Activities to Facilitate Developmentof Social Interaction Skills

ECAT - Section Two

Activities to facilitate developmentof social interaction skills

Roll-the-ball

Youwillneed

Aselectionofsoftballs(including`novelty’ballsforvarietye.g.hedgehogball.

Activity

Sitthechildreninacircleonthefloor andexplainthattheyaregoingtorolltheballonthefloor acrossthecircle.Non-verbalchildrencanpointtothechildtheywillberollingtheballto-thennamethepersontheyarerollingtoandthenrolltheballtothem.

Makethisharder

Eachchildinturnrollstheballaroundtheirownbody,justabovethewaist,withoutdroppingitonthefloor.Everyoneelseencouragesthem!

Vocabulary

Bouncy,big,small,knobbly,rolls,aim,catch,round,behind,infront...

Bubbles

Youwillneed

Tubofbubblemixtureandwand.

Activity

Tellthechildrenyouaregoingtoblowsomebubblesand(nameachild)isgoingtochaseandpopthem.

Explainthateachchildwillhaveaturnsothatitwillbefair. Stateclearlythisis“ turn”.

Dipthe`wand’intothebubblesolutionandgentlyblow:watchandcommentonthechild’sreaction.

Nowit is“ turn”,repeat.

Thechildcoulddothetask–watchoutforbubble-solutionspills!

Praise(named)childrenforwaitingfortheirturn;ensurethateveryonehasaturn.

Asthebubblesfloat,talkaboutwherethey(andthemovingchild)are:upordown,whatsizetheyare,whatcolourtheyare,whichdirection they’regoing–simplyandrepetitively.

Vocabulary

• pop!Disappear,gone,float,upandup,away,float…

• wibble,wobble,drip,puff,blow,slowly,carefully,light…

• wand,bubble-mixture, look,watch,burst…

Addmorewordsasyouandthechildrenthinkofthem.

Chooseaninstrument youcanplay

Youwillneed

• atriangleandbeater

• tambourine

• wooden`agogo’andbeater

• bells,etc

Activity

Childrensitinacirclewithalltheinstrumentsinthecentreon thefloor.Theadultpicksupeachinstrumentandnameseachone,andshows:-

• howthetriangleneedstobeheld(bythestring)sothatitmakesthebestsoundwhenstruckbythebeater

• howtousethetambourinebells

• howthewoodenagogoisheldwithonehandandthebeaterwiththeother

Chooseandnameachildtohavethefirstgoandsing:-“Chooseaninstrumentyoucanplay,youcanplay,youcanplaychooseaninstrumentyoucanplay:welldone(child’sname)”. (Tune:LondonBridge)

Whentheyhavechosentheirinstrument,preferablybynamingitbutpointingtoitmaybeusefulforsomechildrentheythenclaimtheinstrumentandplayitwhileyousingorrecite:

“(Child’sname)isplayingthetriangle,playingthetriangle,playingthetriangle(Child’sname)isplayingthetriangle:Welldone…….”

Repeatuntileverychildhashadaturnatchoosingandplayingtheinstrumentsoftheirchoice.

Ifachildisreticenttoplaytheinstrumentonhis/herownotherscouldclapalongwiththem.

Topreventachildplayingfortoolongtheadultcanclapandapplaudatanappropriatepause!

Mirrors

Youwillneed

• amirrorforeachperson

• emotionspictures-ifavailable

Activity

Giveeachchildamirrortolookinandtalkaboutsmilingintothemirror-doityourself!

Lookatthedifferentemotionpictures,onebyone,nametheemotionandthenaskthechildrentotryandcopytheemotion,watchingthemselvesinthemirrore.glooking:

• sad

• angry

• sleepy

• shy

• happy/friendly

Eachchildcanbedoingthisatthesametimeifappropriate. Ifyoudon’thavepicturesthennameanemotionanddiscusswiththechildren.

Modelhowtodoityourself:

• “gosh,myforeheadisallwrinkledwhenIlookcross!”

• “IcanseemyteethwhenIsmile”

• “myeyesclosewhenIamsleepy”

Parachute

Youwillneed

• asmallparachute

• asoftball

Activity

Whenyoufirstusetheparachuteaskthechildrentoguess.

“What’sinthebag?”andseewhatideastheycomeupwith! Explainthatyouareallgoingtoplaywiththisparachutebyholdingtheedgesofitalltogether.

Allowthegrouptoinvestigatetheparachutethenexplainthatyouaregoingtoplaysomegamestogether.

Youcanlifttheparachutetogetherandlowerittogethertomakeadraught!

Dothisseveraltimestoenjoythebreeze.

Nowliftitupandlookforeachotherundertheparachutewhenitisliftedup.

Say“Hello…Sita!”(Child’sname).

Restandsuggestthatonthenext`lift’achildcangoandstand orsitunderneath.Chooseandnameachildandinvitehim/hertositunder.Talkabouttakingturnsandremindthemtheywillallgetaturniftheywant.

Sitdowntogetherroundtheedgesoftheparachuteandask achild,oneatatime,tolifttheparachuteandpullitdowntocreateawavewhichpassesacrossthecircle.Praiseeachattempt.“Goodlifting...”

Standingup,placeaballontheparachuteandtogethertryandkeeptheballmovingwithoutitfallingofftheparachute(requireslotsofconcentration andcooperation).

Passtheanimal

Youwillneed

Handpuppets/instrument(s),animal handpuppets/softtoys

Activity

Childrensitinthecircle,passthepuppetroundwhilstlisteningtotheinstrumentorteacherhummingatuneorsingingasong:

“Tigerisgoingroundthering,roundthering,roundthering,Tigerisgoingroundthering-wherewillheSTOP?”

(Tune:HerewecomegatheringnutsinMay.)

Theinstrument,hummingorsingingstops-

“It’sstoppedat‘ ’thatmeansit’s‘ ’turnto makethe soundormove,like (theanimal).”

Repeatforeachchildtohaveaturn.

“Iwonderwhoseturnitwillbenext”

Thechildmaywanttomaketheanimal speak:thisistobeencouraged!

Theadultcanensurethateachchildhasaturnbystoppinghumming/singingattheappropriatetimes.

Repeatforeachchildtohaveaturn.

Whenthesessionisended,collectthepuppet(s)upwiththesong:

“Away,away,awayitgoes,Away,away,awayitgoes,Away,away, awayitgoes,intothebagitgoes.”

(Tune:Skipto myLou.)

Tambourine

Youwillneed

Tambourine(mightbehalf-moon:ifitis,callitbythisname)

Activity

Showthetambourine-explainthatitisamusicalinstrument andshowthechildrenwhatyoucandowithit.

“Doesanyoneknowwhatitiscalled?”

Explaintheyaregoingtotaketurns.

Passthetambourineroundthegroup-sittinginacircle. Statewhoseturnitisandinvitethemtohaveago.

Eachchildusesthetambourineintheirownway. Praisealleffortsandputintowordstheactions.

“WelldoneGeetaforshakingthetambourineupanddown.”“WelldoneBenfortappingtheedgeofthetambourine.’”

Extendthisactivity

Tiecolouredribbonstothetambourinetogiveanadded dimensionofmovementandcolour.

Passthetambourineroundwithoutshakingthebellsatall-thisrequireslotsofconcentration andskill!

Singnurseryrhymesandaccompanywiththetambourine-eachchildtohaveaturnshakingit.

StretchyMan

Youwillneed

LengthofLycrafabric

Activity

Childrensitinacirclefirmlyholdingontotheedgeofthefabric. Investigatethefeelofthefabricandwhatitcando.

Singanurseryrhymetogether(onewithnoactionssotheirhandsdon’tletgo!)e.g.“Baa,baa,blacksheep”andattheendsay“ready,steady”andontheword“go””everyoneletsgoofthematerial.

Makethisharder

Workasagrouptopullandstretchtogether.Nameachildwhowillsay`Ready,steady,go’andeveryonedowhattheysay!

Swingthefabricfromsidetoside`la-laaing’alullabysongandgentlylowerthefabrictothegroundtogether.

Allliedownonthefloor withfeetunderneaththefabricandhandsholdingtheedgeasthoughgoingtosleep;whensomeoneshouts“wakeywakey!’everyonescrabblestositupandletsgoofthe`bedsheet’!

Vocabulary

• pull,stretch,hold,tight,upanddown
• waves,high,low,muscles,puff,pant