My classroom looks very different post-Covid. In my classroom, all shared life skills task activities needed to be easy to clean and sent home. Like most curveballs Covid threw at us, this made reintroducing them very difficult! We have to socially distance, wear masks, and we have to limit shared materials.
So this teacher had to get creative, and I thought I would share some of my ideas with you.
My two main concerns were my budget because, frankly, it was $0 and keeping everything clean and safe.
Solution – Empty Protein Containers
I belong to the gym, Burn Boot Camp in Williamsburg, and I realized our protein containers were a perfect size! I reached out to our Facebook group and immediately had responses. The containers add an extra fine motor component with their screw on/off tops. They are plastic too, so they are easy to clean in between students! Try contacting your local gym for empty protein containers.
The Set-Up- How does this work in our class?
Each student is assigned one or two tasks activities a week. We are in school Monday-Thursday. We are in school Monday-Thursday. Each student is assigned one or two tasks activities a week. Monday, tasks are distributed, and on Thursday, the students return them to the cart Friday for sanitizing.
What is in each task activity?
This task includes:
- Four small gift bags
- Four small stuffed animals to wrap
- Four pieces of tissue paper
The student assembles the gifts by first opening the gift bag. Then, wrapping the stuffed animal in a single piece of tissue paper. Next, they put the covered stuffed animal in the bag. This task involves following sequential steps as well as fine motor skills.
This task includes:
- About 50 green sugar packets
- About 50 pink sugar packets
- About 50 yellow sugar packets
- Three baggies
The students sort the sugar packets by color in the three baggies. Other activities could include having different amounts of each sugar packet and have students count and record the number of each color after sorting.
This task includes:
- Four flashlights
- A small container to keep batteries
- 12 AAA batteries
The students unscrewed the flashlights, put the batteries in, and screw them back together. The added fun element is that if they put them incorrectly, they get the flashlight turned on!
This task includes:
- Four toiletry bags
- Four toothbrushes
- Four tubes of toothpaste
- Four flossers
- Four chapsticks
- Four deodorants
The students sort one of each item into the toiletry bags and zip them up. This sorting/fine motor task also works on hygiene vocabulary and identification.
This task includes:
- Seven pairs of socks (with different matching colors)
Students find and pair matching socks. They fold by rolling them together into a ball. This fun laundry skills task helps practice chores at home and works on color sorting/fine motor skills.
This task includes:
- One pack of plastic forks
- One pack of plastic knives
- One pack of plastic spoons
- One package of paper napkins
Students wrap silverware into napkins. This fun setting the table task helps to practice chores that students can work on at home.
This task includes:
- Four locks
- Four matching keys
This task is an excellent fine motor task for students transitioning to middle school. Students match keys to locks and unlock and lock each lock.
Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store for more ideas and resources!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Educationpotential