Friday Walk Club
Introduction: Many of our students enjoy going for walks and we thought it would be a great idea to pair this with socializing with other students from across the school.
OT Target Skills:
Sensory/Movement Breaks- regulation
Social Participation
Visual Motor (looking for different pictures across the school)
Overview:
Every Friday, we have 4 times (10 minutes) throughout the day when a pair of students engage in Friday Walk Club.
We split the 4 times between 2 times being for the elementary and middle school students and 2 times being for the high school and transition students.
Every Month, I send a document out for staff to sign a student up and a staff member to walk with them. So each walk club consists of 2 students and at least 2 staff members. We change up the students every month.
Each month, I choose a theme and print pictures out, laminate them and hang them on the walls around the school.
When it is their time, the pair of students walk around the school and spot different pictures (for example, in September, they are looking for apples).
When they spot the pictures they take turns taking it off the wall and seeing what is on the back. Sometimes there are questions (i.e. what do you like better, what is your favorite?) and sometimes there are movement breaks (i.e. yoga). The students do what the card says together and continue looking for the other pictures.
Materials:
Staff/Student Sign up sheet:
2. Pictures: I used toolstogrow.com for a lot of my visuals. You need an account for most of their material.
September: Apples
October: Pumpkins
November: Turkeys
December: Candy Canes
January: Polar Bears
Febraury: Hearts
March: Clovers
April: Spring Pictures (clouds, rainbow, bunnies, etc.)
May: Flowers
June: Ocean Animals
July: Fireworks
August: Vegetables/Fruit
3. Questions/Movement Breaks:
Questions: Which do you like better?
-On a document, I put two pictures of items next to each other and printed them out. I then put it on the back of the picture card. For example, I put pizza and a burger and students choose which one they like best by verbally saying it, using their devices or pointing to the picture.
Questions: What is your favorite? I printed off pictures asking students what their favorite of something was. For example, I had different animals and they were able to pick out their favorite from the group.
Movement Breaks: On toolstogrow.com, there are a ton of themed yoga cards and movement break options. For example, in March we had Leprechaun moves on the back of the clovers.
Sensory Regulation Strategies: I also used sensory regulation cards from toolstogrow.com (ex: belly breathing, hand squeezes)