Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Little Blue Bugs Were a Hit

 Sorting and counting these little plastic critters was bunches of fun for a 2nd grader today.
We decided what to name each kind of bug and then made a "home" for each bug "family" out of a little piece of scrap paper.  How many can you take to their homes in five minutes?

Afterward, we counted the number of critters in each family and figured out which family was the biggest. It was a big success!  I also learned that supination of her dominant forearm was not easy for her to do as she counted the critters.

While standing, the student leaned over to pick up one or two critters from the table surface, then walked over to a high bookshelf to place each bug in its home.  Next time I'll increase the walking distance and maybe put the critters on the floor so she has to change planes and challenge her balance a little more.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Where did you get these?! I remember these from my childhood and have been searching everywhere !

School System Occupational Therapist in Virginia said...

I bought them at Big Lots around 2012. They were a seasonal item, found in the "Beach Theme" area. Haven't seen them anywhere else and not at Big Lots since that time. I have found lots of great fine motor manipulatives at Big Lots and at smaller thrift stores from time to time.

It was so much fun giving away my "stash" of fine motor items throughout the final school year of work (2016-17). As each season ended I delighted in giving away the toys or manipulatives to different teachers or fellow therapists. By June everything was gone--nothing to cart home for future use (AKA stored and forgotten in a closet somewhere for my personal children to wonder at someday).