Musical Enjoyment + Special Play, Art, Creative Experiences

Helping children with sensory and physical challenges gain critical life skills through music, play, art and craft and creative experiences.

Through supported engagement in music, art, and creative activities, children with sensory/motor challenges and learning disabilities are:

Experiencing the pleasure, and sense of self, gained through movement, music, art and supported play experiences.
Learning motor control, attention, sequencing and motor planning abilities implicit within individualized carefully planned activities.
Enjoying learning within small groups and developing social skills.
Participating in communication-rich activities with numerous opportunities to learn language and interaction skills.
Benefiting from the rhythmical aspects of music/songs which have a positive tone-influencing impact on their abnormal postural tone (which affects their ability to engage in so many childhood activities).

Specialist equipment and resources at Little Stars, alongside the expertise of the staff, enables a wide range of therapeutic art and craft activities to be used. Music/music therapy also provides motivational learning experiences. The music-based activities target the learning of skills which are transferable across many aspects of life (listening, visual competencies, language, hand function, sitting posture and balance, social skills, communication, conceptual knowledge).

Beginning early:

to help children have a sense of belonging.

Learning early:

so that children know they CAN do things. This requires specialist help so they gain the sensory processing skills, motor control, and communication, required for ACTIVE participation instead of PASSIVE observation of other children doing what they cannot do.

Achieving early:

specialist activities to help children acquire the skills they need to live their lives according to their own goals and aspirations (self-determination). Little Stars believes in each child’s potential to become active participants in their communities. To help them realize this we target skills that are a Mount Everest for them – things that other children just acquire naturally .

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Swings for:

arousal, attention and balance,
movement & socialising
songs and music

Social Skills in a group:

communicate
language learning preparation for school

Swimming:

attention
group interactions
songs and games
stillness and balance in the water without floatation aids
head control and breathing

Stories as themes for:

art
movement
language learning

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Moving on:

the floor
mobility circuits
stepping & climbing

Music Therapy

with a qualified music therapist
use of rhythm promotes vocalisation and speech
singing
rhythm
move to music
use of instruments
musical play
singing aids attention

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Art Activities

using our hands and eyes
learning colours, shapes, objects, numbers and letters – being creative
adaptive activities (e.g. painting with our paint book on)

Art activities provide motivation for:

sensory & perceptual, physical, conceptual, motor control and social learning

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Resources Galore

Toys and games for:

sensory
perceptual
fine motor
language
conceptual
gross motor learning
games for co-operative play
adapted equipment to promote targeted learning (e.g. scone cutters, paint books, card holders, magnetic books)

A Dark Room

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Takeaways

our SMART Lending Library (just being developed)
learning at Little Stars – practising at home/school and in the community is also supported