A live theater experience is a great experience for children. The Paper Mill Playhouse is presenting an autism/sensory-friendly performance of “Stone Soup” and other stories on April 30, 2014 at 10:00 AM. This is a great opportunity for a field trip for grades 1-4 and beyond! Some key features of the performance are dimmed house lights, lowered and consistent volume, freedom to leave seats, a calming corner, BYO snacks and drinks, and more! For more information call (973) 315-1680.
The Paper Mill Playhouse is hosting an Autism/Sensory friendly performance of Little Red Riding Hood. This is a fantastic opportunity for children with special needs to attend a live theater performance. The accommodations include house lights dimmed, consistent sound level at a lower volume, and freedom to talk and leave your seat. The performance is scheduled for Thursday March 20, 2014 at 10:00 AM. More information can be found by visiting PaperMill.org or by calling group sales at (973) 315-1680.
Happy Valentines Day!
During our group this week the theme was all about valentines, so we made a healthy snack and a sweet treat for the students to enjoy!
Apple and Strawberry Hearts:
Tools: heart shaped cookie cutter, knife
Ingredients: apples, strawberries, peanut butter, chocolate chips (optional)
Directions:
- cut your apple into thick round slices
- take the heart shaped cookie cutter and press into the apple until a heart shaped piece comes out
- spread some peanut butter in the center of your heart apple
- take a strawberry and cut it in half, place the flat side facing down on the peanut butter
- (optional) take some mini chocolate chips and place them around your strawberry on the excess peanut butter
Cupid Floats:
Tools: ice-cream scoop, long straws, spoons, cups
Ingredients: cherry 7up, vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, cherries or strawberries
Directions:
- Start with 2-3 scoops of vanilla ice-cream in your cup
- pour cherry 7up until the ice-cream is covered
- top with whipped cream and cherry or strawberries
Each of the student had a part in making their snacks. One student poured the soda, while one scooped the ice-cream, and another topped with whipped cream and fruit. We encourage turn taking and helping others during all of our group activities!
During this group session we made hamburger .. cookies! This is sweet treat that is easy to make at home.
Ingredients: vanilla wafers, chocolate covered cookie, coconut flakes, green food coloring, red and yellow frosting.
Directions:
- put coconut flakes in a plastic bag with a few drops of green food coloring. Shake together until all the coconut flakes are green (this is going to be the lettuce for your burger).
- Put a small amount of frosting on the flat side of a wafer cookie and place the chocolate covered cookie on top.
- Smear one side of the chocolate covered cookie with yellow frosting and the other side with red frosting (ketchup and mustard).
- Sprinkle the green coconut flakes on top of the frosting.
- Finally, place another wafer cookie of the top to complete your hamburger!
The kids loved these mini burger cookies, we hope yours do too!
In our group sessions at Speech Start we dedicate a portion of our time to making and eating healthy and fun snacks! Everyone gets to participate in making their own snack while helping their peers as well. One of our popular snacks the students love is mock sushi. It is a quick tasty snack that is easy to make at home.
Tools: rolling pin, knife, apple cutter (optional)
Ingredients: bread (of your choice) , apples, peanut butter
Directions: First, cut the crust off of the bread, then use a rolling pin to flatten the bread. spread peanut butter on the bread, and cut apples into long thin slices. Place the cut up apple slices on one side of the bread and roll it up. Cut roll up into 4 pieces and enjoy!