Activities To Consider When Working With Children with Special Education Needs

Children with special education needs will vary from one child to the next in terms of the degree of their learning difficulty or disability. You may find yourself working with children who have autism or you may have a mixed group, you may find you are working with children that are behind their class mates because it is harder for them to learn than their peers. Whether you are dealing with a mixed group or you are dealing with a specific group of children, there are activities you can incorporate into your teaching to help them achieve results and be the best they can be. As with any teaching position, your focus is to help children reach their full potential. In a classroom, with all children learning at a similar pace, it tends to be slightly easier as you only have one syllabus to teach and you can teach everyone at the same time. In a special education needs (SEN) class, you need to think outside the box and work on ways which will stimulate and interest the children, ways to help them learn and catch up with their peers or help them learn so they can manage when they finish school in the future. Remember not all children are going to require special education needs throughout their school careers. Some children will eventually catch up to their peers and move on to usual classes and then there are those that will require help, support and extra lessons to give them the education they need to succeed in the real world when they graduate high school.  

Sensory Activities

Working with younger children you may find that focusing on the sensory will give you greater results. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities can relate to their sensory organs, so working with sand, cotton balls, dried beans and uncooked rice are all great products to use to come up with sensory activities to engage the children, interest them and let them grow. These products can be used to create a picture. Give the children the products and some glue and let them design their own picture. You can also use the products for maths and getting them interested in the feel and enjoyment they experience when it comes to working with sensory products.  

Outdoor Play

Outdoor play is imperative to all children. Get them out in the fresh air and encourage movement. Children in special education needs classes also require that outdoor play, the movement and the interaction with the other children. Whether they go outside when the other classes are outside or whether they go out as their own group, outdoor play will encourage good social behaviours as well. Outdoor play is stimulating, but is is also a chance for you to get the children to follow direction. Consider simple and fun games such as “Simon says,” which gives them instruction, is fun and interactive and can provide great results. Of course outdoor play, even free time, will encourage movement and get the children outside, in the fresh air and away from a stuffy classroom for a while.  

Yoga

 It may be worthwhile investing some time and learning yoga for children. This is something you can incorporate into the classroom, especially on wetter days where outside play isn't an option. Yoga for children will enable you to encourage movement, but yoga can also encourage following instruction and it can help the children have fun in a relaxing and manageable way. Learning yoga for children will be beneficial for you and the children and it is something you can incorporate into the class every day to get the best long term results. You want the children to grow, to learn how to follow instruction and how to be more active and social. The focus is to get the children back into streamline school and with their peers wherever possible and it is your job to ensure that this happens.  

Music

Music is a welcome addition, even if only for twenty or thirty minutes a day. Music is that one sensory cue you can use and is very effective when working with special education needs children that don't communicate effectively. You can use music to play games or just for the children to relax and enjoy. Have sing along and choose fun rhymes for the children to learn and sing to encourage their communication and boost their confidence.  

Painting

Painting is another very effective activity to incorporate into your teaching when working with children with special education needs. Painting enables children to allow their creativity to flair. You can provide them with different colours of paint or even different materials and it will become a fun sensory activity for the children to really enjoy.  

Storytelling

Storytelling is used in schools and classrooms around the world, especially with younger children. Children love listening to a great story and you will find that these children will react and enjoy story time. Consider doing a story time each and every day, focus on stories the children can relate to based on the age group you are working with. Encourage the children to read during classes, let them choose their own books and let them listen to each word to formulate a picture in their minds.  

Things to Remember

Working on coming up with fun activities for children who are all unique and all study at different paces isn't always easy. Of course the ideas you come up with is based on the age group you are working with. Sensory and outdoor activities can be used for all ages, especially for those children with learning disabilities who struggle to communicate and socialise with other children of the same age.