Sensory Curriculum Ideas – Journey to the Shop

By Gwyn McCormack

Here I share another sensory curriculum session plan full of ideas to support the theme of Walking to the Shop.

Tactile

Dressing for different weathers to walk to the shop:

• Rainy day – cagoule (raincoat) and wellingtons (rubber boots), umbrella – splashing in puddles, simulate sound of rain with watering can on tin tray
• Sunny day – sun glasses, sun hat, t-shirt, shorts, sandals.
• Snowy day – woolly hat, scarves and gloves, wellingtons.
• Windy day – as above

Take a walk and shuffle through dried leaves, listen to scrunch of leaves.

Fan/parachute to create wind

Visual

• Create collage with dried leaves, children to make rubbings of bark or leave, (draw round in black pen, or make into tactile format using Zychem machine.)
• Make a textured path, each child to add a textured paving stone cut out in coloured cardboard and decorated
• Variation: Make a textured wall, cut out bricks in different cardboard, materials and textures. Put the childrens’ names on each of the bricks. 

Sound

• Listen to the sounds during the walk and make a box with sounds that are the same or similar.
• Bicycle bell, car horn, engine sound, screeching of breaks, sound of footsteps on grass, pavement, pebbles, noise of people talking.
• Use musical instruments for bell, horn, sound of footsteps.
• Sound made by pelican crossing.

Taste

• Taste some of the items sold in the shops as you pass them by – bread, cakes from baker, fish and chips, etc
• Stop for an ice cream on a sunny day and hot pies on a cold day!

Smell

• Smell the shops as they are passed, bakers, fish shop, fish and chip shop, vegetable shop, Indian take away, flower shop.
• Smell the flowers – feel rose petals, shower child with rose petal, tissue paper to replicate rose petals or flower petals. 

Literacy and Numeracy

• Make a journey line of the key places (use objects of reference) to depict the journey the child makes
• Count lamp posts, benches, pelican crossings, number of times a car horn is sounded

• Write a story about the journey to the shop
• Purchase items at the shop – money, capacity of bag for product bought, weight of bag, Feel shapes of items in shop. Sort items by size, shape.
• Social skills, body language, smiling, looking towards the shopkeeper, saying hello and goodbye, please and thank you to the shop keeper.

There are more shared ideas at www.positiveeye.co.uk