Month: December 2013

The Education Department at the Yale Center for British Art has a “sensory box” full of stimulating objects for visitors on the spectrum to have access to when they are visiting the museum. This sensory box often helps participants in our Exploring Artism program to relax when dealing with certain situations. We have recently discovered an easy-to-make Sensory Bottle that creates a glittering landscape for a child to focus on when their environment is getting to be too much to handle. Here’s how you can make one. 

First, you will need: 

-An empty water bottle with the labels removed

-clear gel glue (Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue works well)

-Ultra Fine Glitter (in your child’s favorite color)

-super glue

Once you have all of your items, fill the water bottle 3/4 full of hot water; the hot water is necessary to help melt the glue. Then add in an entire tube of glitter and an entire small bottle of clear gel glue. You can play around with how much glue you put in your sensory bottle; the more glue there is, the longer it takes the glitter to settle. The more water there is, the faster it will settle. Mix the glue, glitter and water together until you feel your Sensory Bottle is complete. Finally, superglue the cap to the bottle so that no curious children will make a mess.

This Sensory Bottle idea comes from My Crazy Blessed Life! Blog; you can view the entire post with more great photos and ideas here.

Winter is just around the corner, and what better way to prepare for the chilly weather than by creating your own snowflakes

 

To make these sparkly snowflakes you will need:

-White modeling clay (Crayola Model Magic Clay works well)

-glitter

-clay modeling tools (spoon, forks, plastic tools, anything that will create great texture)

Start this activity by playing with the clay and imagining what your snowflakes will look like (keeping in mind that no two snowflakes are alike!). Then, begin mixing your glitter into the clay; its important that you keep kneading the clay so that the glitter is spread evenly throughout. Finally, using your tools and your imagination, begin constructing your snowflakes. Once your clay snowflakes are dry, try to come up with some ways to display your snowflakes. Will you hang them on your wall? Or what about turning them into Christmas ornaments? Maybe a snowflake necklace?

Take a look at some of these paintings by British artists. How do you think the snow inspired them? Can you create your own drawing/painting inspired by the snow?

This activity comes from Education.com; see the full lesson plan here.