Therapy Tips

3 Summer Suggestions for Whole Body Learning in Children with Autism

Summer may soon be over, but the warm weather activities can still provide a springboard for us to address whole body learning. How? Through structured and unstructured teachable moments involving toys and tech; indoors and outdoors. The key to implementing whole body learning to improve play and social communication skills is to plan lessons and find specific activities to do which involve:

• Cognitive causality to foster self regulation and comprehension of time, including specific related language concepts such as sequencing, verb tense, and inferences
• Psychological Theory of Mind (perspective/empathy) to promote awareness of the need to transition from Me to We depending on the situation
• Fine motor/graphomotor practice to enhance muscle memory and episodic memory re: experienced events and associated vocabulary which get paired in the brain’s “cloud storage”

Three Suggested Activities for Whole Body Learning

Which multi-sensory real time experiences can really facilitate whole body learning and address the three skill sets mentioned above? Here are three suggested activities great for summertime:

1. Making ice cream cones using an actual “assembly line”

• Supplement the teachable moment with this toy: Fisher-Price Ice Cream Party
• Supplement the teachable moment with this free iOS App: Ice Cream Sundae Maker! by Crazy Cats
• Helpful Link: A Behavioral Road Map for a Child with Autism and other Special Needs

2. Fruit picking at your local farm and/or visiting the farm animals

• Supplement the teachable moment with this toy: Kidoozie Fun Time Tractor
• Supplement the teachable moment with this free iOS App: Make a Scene: Farmyard
• Helpful Link: http://www.pickyourown.org

3. Playing musical instruments

• Supplement the teachable moment with this toy: Bontempi Saxaphone
• Supplement the teachable moment with this free iOS App: Abby Musical Puzzle by 22Learn
• Helpful Link: http://therapystreetforkids.com/fm-fingerisolation.html

These activities can be done in short spurts or as longer summer school/family outings. The above mentioned toys are portable, and the iPad Apps are free at the time I wrote this post. Use these suggestions to brainstorm about similar activities/materials to add to the “whole body learning” regimen, and watch kids learn and have fun doing so!