March Teaching Calendar

Teaching ideas, activities and inspiration to celebrate the month of March including St David's Day, St Patrick's Day, Holi, Shrove Tuesday, Holi, Losar, Alexander Graham Bell Day, Spring and more!

1st March

St David's Day

Explore Welsh Foods

Food exposure can be beneficial to individuals with a limited diet as it supports exploration of different food types, smells textures and tastes.

Present a variety of Welsh foods for the individual to explore at their own pace.

Initial explorations could be through touch and smell.

When progressing to tasting, present a tiny touch to the lips, then offer a morsel or a drop in the mouth, an egg spoon building up to a full bite.

Be Allergy Aware!

Explore:

Welsh Cheese: Caerphilly, Capel Newydd, Celtic Promise, Dragon’s Breath, Perl Las Blue, Welsh Cheddar, Welsh Goat’s Cheese

Welsh Vegetables: Leeks, Samphire

Welsh Seafood: Cockles, Seaweed (Laverbread)

Welsh Sweet Foods: Welsh Cakes, Bara Brith,

Welsh Rarebit Recipe

Ingredients

350g Mature Cheddar, grated
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp milk
Thickly sliced bread

Option to season with mustard/pepper/Worcestershire sauce

Method

Grate the cheese.
Mix the cheese with the milk and the beaten egg.
Preheat the grill to high and toast the bread on both sides.
Spread the cheese mixture on the toast.
Grill until the cheese is melted and starting to turn golden brown. Serve immediately.

Model the language

Aromatic, bitter, buttery, cheesy, chewy, coarse, creamy, crispy, crumbly, crunchy, delicate, eggy, fishy, fresh, mushy, oniony, peppery, pungent, ripe, rubbery, salty, savoury, seasoned, sharp, smooth, soggy, squidgy, squishy, toasty, vinegary.

For a non-food sensory St David's Day activity try:

Mark Making using Leeks

You will need

Whole Leeks
Card or Paper
Paint

(or use a template of the St David's Day Flag for students to follow the lines and paint)

Using the leeks as a paintbrush, dip into paint and paint the flag of St David.

The leeks will produce a sweet, oniony aroma.

1st March

Pancake Day

Smell, touch and taste pancakes.

You can use ready made shop bought pancakes, make your own pancakes using an instant batter mix or make a batter mix from scratch

Batter Mix Recipe

225g (1 3/4 cups) plain flour

500ml (2 cups) milk

2 large eggs

Explore 'Sweet' and 'Savoury' Pancake Toppings.

Can the students make a 'sweet' pancake and a 'savoury' pancake by selecting the correct ingredients?

Sweet Toppings: bananas, berries, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, cream, honey, ice-cream, jam, maple syrup, strawberry sauce.

Savoury Toppings: aioli, avocado, baba ganoush, cheese, spices cinnamon/nutmeg, garlic dip, guacamole, houmous, marmite, mushrooms, pesto, sour cream, taramasalata, tzatziki.

Be allergy aware!

Can the sensory explorer express a preference between sweet and savoury?

Can the sensory explorer identify the 'healthier' choices for the pancake toppings?

3rd March

Losar

Celebrate Tibetan New Year.

Traditionally, people would pass a fire torch through the crowds.

Can the students pass a torch/LED battery candle around their peers?

This three day festival sees the exchange of gifts.

Play Tibetan traditional music and promote turn-taking with a game of 'pass the parcel'

Dough balls are eaten. Ingredients such as coal, wool, chillies and rice are placed inside.

The ingredient contained within your doughball is said to reflect your character!

Chilli Pepper - Chatty talkative person

Rice - A Good person

Wool - Kind person

Make Playdoh or Plasticine 'Dough' Balls

You will need:

Playdoh/Plasticine (blue, yellow and red represent the colours of the Tibetan flag)
Dried Rice
Wool
Chilli Pepper (plastic 'toy' chilli or substitute for cubes of red bell pepper or use peppercorns)

How to make Playdoh/Plasticine 'Dough' Balls

Promote fine motor skills as the students roll their Playdoh/plasticine into balls.
Make a hole in the centre of the ball using a finger/thumb or a wooden dowel rod.
Place grains of dried rice, a piece of wool or chunk of pepper (or peppercorns) into the hole.
Recover the hole with Playdoh/Plasticine to hide the item placed inside.
Place the balls together, then as a group, take turns in selecting a ball and peeling it open to reveal the contents.
Can the students remember the characteristic said to be reflected according the to item inside? (Chilli Pepper - Chatty talkative person, Rice - A good person, Wool - kind person.)

Extend Learning

Can the students think of other characteristics and corresponding items to place inside the balls?

Here are some examples:

Feather - Soft hearted person
Daisy or dandelion - Flower lover
Toy animal - Animal lover
Spinach - Strong person
Leaf - Nature lover

Other ways to celebrate Losar

People engage in activities that symbolise purification and welcoming in the new.

Buildings are whitewashed and thoroughly cleaned and people wear new clothes.

Engage in outdoor learning.

Provide paintbrushes and rollers for students to 'paint' the walls, fences and railings. Add washing up liquid to create white soap suds.

Buddhist monks adorn the monasteries with the finest decorations, and conduct religious ceremonies.

Make a Tibetan Prayer Flag

You will need:

Rectangles of material (explore different colours, fabrics and textures)
Length of string
Glue

Method

Lay a rectangular piece of material onto a flat surface.
Place the length of string on top of the rectangular material 1/4 of the way from the top edge of the material.
Tuck the top of the material over the string then glue to secure.
Repeat until you have a length of prayer flag.

4th March

Marching Music Day

Celebrate the 'March Music Genre'

Listen to a marching band.
Watch footage of a marching band.
Explore a selection of instruments.
Join in with the music.
March with your feet to the music.
Make musical shakers using recycled items e.g. clean yogurt pots/containers and cardboard boxes filled with dried rice/pulses/beans.

7th March

Alexander Graham Bell Day

On this day Alexander Graham Bell uttered his famous words to his assistant Mr. Watson, 'Come here; I want you.' via his new invention, the telephone.

Using the telephone is an important life skill. Disused landline phones and old mobile phones (batteries removed) are excellent tools for developing communication skills, firing the imagination and building confidence.

Explore telephone role play.

Make an imaginary phone call to a relative, friend or a famous person.
Role play ordering food, a booking a taxi or making an appointment.
Relay messages, give or receive directions and instructions.
Extend learning by providing a diary/notebook to write appointments and information in.
Teach students how and when to call the emergency services.

Make Paper Cup Phones

Paper cup phones are fun to make and excellent for promoting turn-taking and listening skills.

You will need:

String
Two paper/polystyrene cups

How to make the Paper Cup Phones

Cut a piece of string (15-20 m in length)
Poke a small hole in the bottom of each cup.
Thread the string through each cup securing each end with a knot.

How to use the Paper Cup Phones

Each person takes a cup and holds it at full stretch.

One person talks into the cup while the other puts the cup to their ear and listens.

13th March 1781

Discovery of Uranus

'The clouds of Uranus are smoky and smelly

It wobbles around on its side like a jelly'

(Excerpt from 'Journey into Space - A Multisensory Exploration')

Explore Uranus

Light the incense stick out of reach of the student but within their eye line. Can the student track the smoke as it dances into the air? Can the student smell the heady perfume of the that fills the room?
Engage the student’s sense of touch as they investigate the elasticity of a jelly and how it wobbles and moves when touched. Would the student like to taste the slippery, shivery jelly?

17th March

St Patrick's Day

Activity Idea

Bell Pepper Shamrock Painting

You will need:

Bell Pepper
Card/Paper Bell
Green Paint

Method:

1. Cut the bell pepper in half width-ways to reveal the natural 'shamrock' shape.

2. Dip into green paint then print onto paper.

Extend this activity by using two colours: orange and green paint (to represent the colours of the flag)

Can the sensory explorer make a pattern by alternating the colours?

Join the celebrations with this fully resourced, step-by-step multisensory exploration of 'St Patrick's Day' (£3.98)

Table of Contents

Story Props Checklist
How to Tell a Multisensory Story
St Patrick's Day - Fully Resourced Step-by- Step Multisensory Exploration
Developing Comprehension & Understanding
Story Map
St Patrick's Day Listening Game
St Patrick's Day Sensory Bag
St Patrick's Day Sensory Bin
Leprechaun Food
Sensory Art
Sensory Stuffed Sock Snakes
Bubble Snakes
The Leprechaun's Science Lab
Soda Bread Recipe
Interesting Facts
St Patricks Day Ideas & Inspiration

16th March

National Panda Day

Although quiet animals, Pandas do make 'barking', 'huffing', and 'growling sounds'. Listen to an audio clip of a Panda making these sounds. Can the sensory explorer imitate the noise? Record their vocalisation and play it back.
Pandas move slowly with their toes pointing inwards.
Watch footage of a Panda walking. Can the sensory explorer move like a Panda?

Make a Panda Themed Sensory Bin:

Line the base of your tray/container with green shredded paper/grass/dried rice/noodles/green tagliatelle.
Add 'Bamboo' (small sticks or twigs, lollipop/craft sticks, cinnamon sticks) and assorted leaves and grasses.
Add a toy panda (or draw/print out pictures of pandas on card, laminate and affix to a lollipop stick or straw)
Add other interesting black and white items: Beads, pom poms, Lego bricks, dice, counters, pipe cleaners, feathers, sequins.

17th - 18th March

Holi

Make Holi 'Powder Paint'

This alternative to powdered paint and provides a wonderful sensory experience.

You will need

1/2 cup Corn Flour
Milkshake Powder
1tsp of water
A few drops of essence/food flavouring (strawberry, banana, mint)

Method

Mix the ingredients to a mouldable, yet powdery consistency.

Alternative Activity

Rainbow Rice

Promote fine motor skills and involve the students in making the rainbow rice.

You will need:

Lidded Container
1 cup of Dried Rice
1 tsp Vinegar
Food colouring

Method:

Place the cup of dried rice into a container.
Add 1tsp vinegar.
Add the food colouring (adjust the quantity according to the depth of colour required.)
Place the lid on the container.
Shake until the rice is coloured.
Spread onto a baking tray/kitchen towel to dry.

Sweet Stuff!

Explore multicoloured sweets e.g. 'Rainbow Drops', 'Rainbow Sprinkles', 'Smarties', 'Jelly Tots', 'Skittles', 'Fruit Pastilles', 'Dolly Mixtures', 'Midget Gems'

Promote Fine Motor & Colour Sorting Skills

Can the students pick up the sweets using safety tweezers, grippers or scoop up using a cup to transfer the sweets into a container?
Can the students sort the sweets into piles according to their colour?

'Holi - A Multisensory Exploration' (£3.98)

Celebrate the magic and colour of the spring festival of Holi with this fully resourced, step-by-step multisensory story and themed extension activities.

Table of Contents

Story Props Checklist
How to Tell a Multisensory Story
Holi - Fully Resourced Step-by-Step Multisensory Exploration
Holi Themed Sensory Umbrella
Holi Themed Sensory Tent
Holi Themed Sensory Bin
Holi Themed Sensory Bag
Holi Themed Listening Game
Let's Make...Holi Powder Paint
Jackson Pollock Themed Art
Scented Paint
Paint Bombs & Cinnamon Stick Painting
Paint Splatter Picture
Colour Sorting
Thandai Recipe
Holi Ideas & Inspiration

18th March

Comic Relief

We all need laughter in our lives!
Watch a clip of a clown/circus act or a funny cartoon.
Listen to audio clips of people laughing (canned laughter.)
Make funny masks.
Provide a wigs, face paints and dressing up clothes. Invite students to explore different looks, the wackier the better! Provide a mirror so students can see their reflection.
Try 'laughing' yoga!

Make a 'Red Nose' Pom Pom

This activity is relaxing, tactile and promotes fine motor skills.

You will need:

Red wool
Two circles of card (students can either trace around a circular object to create their own or you can provide a template.)
Scissors

How to Make a 'Red Nose' Pom Pom

Cut the card into two circles the same size.
Cut out the centres to create a 'doughnut' shape.
Make one cut from the outer edge of the circle to the inner 'doughnut.'
Start wrapping the red wool around the edge of the circle and through the doughnut until you there is no space to wrap anymore wool.
Cut along the edge of the wool
Wrap a piece of wool between the two circles of card to secure and tie.
Trim any straggly pieces of wool.

20th March

Spring

Spring runs from 20th March to 21st June 2022

Make a Spring Weather Box

This activity promotes an understanding of the change of seasons, provides sensory feedback and the opportunity for the individual to explore and express their likes, dislikes and sensory preference giving them a voice and to make choices.

You will need:

A Lidded Box
Spring clothing: (ankle socks, cardigan/fine knit, lightweight raincoat, long sleeved t-shirt, spring dress
Single switch communication device (Talking Tile/BIGmack or similar device) with a recording of birdsong.
Umbrella and water spray bottle (for those spring showers)
Spring vegetables: Artichoke, asparagus, baby carrots, chard, celery, chives, fennel, lettuce, new potatoes, radish, spinach, spring onion.

Engage the Senses

Place the items into a lidded box for the student to explore.
Change the items in your box to keep the activity fresh and motivating.
You may wish to start with one or two items in your box and keep adding to them.
If the individual dislikes an item in the box, then remove it and replace with a different item.
Take a note of sensory preferences. This information can be used in the writing of care plans and personal care e.g. you may discover that the student prefers a viscose v-neck t-shirt to a polyester collared one, cotton patterned ankle socks instead of mid calf plain socks. This sensory exploration may help you identify new foods that the sensory explorer enjoys.

'Spring - A Multisensory Exploration/Teaching Resource' (£3.98)

Table of Contents

How to tell a Multisensory Story
Story Props Checklist
'Spring' Full Story
'Spring' Fully Resourced, Step-by-Step Multisensory Story
Spring Pond Sensory Bin
Let's Explore...Lambs
Bee Seed Balls
Nest Building
Make a Bird Nesting Material Holder
Chocolate Bird Nests
Flower Colour Changing Experiment
Spring Weather Box & Sensory Clothes Exploration
Spring Nature Walk
Bottle Animals
Herb Sock Animal
Cress Shapes
Mini Greenhouse
Nature's Art Room
Spring Weaving
Spring Clean Your Classroom
Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Spring Ancient Beliefs - Egypt & The Roman Empire
Spring Ancient Beliefs - Shemu
Spring Ancient Beliefs - Anglo Saxons
Spring Ancient Beliefs - Ancient Greece & Maya
Mayan Equinox Sensory Bin
Spring Festivals Around the World - Holi
Spring Festivals Around the World - Marzanna (Poland)
Spring Festivals Around the World - Cimburijada (Bosnia)
Spring Festivals Around the World - Las Fallas (Valencia Spain)
Spring Festivals Around the World - Cherry Blossom Festival (Japan)
Spring Festivals Around the World - Nowruz (Iran)
Spring Sensory Ideas & Inspiration

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