Using Outdoor Items for Indoor Projects

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Using Outdoor Items for Indoor Fun
During one of the nicer weather days, spend time on a scavenger hunt outside!  Can you do this during your therpy group time?  
- Give each child a list of items they have to find; sticks, leaves, rocks, acorns, etc.  
-Collect enough items for an outdoor item sensory bin!  Or here are some fun activities with the items you found

Working together in pairs, large group or individually have your children work together to see how many letters they can form with the items you found outside.  
- Can they spell a word or a name of someone in the group?  
- Can they form shapes with the items they found? 
- How many triangles or squares can they make?  Big ones? little ones? 
- Now give them time to create a picture with your collected items- Can they build a house or a person.  

Stick Tic Tac Toe: Find four large sticks and use them to make a tic tac toe board.  Now your children can play tic tac toe- rocks vs. leaves.  
Outdoor Cutting: How easy is it to cut a leaf? A small twig? Practice cutting with your outdoor finds. 
Leaf Stringing: Use our mini hole puncher to punch a hole in your leaves and then string them onto string.  Makes a great fall decoration!
Stick Painting:  Use your sticks as paintbrushes! What kind of designs can you make by rolling your stick across the paper? 
Pine Cone Elastic Band Ball: Find some pine cones outside and use them as the base to your rubberband ball.  Have your children stretch rubberbands using those small hand muscles to cover the pine cone with rubber bands.  

Stick Weaving:  Find two longer sticks or a stick that is shaped like a Y.  First take yarn and wrap it around the two sitcks or top of the Y until it is halfway up the sticks.  Then tie in a tight knot so the string doesn't move.  Now take another color and weave it over then under the string that is there.  
When you get to the end turn and weave back down to the beginning, continue until you fill in the area.  

Sensory Bin: Collect enough items to fill a sensory bin.  Now hide other objects such as puzzle pieces or pegs in your bin for your children to find.  You can also use just the outdoor items in the bin, ask your child to close their eyes and use stereognosis to find the item you request.
Outdoor Item Sort: Can your children sort by type of item, color, or how it feels?  Have them sort through all the items they found outside.