My students need fidgets and various tactile balls for a structured fidget activity to increase hand strength and decrease excess fidgeting for improved handwriting. We also need a timer.
Help our fingers and our hands. We are working so very hard that every now and then we need a short break to strengthen our body, hands, and our minds. I am requesting fidgets for my students. These fidgets are made especially for children to squish, stretch, and squeeze.
I am the school Occupational Therapist in a public school working with students and teachers in kindergarten through 5th grade.
I work with students in special education and recently the entire classroom through the teacher using RtI (Response to Intervention.) All our students work very hard and try their very best. I would like to create a classroom tool to be used by teachers to help address fidgeting and fatigue especially of the hands and fingers. The tool is a bin of fidgets that allow the children to squish, squeeze and pull using their hands. This is fun and exciting for the child and at the same time increases strength in their hands to help with the fine motor activities required in a classroom setting. This also allows for appropriate hand movement or fidgeting for the restless child.
My Project
This lesson plan will help the classroom teacher identify students that are easily distracted by fidgeting. The Occupational Therapist will discuss with the teacher and the classroom what fidgeting is and why we sometimes fidget. In addition, we will talk about when it is a good time to fidget and when it is a good time to be listening to the teacher. Many special education students are easily distracted. This activity can be used as an in-classroom lesson and peer modeling to assist a special education student with additional strategies and intervention at teacher-driven times to build hand strength and fine motor coordination. This tool can be used during physical education or in the classroom.
Fidgets allow a child to explore squishy, pully and stretchy items that encourage them to strengthen their hands while exploring the item. Various opportunities allow for extended interest increasing the time many students need to fidget in an appropriate setting.
Fidget Fridays is a tool that can be used by each teacher.
A box of fidgets that are age-appropriate is brought to the classroom at a specific time by the teacher. Rules are discussed and this activity gives the students a 10 minute break that does allow fidgeting, hand strengthening and bilateral coordination for special education students and for the entire classroom.
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