Sensory Equipment and Fine Motor Activities to Improve Classroom Performance
Help me give my students equipment and activities that will improve their fine motor skills, visual processing skills, and sensory processing in the classroom.
I have the opportunity to work with special education students in the preschool and elementary setting. These students have difficulty performing in one or more areas in the school environment due to a diagnosis, disability, or developmental delay. These students have an array of impairments, including intellectual, physical, and sensory processing.
These impairments affect my students' fine motor skills, visual processing skills, and sensory processing.
Due to these difficulties, these students require specific instruction, classroom strategies, and individual treatment focusing on improving or adapting to these challenges to help them succeed in the school environment.
My Project
Many of the students who I work with have difficulty with self-regulation; they have difficulty responding to the sensory input they are receiving from their environment. This can be seen as kids who appear fidgety, display meltdowns, and have difficulty concentrating. To improve self-regulation, students need different sensory experiences to help them control their own emotions and behavior.
Students who are provided appropriate sensory experiences are more able to successfully participate in the classroom setting.
The soft seats will provide alternative seating to help improve attention in the classroom. Tangles and sensory balls will be given to students who fidget and are unable to attend. The play tunnel, scooter boards, sensory mats, and sensory sand will provide proprioceptive input to energetic kids.
Students in the classroom also need to have fine motor skills to successfully participate in school activities. This includes handwriting, cutting, opening containers, and clothing fasteners. Many of the special education students who I work with have fine motor deficits. This is seen as poor handwriting and an improper writing grasp. These students need opportunities to develop their fine motor skills in order to more successfully perform in the school environment.
Feed the dog and the Zoob building set are fun activities that the students can use to help develop fine motor skills for the classroom. The pencil grotto grips and write the letter activity will be used to improve handwriting.
I have seen how a variety of sensory and fine motor experiences have positively impacted my students in the classroom environment.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Leavitt and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
