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Fun parties are excellent ways to provide social interaction and mutual play opportunities to children and especially to children with disabilities as they usually have limited exposure to gatherings, meeting people and most importantly playing with age mates.
While choosing a party, the most important element is the theme. Be thoughtful with the theme that you decide for your group. Brainstorm and make a team decision.
Some do's and useful tips:
1. Theme- Take a theme that is relevant to the time, occasion and group. For instance, if it's summer, then take up summer related activities like water play, summer fruits etc.
2. Need Assessment- Keep your child in mind. Think of every children in your group for whom you are going to organize the party. Their likes, dislikes, developmental and educational needs and also their socio-cultural background. The best is to go back to your IEPs, IFSPs or any goals and objectives sheet that has been prepared for the child.
3. Planning of Activities- Activities should be age appropriate, need based, educational and involving all the sensory channels- hearing, touch, smell, taste and vision.
4. Music- Don't forget to play some music, music that is meaningful. Create your own music, brainstorm with your team and come up with your own lyrics and tune. It is not as difficulty as you may think. Try once. Just keep in mind the theme. Any music that you create should be theme based, meaningful and have the purpose to build vocabulary and generalization of objects among children. For instance, for Summer Vacation Party theme, we used the words- hot, summer, sunny, ice-cream, jelly, dance, and a few more related words.
5. Engage Families- Families are a crucial part. Involve parents and siblings in such group sessions. It helps the families learn various fun activities and skills that they can do at home with their child with a disability. This also provide very good opportunities for mutual play with siblings, hence encouraging bonding and developing positive relationships.
6. Learning Aids- Get materials or simply make materials. Make sessions fun and exciting. Try different ways to bring the world to your child. If it's a party, then simulate a party environment. Make custom adaptations in aids so that your children can hold, explore, use and play with them.
Note: No matter how much you plan or how well you prepare for a session, your session could be rocking and successful some days and could be boring and dull the other days. Don't worry or be upset. Children are unpredictable however this offers you a good opportunity to learn about your child's preferences, likes, dislikes and behaviors and help you to get better every time with your next session plan. Remember, there's always a scope of improvement!
Fun parties are excellent ways to provide social interaction and mutual play opportunities to children and especially to children with disabilities as they usually have limited exposure to gatherings, meeting people and most importantly playing with age mates.
While choosing a party, the most important element is the theme. Be thoughtful with the theme that you decide for your group. Brainstorm and make a team decision.
Some do's and useful tips:
1. Theme- Take a theme that is relevant to the time, occasion and group. For instance, if it's summer, then take up summer related activities like water play, summer fruits etc.
2. Need Assessment- Keep your child in mind. Think of every children in your group for whom you are going to organize the party. Their likes, dislikes, developmental and educational needs and also their socio-cultural background. The best is to go back to your IEPs, IFSPs or any goals and objectives sheet that has been prepared for the child.
3. Planning of Activities- Activities should be age appropriate, need based, educational and involving all the sensory channels- hearing, touch, smell, taste and vision.
4. Music- Don't forget to play some music, music that is meaningful. Create your own music, brainstorm with your team and come up with your own lyrics and tune. It is not as difficulty as you may think. Try once. Just keep in mind the theme. Any music that you create should be theme based, meaningful and have the purpose to build vocabulary and generalization of objects among children. For instance, for Summer Vacation Party theme, we used the words- hot, summer, sunny, ice-cream, jelly, dance, and a few more related words.
5. Engage Families- Families are a crucial part. Involve parents and siblings in such group sessions. It helps the families learn various fun activities and skills that they can do at home with their child with a disability. This also provide very good opportunities for mutual play with siblings, hence encouraging bonding and developing positive relationships.
6. Learning Aids- Get materials or simply make materials. Make sessions fun and exciting. Try different ways to bring the world to your child. If it's a party, then simulate a party environment. Make custom adaptations in aids so that your children can hold, explore, use and play with them.
Note: No matter how much you plan or how well you prepare for a session, your session could be rocking and successful some days and could be boring and dull the other days. Don't worry or be upset. Children are unpredictable however this offers you a good opportunity to learn about your child's preferences, likes, dislikes and behaviors and help you to get better every time with your next session plan. Remember, there's always a scope of improvement!