Pine Cone Birdfeeders are a Sensory Smorgasbord

What gloppy fun this is--to make almost all-natural birdfeeders for the birdies who hang around our high school.

Our integrated therapy group session focused on the sensations involved with using the prickly pine cones, gooey peanut butter, sand-like birdseed, rough twine and identifying characteristics of birds from photos.  Most of the six students did not like to hold the pine cones completely in their hands; they tended to hold just the top.  Half of the students were sneaking licks of peanut butter off their fingers.  All seemed okay with the texture of the birdseed.  Two students knew how to tie a half knot to secure the pretzels to the hanging twine.  When prompted by the speech-language pathologist, a few students independently volunteered information about the color of the birds in the photos.  One student seemed to grasp the concept of measuring lengths of twine with a student ruler.

Do birds eat pretzels?  Students sure do.