As I have explained in a previous Blog Post, we stumbled across the idea of using clothes pegs for work tasks while working with autistic pupils in a special class attached to a mainstream school. We found that using the clothes pegs allowed certain pupils to access the curriculum in a way in which they were previously unable to do.
The video below gives a demonstration of how a typical peg-based activity might work in the classroom. I’ve attempted to replicate at home while recording the video what the pupil’s work area in the classroom might look like.
You will notice that the pupil is following a “First-Then” work schedule and that they are following a Left-Right orientation for the completion of the task – ie. the materials for the task are on the left, the task is completed in the middle and completed work is placed in the finished box on the right.
It’s important to note that the correct amount of pegs and cards are ready for the pupil – this enables them to know and understand when the task is completed.
The spelling activity featured in the video is an example of some new spelling activities which I’ve just added to the site. There are 20 cards in each pack and they contain a set of themed words – the pack in the video are all “family” words. Each card gives four possible spellings for each word – the pupil has to find the correct spelling and place a clothes peg on that spelling.
The pegs that I am using in this video are soft grip pegs which are a little shorter than the traditional wooden clothes pegs. They are also softer to the touch, so pupils with sensory issues might prefer them. The activity also doubles up as a great fine motor activity as it forces the pupil to work hard on their pincer grip in order to place the peg onto the card.
This activity also forces the pupil to work with both hands – holding the card in one hand while attaching the peg with the other. Some of the answers are on the right side of the card and some are on the left – this also forces the pupil to work the pincer grip on both hands.
You will also notice a procedure which pupils that we taught followed – they “posted” the token that represented the task they were working on in a little “posting card” which were located throughout our classrooms.
When the task has been completed, you will also notice in the video that the pupil removed the token from the “Then” box – each pupil had a personalised token, in this instance it was a car, and this informed them that they had to check their schedule which was located in a “Transition Area”. The pupil would bring their token to their schedule, post it into an envelope there and remove the next visual from their schedule which would inform them what they had to do next.
