Have I mentioned how much I love Trevy’s ABA therapy? I’m sure I must have. Because it’s just been so wonderful for him! I totally give them the credit for his ability to discern things that are the same. This activity is building on that skill set.
Supplies You Need
White or Chalk Board are ideal. However, if our special kids teach us anything it’s that anything is adaptable if we just give it a try! Try a blank sheet of printer paper instead. Or be even more creative and then come back here and share the wealth! I will admit to being addicted to my magnetic white board, though. I use it for everything!
Painters Tape. Another tool I live and die by! Love the stuff! I use it to mount the kids art projects to the walls. Bristel’s room is wall to wall coloring pages that I let her go to town with hanging for her art studio. Jonathan is a fan too…because it doesn’t rip off wall paper when I decide it’s time for a change. Ahem. Like I used to be known for. Ooops. 
Dry Erase Markers. If you’re using a white board like me.
Flash Cards. You can choose of what. Shapes, animals, alphabet… The key is having two sets. I have found adorable little sets at the Dollar Store. I even found little wooden cut-out shapes in the dollar bin at Staples the other day! Those could work too. Really…the limit is yours! But the ones I’m using for this activity are home-made. I’m a fan of anything Montessori. Scraps of fabric and felt and sandpaper were used to make basic preschool shapes. I love them but I recommend using laminated cards so yours don’t get ruined like mine. Smile.
Skill Building Targets
Fine Motor Movement; Pre-writing; Preschool Math; Discrimination & Problem Solving; Receptive Speech; Attention span
How to Prep and Play
Use the Painter’s Tape to mount the flashcards to your board of choice. I opted for a single file row like so…
Now mount an identical row on the other side of the board.
If your little one is new to matching things that are the same you may want to start with just 1 or 2 shapes. And place them closer together and directly across from each other. Be ready to Hand Over Hand them until you feel like they’re ready for a solo run.
Trevy knows each of the basic shapes I’m using well enough that having them scrambled shouldn’t be too difficult.
Now comes the fun part!
**sample line drawn by mwah**
The object is to help your child draw a line from one shape to it’s match on the other side of the board.
Before (getting brave and) giving Trevy the marker I had him use his fingers to touch a shape. I then Hand Over Handed his finger in a line to the shape’s match. He seemed to get the point quickly. SO I let him go to town.
He did AH-mazing!
Check out the self correction (pictured above) with his line from the blue square to it’s match on the other side!
He made it through 3 (approx. 10 seconds 
) whole shapes before needing a movement break. Love the Sensory Hands rolling the marker.
If you have a BackYard Therapy idea and would like to contribute a post…I’d love to hear from you! Email me at tanzie213@yahoo.com.
…danielle
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...danielle