Info Exchange Magazine Apps Alert & Sensory Surprises No. 44 - October 2014 Free or Lite indicates that the app is free today. Some apps may be for Android devices, as well as for ipads. Toca Robot Free A new Toca Boca is here and it is free at the moment. Build your own robot from scrap. Don t forget the other free Toc Boc apps! Toca Kitchen Monster Toca Hair Salon -Christmas Gift Free Toca Fairy Tales 1
The Box Trolls: Hide n Sneak Free This is based on the latest movie, just out, the kids love p laying the new app The Boxtrolls. Select a Boxtroll and race through over 30 levels with obstacles and traps, to try to collect gears and unlock new levels and equipment. The graphics are really good and modern and when tilted twist and move in depth. Timbuku Pizza Free With Timbuktu Pizza, players are asked to choose among 10 di fferent recipes for pizza and then to prepare it by combining the right ingredients. When they finish cooking, they serve their creation to Eegor the monster. If the recipe was followed correctly, the monster devours the pizza; if not, he will throw it at you! Lazoo Squiggles Free Squiggles! This is from the good developers of apps, Lazoo. This free app includes an ebook features such as highlighted words, interactions and a good story to tell. Record yourself for listeners. There are 14 colourful pages to add squiggles from a well-stocked art tray. Press play in the top corner to watch the whole picture animate and surprise. Really good and at a simple level for all. Have a look at this YouTube clip to see James in full action (with dad commenting and wanting to use it as well!!). Excellent, great for pointy finger mark making. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh7upywm02g 2
ABC Ninja (Free) This is one of my favourite ABC apps, a sense of power as I swipe swish across a letter! There is also go! ninja in which you can go the whole hog and swipe whole words! Breathe Think and Do (Free) This is from Sesame Street and encourages relaxation and ordering of thoughts. Helpful to busy bees. Use it in conjunction with belly breathe clip from Sesame street, fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mzbzdopyla 3
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Halloween This Month! Here are details all about Halloween costumes to suit special children or teenagers. There are ideas such as how to disguise a wheel chair. The looks on the faces of the children and teenagers say it all. This is an amazing Harley Davidson especially for skeletons, talk about age appropriate! The ideas may also be useful for the festive season ahead (sorry if this is an early mention but it gives time to start creating). For example, there is a nifty fairy princess, just right for Cinderella! 5
Peter Pan is also a favourite theme for Christmas and here is an excellent pirate ship. Lily in a flower field below catches the eye. Once the surround has been made the objects could be changed, perhaps into a field of rabbits, frogs, trees or seaside shells and sand. 6
What an amazing digger, the driver will do very well with his trick or treat! Look for more ideas on the following links: http://www.pinterest.com/smartappsforsn/halloween-costumes-for-kids-with-specialneeds/ http://kidzorg.blogspot.be http://www.pinterest.com/source/mydisguises.com http://www.finecraftguild.com/halloween-costumes-wheelchair http://thefw.com/wheelchair-costumes/ 7
Harvest Tastes! Apples Collect as many different apples as you can and have an apple tasting session. Popcorn Watch the corn turn into popcorn with microwave popcorn in a bag that swells with the heat or on the stove in a pan with the lid on! 8
Glow in the Dark Sensory Bags Now it is nearing the darker evenings and Halloween time, have a go at making some glowing effect sensory bags to use in the dark room or just close the curtains. Try popping under a covered table to play with the glowing bag, a good interaction that is playful and fun All you need to create a spooky glowing sensory bag are: strong zip plastic bags duct tape to strengthen the zip opening glow sticks or bracelets from the local pound land shop shaving foam Just fill with foam, snap the glow sticks, insert in the foam and zip the bag. Strengthen the closed zip if necessary with duct tape. Volcanoes - Exploding Sensory Effects! I have just spent time around Mount Etna in Sicily and seen the wondrous effect of larva, touching the black larvae, looking at the different plants and trees growing there, peering inside the volcano extinct at the moment So, I made my own volcano with vinegar, liquid soap and the magic ingredient of bicarbonate of soda! Here are some sensory experiments to create volcanoes, a real explosion for any learner! There are three ways to make volcanoes, according to wikihow, take your pick (I did the standard volcano) and watch out for safety. 9
These are: the standard volcano the larva volcano the explosive volcano http://www.wikihow.com/make-a-volcano Shaving Cream Maths Make sure you use the shaving foam that does not sting eyes! Tesco do a good one. Maths with Shaving Cream The foam is nice and sticky so it is easier for wobbly hands to place the bricks on top of each other. Build a tower just like the one below linked to: http://fitkidsclub.blogspot.be 10
You will need: a pile of wooden blocks (better than plastic as they have a nice heaviness when held in the hand) shaving cream large table for all the mess Maths? build up high knock down low build up high and use spatial awareness to place each block judge the space between the block in the hand and the pile on which it will be placed squish a block around with hands and feel the three dimensional shape have fun! Now change the shape to round, three-dimensional marbles! Marbles in Shaving Cream You will need: marbles of different colours and sizes add some steel ball bearings as a weight contrast shaving foam a bowl to contain the foam a baking tray in which to roll around the marbles 11
Maths? holding and enclosing round object shapes squishing lots together experimenting in trying to build a tower comparing blocks with balls rolling the marbles around foam on the baling tray, making patterns watching the speed of the marbles as they roll For 20 more shaving foam ideas, link to the excellent ideas sheet at: http://www.playcreateexplore.org/2012/04/20-ways-to-play-with-shaving-cream.html Social stories that hit the nail on the head! Lovely, handy, little books on VERY relevant, realistic, social stories. They are short and to the point, laminated so they are resilient to rough handling. They cost 3 plus postage. Go to ebay.co.uk and type in social stories to find them. 12