I find I have collected lots of little things that might be good for a project at some point, so you can't throw them away! I filled a workbox for each of the boys with some glue, cardboard, and assorted odds and ends: tongue depressors, corks, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, clothes pins, wooden shapes, magnets, and more. The assignment: Get creative.
It is really Scootch who thrives on this kind of assignment. He is an outside-of-the-box-creative kind of guy. Living with Aspergers, ADHD and anxiety, he has a hard time sometimes, and an open ended, hands on activity like this is very calming for him. He ended up creating two airplanes and a tank:
Scootch spent a lot of time on his projects. He was focused, and patient, even though the creations kept falling apart. By the time he was finished, in addition to his three creations, there was about 1/2 a bottle of glue on the kitchen table. Fortunately, glue is cheap and pretty easy to clean up.
The next day he asked for a similar assignment. The way he responded reminds me that I need to provide this kind of activity for him more often. Even if it is just to put playdough or clay into one of his boxes, every day. The more I think about it, I wounder what effect it might have on his behavior to make sure and include something like this on a daily basis. I know what that means for me: Get creative!
