KAMI PLAYGROUP'S SECOND MEET

Hi everybody! I haven't been updating my blog in a while because Arif and I have been unwell (bad cough) and on top of that, I was quite busy these past few weeks. As promised, however, here's a look at our second KAMI Playgroup session, which took place on 18th November 2017. Alhamdulillah, everything went well :) Let's recap what our group did that day:

1. Music & Movement

As usual, we started our session with doa and zikir, to seek blessings from Allah SWT and to calm and activate the children's minds. The doa is followed by action songs, which is intended as a warm up activity for the children. Among the songs we did actions to was "One little finger."

Everyone singing and doing the actions to One Little Finger.

2. Indoor play (Gross motor) - Bean Bag Pass & Obstacle Course
In our first indoor play activity, we were paired up and sat opposite each other. The parents/ children then passed bean bags to their partner, back and forth.

This activity encourages joint attention and coordination. Throwing bean bags may look easy to us, but children with ASD might find it difficult to do.

For the second activity, we set up a simple Obstacle Course using chairs, a balance beam, a bench and plastic buckets. The children took turns to make it through the obstacle course and drop a bean bag in the plastic bucket. This was repeated several times to music.

Parents helped their children with balance and to navigate the obstacle course.

3. Arts & Crafts - Vegetable printing

For this week's table task and art activity, we did Vegetable Printing using potatoes and lady's fingers. I cut some patterns in the potatoes to make them more interesting. The children were given a drawing block, vegetable blocks and paint. 

This simple activity provided the children a sensory experience, as well as encouraged their hand coordination and control.

4. Clean up and goodbye song
After the arts and crafts session, the children helped to clean the tables with wet wipes. We closed our session with the Goodbye Song :)

The children enjoyed wiping the tables down at the end of the session.

The Goodbye song is another opportunity for action and movement.

Here are some of the children's vegetable printing creations!

Arif's reaction in this session

Arif found it difficult to settle down and participate in group activities like music and movement, as well as the Bean Bag Pass. He is usually quite restless during these activities, preferring instead to just walk around the room. Thankfully, he doesn't try to leave the room.

However, he was able to participate in other activities, like the obstacle course. He also seems to enjoy table tasks the most, particularly the arts and crafts sessions. At first, he felt uneasy touching the wet vegetables (new texture) and used daddy's hands to hold the vegetables and print instead. But soon, he was able to hold the vegetables himself and complete his artwork. Good job Arif!

You can help!

Interested to find out more about KAMI Playgroup @ Masjid Kg Tunku, volunteer or make a donation?  Please don't hesitate to drop me an email at adline76@yahoo.co.uk.