Mini Time Tracker – Staying On Track

You know those times you’ve said to the kids “I’ll be there in five minutes!”? Or done the “You have half an hour to finish that off,” then completely lost track of time?

Or you promise them if they spend twenty minutes doing their homework, they can then have 20 minutes on the DS, and they ask every 2 minutes “Have I done 20 minutes yet?”

It drives you crazy and, really, there are things that need to be done that prevent you from sitting in front of the clock, watching it count down and calling out “Ten minutes to go! Five minutes left!”, et cetera.

Kitchen timers are brilliant for this exercise, except they don’t give countdowns or warn when the timer is about to go off, startling everyone and causing a sudden end to the activity. The kids might appreciate it for an end to homework, but not when they’re doing something they enjoy. They do like a warning.

The Mini Time Tracker makes up for these deficiencies, as it not only counts down (up to two hours) but also has the capacity to set “warning” countdowns as well, which can be set to give as much warning as you like - five minutes, ten…

Aside from the standard kitchen time alarm going off when time is up, the Mini Time Tracker has a visual component, which can be viewed from anywhere in the room. The top of the tracker changes from green to yellow (warning time countdown), to red when the time is up.

The alarm volume is adjustable to cater for room size, number of children and the noise level of their activity. You might even like to switch it off and have the visual, green-yellow-red countdown only.

Your time is then freed up to worry about the things you need to and spare you the unnessary task of clock watching.

Making Christmas Decorations

Christmas is fast approaching. A big part of Christmas is transforming the house, inside and out with Christmas decorations such as lights, tinsel, shiny baubles and smiling Santa faces galore! However, for kids on the spectrum, Christmas decorations can mean a sensory overload and might cause confusion and stress with all the changes to regular look of the house and their “space.”

Here are some tips on how to cope with the sensory overload of having a houseful of Christmas decorations:

• Get your child involved. They might like to choose a special decoration at the shops to hang on the tree. You could encourage them to focus on a particular job such as decorating the bottom half of the tree or something else at their height level.

• Make Christmas Decorations. Helping make decorations might help ease the sensory overload. We have some great items in our Arts and Craft section to help this. This Photo CD Ornament is a great idea as you can use photos of familiar faces and even the family pet which will certainly make it easier to deal with strange and new decorations. This Handprint Santa is also a lovely way to get your children involved.

• There are some certain decorations such as blinking lights, lots of glittery decorations such as tinsel and random noisy ornaments like talking Santas that can wear down senses over time. before your child reacts, try and plan carefully exactly the type of decorations you will include.

Getting your child involved in making Christmas decorations and decorating the house is an excellent way to help them cope with the changes that come this time of year. They will love to feel responsible for making the house look “pretty” and Christmassy and this will also give them a sense of pride when they can see their gorgeous homemade decorations hanging on display.

Under the Glass

Kids are, by their very nature, curious little beings. They’re also fascinated by little beings in nature.

Bugs, worms, insects and all manner of creepy crawlies grab their attention and just beg for closer inspection.

Letting your little ones loose in the garden is a start. Add an Insect Magnifying Glass and they’ll be delighted with the detail of the insect world they can now explore.

It is a natural way for your children to embark on an educational – and FUN – foray into the insect world that allows them to examine creepy crawlies in their natural habitats.

If the insects keep hiding, as they tend to do when confronted with giant sized pre-schoolers!, you might like to have your kids explore them under the glass.

This great idea from A Little Learning shows how you can create a Magnifier Discovery Board to use with your Insect Magnifying Glass to closely, and safely inspect the insect world.

You’re not limited to insects and other creepy crawlies either. You and your children can explore all kinds of natural objects from your backyard and garden, or from anywhere, really.

Remember to release the crawlies back into their natural habitat when the examination has finished, and use your display board for any number of items and objects of fascination.

Autism Buddy - An Online Resource

Autism Buddy is a website rich in resources for parents, teachers and other carers of children with special educational needs.

The resources include an incredible range of printable worksheets, flashcards, reward charts, e-books and many more. Hundreds of these are available to download for free, while others require that you purchase a premium membership. This can be paid over various periods, starting at monthly and going up to two yearly. An organisational membership is also available, which would be ideal for schools or community groups.

Included in the Premium Membership is access to Flash Card Maker, giving you free reign to design cards best suited to your children's needs, as well as their Interactive Zone, where children can access a range of activities such as colouring pages and puzzles.

The free resources are extensive and their use would not be limited to children with special needs. For example, the Chore Chart would not be out of place in any home or classroom. Similarly, Animal Bingo can be played with just about anyone.

Some of the resources would also be helpful to anyone wanting to assist children with their emotional and social development, such as this set of Emotion Flash Cards. In addition to visual learning aids, the website also hosts a forum, a blog, information resources for carers and an opportunity to "ask the experts".

Autism Buddy is very easy to navigate, with charming, simple graphics, careful use of bold colours and an intuitive set of headings and categories.

IEPs - What They Are And What You Should Know About Them

What is an IEP? IEP stands for Individual Education Plan, a document negotiated between educators and family members or caregivers to ensure a student’s individual learning and education needs, as a result of a disability, are met in the most appropriate and accessible manner. IEP’s are normally developed on a 6-12 month timeline depending on the state or educational system you are dealing with, but can be reviewed and amended at any time as circumstances change.

That’s the formal explanation, but what does this really mean?

People who have the best knowledge and best interests of the child meet to set 2-6 educational goals based on the child’s specific needs, skills, attributes and aspirations. Where appropriate, the most important member of the team, the child, should be present at any meeting.

A successful IEP has 5 basic steps: information gathering, consultation or meeting, design of the plan, implementation and finally evaluation.

A few general notes to remember:

• An IEP should only be part of your child's curriculum. There will be other class curriculum and content that will be general to the class and the school that will not be included.

• In the spirit of inclusion, the goals of the IEP will be incorporated in general class activities wherever possible and will not necessarily require individual tasks or programming.

• As with any kind of plan, goals for your child need to be realistic, meaningful and measurable.

• Working towards the goals of the IEP across school, home and community involvements will greatly increase the success and effectiveness of the plan and the educational goals for the child.

IEP’s are a working document that can be reviewed and reassessed as needs, goals and circumstances change. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or request amendments at any stage. You are always your child’s best advocate.

What Are Your Insects Up To?

Fact: Little people are fascinated by little things.

Your child can learn so much from studying the comings and goings in the lives of the insects in your very own yard.

We have child-friendly insect magnifying glasses that are perfect for enhancing your child’s view of the little critters that make up such an important part of our ecosystem.

What foods do they naturally choose? Where do they live? Do they live in large communities, or spend most of their time alone?

There are endless activities that can be based around the study of insects and even favourite songs such as “That Ants Go Marching” and nursery rhymes such as “Ladybird, Ladybird” take on a whole new level of meaning after you have watched thousands of ants marching one by one or waved goodbye to a ladybird as it flies away home.

There are safe experiments that even the youngest child can take part in, such as sprinkling a pinch of sugar or some cake crumbs along a line of ants and watching how their activity changes.

It can be an enlightening experience to follow one ant from a food source, all the way along the ant super highway, to the point where it enters the nesting hole. What an epic journey for such a little creature!

This can also help with your child’s understanding of analogies of insect behaviour that are sometimes used in nursery stories.

Check out our colourful Insect Magnifying Glass and open your child’s eyes to the amazing world of insects.

Halloween Sensory Bag

Halloween can be hard for kids on the Autism Spectrum, but that doesn’t mean they should miss out on the fun. All the cool kids are joining in, so why shouldn’t they?

The cool thing about Halloween is that the ‘mainstream’ toys are all pretty sensory anyway! Think all things slimy, spiky, squidgy and squishy and that pretty much sums up the kind of party favours kids like at this time of year.

The Toy Bug knows how important it is to be inclusive and http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifsensitive so that ALL kids can take part in ALL events! They have put together a collection of 12 sensory toys and completed the package with a colourful Halloween bag to boot.

These toys are great for all events and occasions, and are a great travelling ‘kit’ of toys that will stimulate, soothe and occupy even the most fussy little ghoul, goblin or zombie. Kids can squeeze, stretch, bend, turn, spin and squish in this pack of Halloween horror.

The set, for ages 3+, includes:

* Halloween Bag (approx 36cm x 38cm - excluding handles)
* Soft Spider Squish Ball
* Pumpkin SLIME
* Wind up Ghost or Pumpkin
* Pumpkin Touch Bubbles
* Wooden Spin Top
* Bendy Skeleton Keyring
* Sticky Halloween Toy
* Hand Clapper
* Mouth Whistle
* Spiky Ball Keyring
* 2 "Happy Halloween" Balloons

This set is so cool that ALL kids will want one, and at $16.95 for a $22 value it is a fantastic way for your kid to stand out in the crowd during Halloween for the best of reasons.