Friday, August 23, 2013

Case of the Fidgets

Noah is a very active child.  Homeschooling him requires lots of hands on activities, plenty of exercise, patience and loads of breaks.  Sometimes, however, that isn't enough so  I've spent the last several days researching products, ideas, etc. on how to help active learners and wanted to share what I have found with you.

http://ncaee.blogspot.com/2013/08/bouncy-bands-help-students-stay-on-task.html
Bouncy bands!  My favorite thing about this is that it can be done without spending a small fortune.  Take exercise bands, retention bands or old inner tubes, tie them to the legs of their desk or chair and away they bounce.  Kids are able to sit longer while releasing built up energy/anxiety.

Picture source: http://www.dragonflywellnessnj.com/kids-tot-yoga/
Kid's Yoga.  Lots of parents, teachers and daycare providers use fun and up beat songs and dances to shake the wiggles and fidgets out of kids.  Unfortunately, when doing this Noah gets a serious case of the giggles and is more wound up than when he started.  I am hoping that Yoga will help him find his focus.

http://demanddesign.net/spaces/sensory-room/top-sensory-fidgets-school
I am on the fence about fidgets for Noah.  The premise makes perfect sense....give them something quiet to help keep their hands busy while working or listening but I'm not sure if it will be a fit for Noah as I have images of them becoming major distractions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMqq5PLEFM - This video is for a teacher's training seminar.  I love his idea about the sensory strip to be place under the desk.

http://postris.com/popular-pin/64558/1/repins/30/0/
Exercise balls instead of chairs.  I love the idea that they can move and bounce on the ball while working but we've run into two problems with this.....Noah is too short to sit up at the table on just an exercise ball and he falls off more times than not.  However, they do offer computer chairs that are made with the exercise balls which are taller and more stable.  There are also several DIY projects online for making your own.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/28/82/92/28829226ad5bb442fbb55bdc0166d4a7.jpg
I think this desk is super cool!  I love the color, the fact that it is propped up and (obviously) the bike pedals.  However, I cannot imagine how much this cycling desk (not sure if that is what it is called but that is what I am calling it) cost and I seriously doubt we have the room for it but wanted to toss it in for those of you who may be interested.

I hope that you found these ideas as useful as I did.  Do you have an active learner?  What methods work for you?  What methods have been a big failure?  I'd love to hear all about them!

Have a great day!

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