ‘skins’

This presents an opportunity for students to explore and express their likes, dislikes and sensory preferences and can help in everyday life such as clothing.

• Faux fur
• Faux leather (fake leather belts, handbags)
• Fabric craft feathers
• Faux suede

Extend Learning

Animal Match Game

• Print out an African Animals picture grid
• Print and cut out the animal skin patterns below.
• Can the students match the animal pattern to the animal?

May 5th – Space Day

Space day is an unofficial holiday aimed at promoting STEM activities.

Create a Space Role Play Area

Role play is a crucial part of development providing opportunities to engage in imaginative play.

• Involve the student(s) in creating a space role play area and the props to go in it.
• Secure a black or dark blue sheet/blanket/bubble wrap/egg cartons to the wall. Add stars.
• Create a rocky/sandy area on the floor to represent a moonscape. Add glitter to the sand for a shimmering effect. Make large rocks from painted scrunched up newspaper, and smaller moon rocks from scrunched up aluminium foil.
• Provide an assortment of cardboard boxes, aluminium foil, space blankets, pipe cleaners, empty plastic bottles, old cd’s, masking tape, tumble dryer venting hose, for your ‘astronauts’ to make their own rockets, moon buggies, and space suits.

Moon Dust Recipe

You will need

• 8 Tablespoons of Cornflour
• 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil
• Vanilla Essence

Method

• Ratio 8:1
• Combine the vegetable oil and cornflour until you reach a powdered yet mouldable texture.
• Option to add flavoured essence to stimulate the senses.
• Press the footprint of a shoe to spark curiosity (the astronaut’s footprint)
• Create an area for Scientific Investigation
• Set up a desk and chair.

  Place on an assortment of items to investigate: bubble tubes, colour changing eggs, colour paddles, coloured cellophane, disco balls, fibre optics, foil, glasses with coloured lenses, glitterballs, glow in the dark stickers, glowsticks, kaleidoscopes, light-up toys e.g., bumble balls, disco glide balls, fluorescent chimeabout, glitter globes, glitter rockets, Koosh, LED multi-spinner, mood cubes, neon gloves/scarves, spiky flashing balls, spinners, UV bubbles, UV mittens, UV slinky, UV shaker, windmills light pads, prismatic projector, prisms, rainbow goggles.

  Add fine motor tools to encourage scientific investigation: camera, magnifying glasses, tweezers, magnets, mirrors.
• Alternatively create your space area inside a pop-up tent!
• Decorate by threading LED lights and hanging cut outs of planets from the ceiling of the tent.

Extend Learning

• Provide a box containing items of different materials: Plastic, material, metal, rubber and wood.
• Can the students sort the items into their categories according to their material?
• Dress for the Part!

• Disposable decorators overalls make excellent space suits.
• Wellies or boots covered with foil make great moon boots.

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‘Mars has red rocks and a bright red sky,

the volcanoes reach my rocket they are so high

This planet is cold, at night, minus 80 degrees

If I stay here much longer, I’m going to freeze!’

May 8th – World Migratory Bird Day

• Raise awareness for the conservation of birds and their habitats.
• Explore a Variety of Different Shapes, Sizes and Colours of Feathers
• Feed the Birds: Birds need to prepare for migration by eating food.

Bird Song Sound Bingo

• Print out a picture card with the pictures of migratory birds: Cuckoo, Dove, Goose, Flamingo, Heron, Hummingbird, Starling.
• Play the sound effect of the birdsong/call
• Can the student identify the bird that makes that sound?
• The students may not know all of the sounds, so this is a good exercise in listening to new sounds. You can repeat the activity later in the day (week) and see if the student(s) remember any new sounds they have learnt.

Simplify the Activity

Although not all of these birds are not migratory, this activity will teach sound discrimination.

Make a Bird Nesting Material Feeder

You will need

• Wire Bird Feeder/Suet Cage
• Materials for Nesting: Cotton Wool,cFeathers, Fluff, Grass Clippings, Dried Grasses, Hair, Leaves, Moss, Mud, Pine Needles, Plant Stems, Shredded Paper, Sticks, Straw, String, Wool and Yarn*. *Use only natural fibres (not plastic or acrylic.)

Activity

1. Ensure the nesting materials are broken/cut into small pieces/lengths as they are a potential choking hazard for birds.
2. Mix the materials.
3. Loosely push the nesting materials into the bird feeder (option to open the top to create a wider opening) Hand the feeder in a place safe from predators.

May 9th – Europe Day

A day to mark peace and unity throughout Europe.

Make a sensory flag of Europe

You will need

• Rectangular shaped card
• Blue Paint
• Scissors
• Sticky Gold Stars
• Torch

Method

• Paint the card using blue paint and brushes/fingers/rollers/sponges. Leave to dry.
• Stick the gold stars in a circle.
• Dim the lights.
• Shine the torch on the stars to see them reflect in the light.

Alternative Activity

You will need

• Blue Material
• Scissors
• Torch

1. . Cut 12 stars out from the material
2. . Dim the lights
3. . Shine the torch through the back of the flag to illuminate the stars.



May 12th – Florence Nightingale’s Birthday

Explore the contents of a first aid bag/box

This activity will raise awareness of the contents of a first aid box* and reduce the anxiety some student’s may have around first aid.

*I have included extra items that may not be in your box

• Sterile plasters of assorted sizes
• Large and medium-sized sterile, individually wrapped, unmedicated wound dressings
• Sterile eye pads
• Triangular bandage
• Disposable gloves
• Foil Blanket
• Sterile wound wipes
• Finger dressing
• Burns gel dressings
• Adhesive tape to secure dressings
• An updated first aid guidance leaflet.
• Practice simple first aid.

Discuss how to raise the alarm in an emergency.

May 16th – Vesak Day/Buddha Day

Vesak is the celebration of the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

Mark the Day the Sensory Way

• Meditate: Dim the lights in the room and close the blinds, switch on an LED candle or play footage of a candle burning on your interactive whiteboard.
• People traditionally wear white clothes.
• Explore white clothes or white fabrics
• Provide a selection of white fabrics of different textures for the student to explore their likes, dislikes and sensory preferences: Acrylic, Aertex, Chenille, Corduroy, Cotton, Crepe, Crinoline, Fake Fur, Felt, Flannel, Fleece, Hessian, Jersey, Lace, Linen, Mesh, Net, Percale, Polyester, Polycotton, Satin, Silk, Terry, Velour, Velvet, Viscose, Wool.
• Family & Friends decorate temples with flowers and exchange cards.

Make a Vesak Day Flower Card

You will need

• A piece of card
• Double sided tape
• Flowers/Herbs/Leaves/Grass

Method

1. . Cover one side of the card with double-sided sticky tape or a layer of PVA glue (if using PVA, leave until it is almost dry but tacky enough to stick flora and fauna on to)
2. . Take the learning outdoors
3. . Show the students the flowers and grasses that are safe to pick (dandelions and daisies)
4. . If you have a herb garden in your school/setting pick foliage: lemon balm, mint, rosemary, thyme. (If you do not have access to herbs then pick grass and leaves)
5. . Students pick the flowers/herbs/grasses then stick them onto their card as they find them

Hands Free Alternative

1. . Cut a wide band of card and secure into a bracelet
2. . Apply a thin layer of PVA glue or cover one side of the card with double-sided sticky tape
3. . Place the band on the student’s wrist.

The student will have both hands free to explore, pick and place their items onto their band

National Smile Month

The aim is to make someone smile. This could be through a compliment, telling a joke or an act of kindness.

• Explore Mirrors
• Exploring mirrors teaching an awareness of your own reflection and how we convey emotion. (Point out safety when using mirrors)
• Explore a range of different shaped, sized and colours of mirrors.
• Pull funny faces
• Model wearing hats, wigs, glasses and clothes so the student can change their look.
• Encourage the student to observe how their mouth changes shape as they talk.
• Draw funny faces on balloons.
• Smile:)

May 24th 1844

On this Day the First Morse Code Message was Sent

Dots and Dashes Artwork

Create artwork using different tools and materials to make dots and dashes

Dots: Bingo dabbers, cotton wool bud, fingerprints, paint brushes, pipettes, pom poms, sponges, stickers, vegetable printing, paint bubble wrap

Dashes: Chopsticks, cinammon sticks, dried spaghetti, feather quill, pipe cleaners, rollers, roll balls/toy cars through paint, ribbon, rubber bands, straws, string

Other ideas:

• Spray paint through card templates/stencils
• Colour through the hole in an old cd
• Play dot-to-dot

May 28th – Whitsun

Whitsun is celebrated on the 50th day after Easter. It is a Christian celebration marking the coming of the Holy Spirit.

There are many traditional activities associated with Whitsun including fetes, fairs, pageants, parades, walks and Morris dancing.