Quarantine and self-isolation has taken a toll on all of us this calendar year, so here are five activities for students with intellectual disabilities to do during quarantine!
- Take breaks to play outside!
While it is incredibly important for students to spend time learning, it is also important that they have breaks involving physical activity. The National Center for Biotechnology information has amassed studies (some dating back as far as 1999) that agree: exercise is proven to help students better perform in academic settings.
What does this look like in a COVID-19 landscape? Well, if you have a backyard, there are plenty of activities you can do. You could play hide and seek, tag, or you could start a garden!
If you do not have a backyard, what are your options if you want to keep safe from COVID-19?
If you have time during the day while others are at work, you can take your child to a park and play soccer with them in a large field. You can go for walks in your neighborhood, just be careful to practice proper social distancing! However, if you were an avid—or even a casual—hiker before social isolation and quarantine started, you should avoid hiking altogether. Your local trails are significantly busier than they used to be. The trails were not designed with social distancing in mind and Governor Newsom has allowed Californians to not wear masks when they are outside and they are able to observe social distancing.
- Think about utilizing sites like GoNoodle!
Educational sites like GoNoodle encourage your child to both learn and exercise. Aspire Advocacy does not officially endorse GoNoodle, but it is clear from their user reviews that they have taken time to carefully design courses while listening to experts on education, physical fitness, and child development. While GoNoodle does offer paid premium services, their primary content is available for free.
There are other great activities for students with intellectual disabilities outside of physical activity and studying! Take a look at these next three activities that can be done inside.
- Have a cooking activity together!
Cooking (or baking, if you prefer) is a fantastic way to work on skills such as mathematics, reading, sequencing, and listening. This activity will work better if you pick one of your child’s favorite dishes—it will keep them invested in the activity the entire time. Be sure to pick an age-appropriate recipe; overly complicated recipes or recipes that require stovetop or oven use should be restricted to older children. For younger children, pick a simple, straightforward recipe! “No bake” or no-heat recipes that create snacks are safe but still rewarding.
- Make time for weekly or twice weekly creative projects!
Creative projects are a great way to help your child strengthen the abstract thinking in the right side of their brain! A fun creation you could make is a gelatin fishbowl. You’ll need a few items, such as: blue gelatin mix, a glass bowl, and a moderate amount of chewy, gummy candy. Make the gelatin and let it set for ninety (90) minutes, then have your student place a reasonable amount of candy inside the slightly-hardened gelatin. You can have them count the pieces if they are younger, or name the different types of gummy creatures if they are older and there is a variety of creatures. You can also use different colors of gelatin and different gummy creatures to simulate other environments.
Arts and crafts days are also fantastic for abstract, creative thinking. You could paint with paint brushes or finger paint, draw, sketch, or create collages with household items. Some items you could use are: tissue paper, ribbon, beads, string, beans, rice, or other things you have on hand! Though, if your student needs an extra challenge, consider doing origami. Origami requires a significant amount of fine motor skills and is difficult to learn, but it can be very rewarding.
- Set aside time for reading!
Whether you are reading to your student or reading with them, twenty (20) minutes a day of reading is a great habit for them to develop! Reading is a great way to inspire an interest in reading and support your student’s vocabulary development. You can help support your student’s reading comprehension skills by asking questions such as, “What was this book about?” or, “What is this picture of?”
These are five activities for students with intellectual disabilities out of thousands. If you have a great idea for an activity, make sure to safely give it a try. If you have any activities you especially like and you don’t see them here, please comment what those activities are below!