Painting snow flakes!
What perfect timing that the week our theme was snow, it snowed! Last week we painted snow flakes before playing in the snow 🙂
Fun in the snow!
After returning from our snow/ice storm last week, we had an awesome time playing in the remaining snow before it melted!
Santa Claus Came to School
Santa came to visit, brought presents, sang songs, and showed us his magic! It was a wonderful day!!!!
The Reindeer Have Arrived
During music and movement this month we’ve been playing with bells and wearing reindeer antlers.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
We spent the day taking turns to go play in the leaves with Ms. Lisa today! It was so much fun!
Thank you!!!
A huge thank you to everyone that came out to our annual fall festival/fundraiser this year! We had some AMAZING parents help organize the day and bring in huge support and participation from the community. The donations have made it possible for us to create our very own gym that our kids can use with our wonderful occupational therapist to work on their gross motor skills and coordination! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Fabulous Fall!
At the beginning of this month, our letter was F and our theme was Fall. Many of our art projects were based on leaves and fall colors. During our Gross Motor Center we played with leaves and even covered Ms. Danielle with the leaves! These are all fun activities you can replicate at home 🙂
November in Pictures!
November has started out beautifully with our sweet Owls and Wolf Pups! We have learned so much through dressing up in our favorite costumes, playing with kinetic sand and working on our early writing skills with shaving cream.
Musician Visits the Aspen Center!
We were lucky enough to have a wonderfully talented summer volunteer join us this summer! The kids loved Mr. Coby, and on his last day he showed us just how talented he was! Thank you Mr. Coby for teaching us about music!
Check out a video of Mr. Coby playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on our Instagram account.
Water Day!
As you can see we had a blast on our 2nd to last water day for summer camp this year!
Music Wall
We have recently added a music wall to our playground! This was such a simple activity that could be made at home. We bought a pre-made fence, painted it in bright colors, and nailed on different objects made of metal (most of the objects were old kitchen items that we did not use anymore). It can be loud, and that’s why we chose to have it on our playground. The great thing about it is we can pick it up and move it anywhere! The kids absolutely loved exploring the different sounds each object makes and the different sounds that are made with different “hitting” utensils (I.e., spoon vs. stick, foam brush vs. paint brush, etc.).
Last Water Day in July!
Last week we had our final water day in July. We had such a blast sliding into pools and playing in the sprinkler before getting our regular day started. We only have 3 more weeks of summer camp left, and therefore, only 3 more water days left!
More Wildlife Visits the Aspen Center
We have been so lucky to learn about all kinds of animals that visit us at the Aspen Center: deer, hawks, ducks, ducklings, and now rabbits! Last week a young rabbit helped us how to be respectful of animals, being quiet around them, and walking slowly around them. This rabbit was even kind enough to let us feed him some celery!
Learning through Play
Throughout our day, we are finding fun ways to learn! We sometimes ride bikes in the shade if it is too hot to be in the sun. This helps teach us to take turns, share, and follow directions. During sensory time we get to play in the sand finding picture of bugs and learn about their different shapes, sizes, and colors. We also use fun arts and crafts to learn about our weekly theme. Last week we learned about spiders and how to make a spiders web!
Ants on a Log
Our theme throughout the month of July is “Bugs!” So for snack this week we have been making our own Ants on a Log with cream cheese. For those with dairy allergies or sensitivities we just left the cream cheese off. Most of our friends LOVED this snack! It was a fun way to incorporate a vegetable and fruit, pretending with our food, and talking about texture and taste. Describing what you are eating not only helps you to be more “in the moment” at meal times but also helps develop awareness of our senses, and develops our language as we learn how to describe things in multiple ways.
Big Helpers
At times, some of our big kids (“The Owls”) come to help our little kids(“The Wolf Pups”). These are wonderful opportunities to give our big kids some special responsibilities and practice real life skills that they can carry over to their home life. If you are looking to give your child some responsibility and help empower them while increasing their self-esteem try letting them wash the dishes, wipe the table and chairs after a meal, set out toys for younger siblings, etc.
Water Day # 2!!!
Today was the SECOND water day of summer camp! We had a new addition thanks to Ms. Lisa, a big inflatable pool we could slide into and swim in. Due to the heat and humidity we started our day with the water and finished our day with our normal schedule. All of our friends did a great job with the new schedule and transitioning to our different activities. Today, we were able to work on our gross motor, fine motor, and sensory needs. We climbed the slide, slid down it, walked in the water, climbed over the pools, fished toys out of the pools with nets, and worked on dressing ourselves. What a fun day! We look forward to our next water day.
Water Day!!!
Today was the first water day of summer camp! We will have a few water days this summer to keep cool and explore some of our sensory needs. As you can tell, EVERYONE had a blast! We had a slip n’ slide, a slide with the pool at the bottom, and another little pool to just sit in :). We also had fun with water balloons!
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Newest Addition: BALL PIT
Our newest addition to our school is a new ball pit created by our OT, Jenna Meehan. To create one for yourself at home, ask your local Trader Joes for a carton used to store watermelons. Then use about 10-12 rolls of duct tape to make the box sturdy and fill with balls!!! The Wolf Pups and Owls have LOVED having the ball pit to play in, learn about colors, sharing with friends, and following directions.
Wild life attends Aspen Center Summer Camp
We had such a great time watching the ducks come say “hi” and learning how to gently pet turtles 🙂
Summer Camp Sensory Fun
The first week of summer camp was a blast! We enjoyed sand boxes, water tables, water balloons, and water squirters! To say we all got into it is an understatement! All of these activities are easy and cheap to replicate at home to help you and your family stay cool while exploring your sensory skills.
Water Table Fun – Beating the Heat
Add bowls, cups, race cars to a tub full of water to stay cool as the weather warms up!
Pull-up Bar during therapy
Here, one of our good friends is working on his upper body strength, motor planning, eye contact, and joint attention. Who knew a simple activity, such as a pull-up bar, could help a child with so many skills! This is a great family activity that can encourage anyone to be active while developing several skills.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxVk5wmh8pVQbndHUVdDWmYwcHM/view?usp=sharing
Meeting our Sensory Needs with Jello!
Meeting our Sensory Needs with Paint!
Fun with Bubbles!
Playing with bubbles helps us learn important verbs (i.e., pop), direction words (i.e., up, down), how to move our bodies (gross motor and fine motor), and how to take turns popping bubbles.
Following Directions through an Obstacle Course!
We learned how to follow directions while completing an obstacle course and searching for an elephant! This week we learned about the letter “E” – how to pronounce it, recognize it, and write it!
Pretend Play with Our Therapists!
Our friends had a wonderful time expanding their imaginations, and communication skills with their peers today!
Supplies Needed:
- Scarves
- Dress-up clothes
- Play tools
Sensory Fun with Ms. Jenna!!!
Here our friends are learning how to use a net to “bob” for apples, learning how to follow directions, learning the colors red and green, and learning to count!
Supplies Needed:
- Bucket
- Water
- Apples
- Net
Aspen Tooty Ta Video!!!
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