The Ants GO! Marching

Step through our front door and explore this week’s theme at GO! Therapy: The Ants GO! Marching.

BIG MOVEMENT PLAY

Tread the meandering ant path, one brightly colored critter at a time. March and sing to your heart’s content – “Hurrah! Hurrah!” – then climb down the soft wedge anthill.

TRY IT AT HOME: Draw simple ants on a page - your kiddo can color them in! Decide the best route for your own ants - is there a long hallway you can use to burn off some energy? Is there a room you struggle to transition your child to or away from? Maybe you have an outdoor space to utilize & get some fresh air in those lungs. You can even use chalk to draw the ants! Get creative & think outside the box! For an anthill, use your couch cushions on the floor; if you’re taking the activity outdoors, place a towel on the ground first, and then the couch cushion.

This imaginative play is fun and makes big body movements enjoyable.

SENSORY BIN

Venture into our sensory room and you’ll happen upon our Sensory Bin!

Sing “The Ants Go Marching” while sleuthing in the bin for each verse’s corresponding item. You may wonder: Am I the only adult who doesn’t recall all 10 verses? Indeed, you are NOT!

A quick search reveals the poetic genius of these 10 ants who each do the following:

· suck his thumb

· tie her shoe

· climb a tree

· shut the door

· take a drive

· pick up sticks

· pray to heaven

· shut the gate

· check the time

· say, “The End!”

PLAYING with sand helps children who are sensitive to bumpy, scratchy textures. They need all that stimulation and sand can surely help accomplish that.

Don’t be afraid to GET A TITCH MESSY, friends! I wanna see you scoop, I wanna see you dump, push, cup, filter. Bury your hands in that sand. Be one with it. Before you know it, your mind will take you to a beach in Kokomo and the soft, Caribbean breeze will kiss your face, seagulls crooning, and I believe someone is bringing you a cold beverage shortly.

ANTS ON A LOG

Traipse a bit further, and the overwhelmingly scintillating smells of raw celery stick, peanut butter in a jar, and refrigerated chocolate chips will draw you into the Kitchen Treatment Room for some foody play. True, these food items may not call to the olfactory sense – but! – playing with our food is a therapist’s dream.

Why is making ants on a log a therapeutic activity? Glad you asked, Julia Child:

This food prep provides your child a sense of independence to create their OWN snack, and an opportunity to learn safety and responsibility skills in the kitchen.

YES, we let our kiddos PLAY with their food! PLAY is the work of the child. When kids PLAY with food, it will help them learn that the food is SAFE to eat.

HAT CRAFT

Finally, don’t pass up the opportunity to get a bit buggy by making an ant hat. Craft it up and put that critter on your crown!

Working on a fun craft is good practice for kids to follow instructions and use small hand movements that will benefit their confidence in everyday activities. When cutting, selecting, coloring, gluing, and wearing the ant hat, talk about what you are doing - NARRATE your actions.

Use repetitive words, use new words, use silly words, short words, long words, nonsense words. Exposure to words - especially during interactive play - can broaden their vocabulary.

Your new cap made, do some fancy noddin’ with that phat hat on your noggin’.

Signing off,

The GO! Team