Outreach: "Mid-Fall Favorites" Sensory Story Time

Ed and I were back at Wing Lake Developmental Center today and we brought some "mid-fall favorites" with us. We visited two groups of students, ages 3 - 26 years, with multiple disabilities. To ensure visibility for everyone, many in wheel chairs or specially adaptive seating, we scan the books and project them from a laptop.

Here's the plan:

Welcome: "Let's talk about things that happen in the fall. What do you like about the fall? (cider mills? cider mill donuts?!) Look out the window. What is happening to the leaves on the trees outside? Do you like the cooler air? What holiday is coming up next week? (Thanksgiving! What's your favorite food at Thanksgiving dinner?)"


Song: "The Leaves on the Trees"
(tune: "Wheels on the Bus")
The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown,
orange and brown, orange and brown.
The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown all over town.

The leaves on the trees come tumbling down,
tumbling down, tumbling down.
The leaves on the trees come tumbling down all over town.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish
swish, swish, swish
swish, swish, swish.
The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish
all over town.
(source: sunflowerstorytime.com)

Story: In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes
One of my new favorite fall stories! Beautiful "age respectful" illustrations and a simple story, with many points to add sensory experiences, made this a great choice for these students. We brought in a plush squirrel (to feel the frisky squirrel's tail), pumpkins (from the pumpkin patch), apples (the ones hanging in the tree "like ornaments"), dry leaves (from the leaf pile that the girl and her dog were playing in), and bags of artificial snow (that the squirrel sees falling outside his tree at the end). We take these items around to each student to touch/feel/smell. Some students have low or no vision, so these tactile and scented experiences (we loved smelling the apples!) make the story more engaging and help to reinforce comprehension. As we are reading, we also describe the illustrations in the story so everyone can "see."

Flannel rhyme: "Five Little Leaves"
Five little leaves so bright and gay
were dancing about on a tree one day.
The wind came blowing through town
and one little leaf came tumbling down.
(keep counting down until all leaves have fallen)
(source: unknown)


Non-fiction picture book: Thanksgiving by Rebecca Pettiford
This simple picture book has great photograph illustrations of all the things we might see/hear/taste at Thanksgiving!


Song: "If You're Thankful and You Know It"
If you're thankful and you know it, clap your hands.
If you're thankful and you know it, clap your hands.
If you're thankful and you know it,
then your face will surely show it.
If you're thankful and you know it, clap your hands.
(can repeat with other actions, depending on audience abilities)

Sensory craft: "Squished paint autumn trees"
We drew tree outlines on gallon-size sealable bags, squeezed drops of fall-colored, washable tempera paints inside and sealed the bags. Students loved "smoooshing" and smoothing the squishy colors inside to turn their tree into a beautiful autumn tree. This is a great craft for all abilities.
(source: Crafts on Sea)