Tag: Preschool SPED

Fun and Easy Halloween Activities for Centers in Preschool and Kindergarten

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Halloween is such a magical time for young children, filled  with pumpkins, spooky decorations, and fun costumes. It’s also a perfect opportunity to introduce hands-on activities that engage kids’ imaginations, foster creativity, and support early learning. Here’s a couple of  easy Halloween activities and worksheet ideas for preschoolers and kindergartners to enjoy in the classroom or at home!

  1. PUMPKIN COLOR SORTING

A classic hands-on activity that helps with color recognition, sorting, and fine motor skills!

Materials Needed:

•Paper cut-out pumpkins in different colors (or small pumpkin toys)

•Small containers or bowls

How to Play:

•Have the children sort the pumpkins by color.

•Ask them to name the colors out loud as they sort them (e.g., “This one is orange!”).

You can increase the challenge by introducing a “mystery color” where kids have to find pumpkins that match a color you describe, like “Find the pumpkin that’s as yellow as the sun!”

Why It’s Great:

•This activity helps kids develop color recognition and basic sorting skills.

•It’s also a good exercise for hand-eye coordination.

2. BUILD A SCARY PUMPKIN FACE

Hands on activity that will help with shape recognition, fine motor skills, follow directions and shape orientation!

Materials needed:

•Cut out large pumpkins in different colors

•Prepare Small shapes (squares, circles, triangles, stars) card or paper.

•Bowls to hold the different shapes

•Paste/glue stick

How to play:

•Have children choose the color pumpkin they want to design.

•Let them choose the visual direction cue cards of what face they want to make.

•Offer the cut out shapes for them to paste to their pumpkin face following the direction cue card.

Why its great! This activity is great for shape recognition and manipulation, following instructions and fine motor skills.

3. CREEPY HALLOWEEN WORKSHEETS

Dressing up, what you want to wear, List your favourite Halloween games, List your favourite Halloween treats, Write a creepy story sheet, Color coded coloring sheet, Count and write the number of Halloween items they see.

Why they’re great!

fine motor skills, color recognition, writing skills, counting and number recognition

These Halloween activities and worksheets are easy, fun, and educational for preschool and kindergarten children. They provide opportunities for creativity, fine motor development, and early learning in a way that makes the holiday extra special. 

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Halloween Worksheets

Building a pumpkin face with shapes

FREE Halloween writing patterns

Starting School: Simple Steps for Success with Visual Supports!

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Starting school can be an exciting yet challenging time for kids with autism and special needs. Visual supports can play a crucial role in helping early learners feel more comfortable and successful in the classroom. Here are some simple steps to ensure a smooth start to the school year:

By incorporating these simple steps and visual supports, you can create a positive and structured learning environment for kids with autism and special needs. Remember, every child is unique, so be flexible and adjust the supports as needed to meet each child’s individual needs.

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FREE Printable Posters

Fun Activities and Resources for Back to School

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Its that time of year again – the panic of building back to school lessons, fresh new resources and a shiny clean classroom! But a new class list of children in Special Education can mean new challenges and worries, so be prepared with hands on resources, learn as much as you can about each student and relax into teaching!

This interactive Daily Binder is full of visual strategies to help your students plan their day ahead and keep them focused throughout. Once laminated or placed in a pocket folder a dry wipe marker can be used for students to jot down their name, grade and class, followed by their teachers name, their friends name, things they like and things they don’t. There are pages with the days of the week for your student to practice and tick off what day it is and same for seasons. Handy pages for students to write out their daily schedule and tick off as they go though it. Working for cards and reward choice. What to remember when you feel angry, “first and then” when they get frustrated and what I need visuals for them to choose from.

About Me – Back to school activity sheets especially designed for new class members to fill in and share information about themselves.

Adapted books will enable your students to practice sequencing, curriculum tasks, stories and everyday activities. Instead of laminating and binding use them as cut and paste activities!

The ability to organise, sequence and prioritise helps us to plan daily activities and manage our time effectively. however, a lot of preschool/Special Education children may find communicating, organising, sequencing and prioritising difficult. This visual binder can support students with everyday basic needs.

FREE Back to School Download Activity sheet

Back-to-School Ideas for Creating a Positive Learning Environment!

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I always look forward to the start of the school year, but I also know that it can be a challenging time for new little learners. So, I always make it my priority to provide a welcoming environment on their very first day in my classroom.

My plan usually involves spending countless hours decorating my classroom with colorful posters, charts, and other visuals that will make my students feel comfortable and supported. I also like to make sure I establish daily routines by using visual schedules that my students can learn to follow throughout the day.

Using visual aids and hands-on activities in my centres are always a hit with my students, and I enjoy incorporating small play items into their learning. I use toys and classroom resources as matching and sorting tasks, which helps my students to engage with the material in a fun and interactive way.

Maintaining a positive relationship with my students’ parents is also important to me. I make sure to keep them informed of their child’s progress and phone or email regularly with them. I found that by working with parents we help each other meet the needs of their child.

Proudly, celebrating my students’ accomplishments are always the highlights of the school year for me. Seeing my students’ progress and growth makes all the hard work put in from the start worth it. Whether it was a simple high-five or a special treat, I made sure to recognize and celebrate each and everyone’s work.

Preparing for the back-to-school season can be challenging I know, but I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to create this positive learning environment for my Special Education students. Incorporating all the personal touches and prioritizing the needs of my students, I do my best to make the start of the school year an exciting and memorable time for everyone.

Pick up Free Matching Boards for the first week of fun – CLICK HERE

Visual Behavior Support Folder – Token Rewards Tools, schedules, First & Then,

Visual Supports: Token Reward System/First & Then – Strategies for Special Ed

Classroom Behavior Management Strategies: First, Next and Then Tools

Token Reward folder: Visual support tools with “first & then” Behavior Strategy

First, Next and Then table Schedule Templates with Visual Supports

First Then boards and Help cards: Autism visual supports

Visual Supports:”First, next, then” with Token Rewards Systems

Tips for setting up Visual Schedules in Special ED

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Having a selection of Communication Strategies ready to use is always a good idea in Special Ed! Having a visual schedule is one strategy I find very effective in class. Below I’ve listed my schedule tips and other strategies that have really helped my young leaners settle into a structured learning environment.

Visual Schedules – Set out visuals to reflect the order of the class day. They should be designed to support your student through a smooth transition eg. from activity to activity, room to room or within tasks.  

Here are some quick tips for setting up and getting started!

1. START SIMPLE – Make visuals for just meaningful times of the day eg, morning work, break, lunch etc,  this will help your young students learn to recognise and correspond each picture with each of the activities.

2. BUY A LAMINATOR – Your laminator will become important! If you want all your hard work to last, laminate all mounts and visuals because they are going to go through a tough time!

3. WALL MOUNT  – Mount on a wall, the schedule must be low enough for your student to access and take away finished symbols in the daily routine. 

4. USE A FINISHED BOX – Attach a finished box at the end or side of the schedule to drop the finished visuals in before starting a new activity. 

5. TRY A FILE FOLDER – A portable schedule can be used in a file folder in the same way as a wall mounted one. I find these easier with older children to check into the activities and more efficient in busy classrooms. Pop their name on it and keep all their individual support visuals in one place. 

6. MODLE AND PRACTICE – Always model, practice and remind your busy student at the beginning of each activity to, “check in”.  Make a plan to pull back on all prompting until they begin to use this system independently!

Timers – For giving a break and reminding students how long they need to work and how long left on free time!

Routines – Keep Break, Lunch and free choice the same time each day!

Consistency – All staff should use the same strategies and follow this classroom management structure!

Positive Reinforcers – Use token reward boards, First and Then, Behavior regulation tools and Reward systems tailored to individual interests and likes!

Communication – Critical skills for Functional Communication, a means in which your non verbal student is able to request a “break” “help”  or asked to “wait”

Colour Coordinate – For some of my young learners I’ve introduced portable schedules, that I’ve colour coordinated! 
I’m pleased it offers all the strategies I wanted to incorporated throughout the day.
I keep them in a handy place for my students to access first thing in the morning and follow the schedule by checking into the work areas they need to complete.
There’s a set place in the booklet for the schedule symbols, a token reward system, plus a place for reinforcer visuals and Critical Communication cards so students can ask for a Break or Help, all while reminding and keeping a consistent approach that staff can help students to follow!

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