This report was prepared by the National Lekotek Center

Sculpey Assessment - Report on Key Features and Benefits for children with disabilities

General Play Tips

Things to do to incorporate therapeutic goals:

• Pinch clay with thumb and forefinger – Pincer grasp, used to pick up small items.
• Roll it out on table – Reaching forward/pulling back, upper body control and strength, wrist rotation
• Cut out doubles of a variety of shape to make a matching game, incorporates learning about similarities and differences, visual processing.
• Make four snowmen and have the child do the same to create a counting game
• Manipulate clay to create objects, helps incorporate bilateral sensorimotor activities into pretend play.
• Roll clay into a long snake and create shapes, letters or numbers by manipulating the snake into the desired form.
• Make a round ball and smash it to a pancake, increases hand strength, eye-hand coordination
• Mix together two different colors to make a third – provides visual cause and effect, understanding primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

Children with Cognitive Disabilities

Tools

• For children who have attention difficulties, insert a long wooden dowel inside the red clay roller tube. The longer dowel will give a child more leverage and a better grip to roll the clay flat. Keeping the traditional roller with the wooden dowel is important because children now have a focal point. The red area is the middle of the clay where they are focusing their attention to roll and flatten.
• When using the thin tools, children will practice the same skills needed to hold and control a pencil correctly.

Activities

• Using Sculpey tools or your hands, children create letters, shapes and numbers which will enhance their knowledge of the foundations of literacy and early math.
• Create AB patterns using the different colored clays or molding the same color into two different shapes. Create a line with red square, yellow square, red square, etc. AB patterning is a prerequisite for literacy and math. It helps strengthen visual discrimination skills. Children learn to see and describe likenesses and differences.
• Incorporate blending colors, matching, early math in play. If you are creating an elephant, ask children to mix black and white to make gray. This activity helps children learn what colors mix to make different colors. Make four legs. Children will have to match the length of the legs so the elephant can stand up. This helps incorporate early math – counting the number of legs needed as well as measuring. Children will begin to understand units of measurement and comparisons.
• Children can learn to sort. An adult can use the various colors to create balls. Now have the child sort the colors and group them. Once a child has completed the sorting activity, give him ideas to start his own creativity flowing – “Green balls can be put together to make a bunch of grapes.” “We could roll out the orange balls to make carrots.” “Let’s make a bunny to eat those carrots.” Etc. etc. etc.
• Give the child a theme to build upon. This can help make the task more concrete, can add opportunities for pretend play and imagination, enhance language opportunities and add a social aspect to the play.
• Print large, bold letters on a piece of paper and laminate it. Now have the child roll out the clay in a snake and have him trace over your letter, learning how to form the letters with the clay.
• Create a game by drawing simple objects on index cards. Have a child pick a card and mold the object printed on the card. The cards could either have pictures or words, depending on what the goal is for that child – literacy or visual processing and matching.

Helpful Hints

• Create pictorial instructions for simple creations to help a child identify steps needed to complete a project. Clay is very abstract and children may have difficulty understanding what is expected of them. Help make the concept more concrete.
• Model how to do certain tasks so a child has a visual cue to learn from.
• Use simple words to help teach a child – for instance, “Roll and back. Roll and back” to help learn the basics of flattening the clay.
• Make sure the position a child is sitting in is conducive to clay play. Have his feet planted firmly on the floor, sitting upright in a chair without wheels. This helps to reduce fidgeting and the child can focus better on the play.
• The adult play partner can pre-extrude lengths of clay so that a child can be creative and design without having to break that focus to use the extruder. The extruder requires a significant amount of strength and control to be successful.
• Make sure the environment is conducive to quiet play. If there are too many distractions in the room, children who have attention disorders may find it difficult to attend to the project at hand.
• Start will larger, simpler projects and slowly graduate to more intricate designs as abilities and frustration levels allow.
• Using clay can help a child with attention difficulties keep his hands busy, allowing him to attend to what is being spoken.
• Children who have AD/HD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) may find organized tasks easier to do. First…Second…Third…Last. This will also help a child complete a task from start to finish and gain a sense of accomplishment.
• Children with attention difficulties may find using a tabletop study carrel, made with a cardboard box, will help them focus and concentrate on the creativity at hand and will help block out the distractions of the room.
• Use a well-defined work surface with boundaries, such as a pizza box, shirt box, cookie sheet with a raised edge, a cutting board (used only for this purpose), vinyl placemat. Children who have attention difficulties will have more success if they have defined boundaries for play.
• Older children and adults who have disabilities may find this product satisfying and it is an age appropriate alternative to play dough. Social stigma is not attached to using this product.

Children with Communicative Disabilities

Tools

• No specialized tool modifications are required.

Activities

• Use the tools to draw out letters, shapes and numbers. Children will get the experience of holding a “pencil” correctly and can enhance their knowledge of the foundations of literacy and early math.
• Print large, bold letters on a piece of paper and laminate it. Now have the child roll out the clay in a snake and have him trace over your letter, learning how to form the letters with the clay.
• Use the clay to create objects that can then be used to tell a story. This can help help a child gain practice in speech and language as well as listening and increasing practice in conversation.

Helpful Hints

• Use rubber gloves. Some children who have Autism Spectrum Disorders may have an aversion to the texture of the clay and the feel on their hands.
• Create pictorial instructions for simple creations to help a child identify steps needed to complete a project. Clay is very abstract and children may have difficulty understanding what is expected of them. Help make the concept more concrete.
• Use simple words to help teach a child – for instance, “Roll and back. Roll and back” to help learn the basics of flattening the clay. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders will respond better to simple words and pictures. These short repeated phrases will help a child cognitively process what is to be done. They may respond to singing, so when you are rolling, sing to the tune of Rawhide – “Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ keep that clay rollin’, Rawhide!”
• Use a well-defined work surface with boundaries, such as a pizza box, shirt box, cookie sheet with a raised edge, a cutting board (used only for this purpose), vinyl placemat. Children who have Autism Spectrum Disorders will have more success if they have defined boundaries for focused play.
• Make sure the environment is conducive to quiet play. If there are too many distractions in the room, children who have Autism Spectrum Disorders may find it difficult to attend to the project at hand.

Children with Physical Disabilities

Tools

• Enlarge the handles of the various plastic tools by 1) using a foam hair curler; 2) masking tape wrapped many times around the tool; 3) clay that has been formed to fit the child’s hand and attached snuggly on the tool; 4) attaching a foam ball around tool to increase grasping area
• Place Velcro on the tool and then have the child use a knit mitten or glove. The Velcro will attach to the glove so a child who has limited grasping abilities can use the tools appropriately and successfully. (Children may find this modification cumbersome because the mitten cannot be worn when manipulating clay in hands.)
• Shorten the tools by having an adult cut them in half. Children with physical disabilities may have an easier time working with the tools if they are shorter and if they have a chubby handle on the end to grasp. A chubby handle can be created using a large foam ball.

Activities

• Roll out a sheet of clay to be used with small, plastic animals or play figures. Plant the plastic animals or play figures securely in the clay. The clay will enable a child with physical disabilities to engage successfully without having the pieces fall over.
• Use cookie cutters to create designs. This will lessen the frustration a child may have if they are unable to physically create what they want freeform.
• Use the molds to create identifiable creatures or patterns. The molds work well for children who have physical disabilities because the children are able to create an intricate design without having the dexterity and control to create it freeform.

Helpful Hints

• To flatten the clay, use a large rolling pin that enable a child to grasp both handles securely and roll both away and towards themselves. This not only will assist the child in being successful in flattening the clay, but will also assist in strengthening upper body control.
• Use a well-defined work surface with raised boundaries, such as a pizza box, shirt box, or cookie sheet. Children who have physical limitations will benefit from a play space with boundaries where all tools and play can remain within reach.
• Use a bacon press instead of the rolling pin. This requires one movement, not back and forth. There are different designs for bacon presses; some have two handles, others have one. Use the one that best fits a child’s abilities. It will require some upper body and arm strength, but does lessen the steps and refined movements that the clay roller requires.
• The adult play partner can pre-extrude lengths of clay so that a child, who has muscle weakness, can be creative and design without the frustration and disappointment that may come when attempting to use the extruder independently. The extruder requires a significant amount of strength and control to be successful.

Children with Sensory Disabilities

Tools

• Enlarge the handles of the various plastic tools using a foam hair curler, masking tape wrapped many times around the tool, clay that has been formed to fit the child’s hand and attach snuggly on the tool, foam ball around tool to increase grasping area and allow a child with visual impairments to easily orient the tool in his hand.

Activities

• Add uncooked rice or beans to the clay to incorporate a different tactile experience. Children not only can benefit from the unique tactile experience, but they can also pick out the beans from the clay, enabling them to refine finger dexterity.
• Use cookie cutters with well defined shapes and create a matching game by feel.

Helpful Hints

• Use a well-defined work surface with boundaries, such as a pizza box, shirt box, cookie sheet with a raised edge, or a cutting board (used only for this purpose). Children who have visual limitations will have more success if they know the boundaries of play.
• Place the tools in an easy to access container so a child knows where the tools are and they will not roll away from reach.
• Use rubber gloves. Some children who have Sensory Integration Disorders may have an aversion to the texture of the clay and the feel on their hands.
• Add a drop or two of a cooking extract, such as vanilla, mint, or lemon. This will enable a child who has visual limitations to enhance play utilizing another sense.
• Adjust the lightening – brighter or dimmer – depending on what is optimal for the child with a visual impairment or sensory integration disorder.
• Use a play surface that highly contrasts the color of the clay. If you are using light colored clay, such as yellow, use a dark surface so the child can readily see the clay.
• Building with clay can help a child who has a visual impairment “see” what something is. Build an ice cream cone, lion or person. The child with a visual impairment can use his sense of touch to understand the parts that make up the object.
• Place the clay in the refrigerator or freeze for a couple minutes. Children will gain a different tactile experience with cold, firm clay. They will also be able to feel as the clay warms and softens in their hands.

Children with Emotional Disabilities

Tools

• Place small rubber bands of equal thicknesses on each end of the roller. This will enable a child to roll out the clay in a uniform thickness without frustration.

Activities

• Create a structure together with a child. This will help to begin a bond or relationship with that child in a way that is non-threatening. The need for personal space must be respected. Children, through the building of a good relationship, can allow people in to that personal space – over time and with permission.
• Copy the child’s actions and build the same thing at the same time. This parallel activity helps a child feel accepted and will help to strengthen the relationship between the child and adult.
• Create a family of clay creatures and have a child act out a story. It can be a well known story at the beginning and then perhaps the child can act out a recent real situation. Healing can happen with conversation. By having the clay creatures, the child is able to take a step back from the situation, look at it in a different light, understand it, learn from it or release it. A child may also find it easier to talk as one of the creatures – making the story in third person, as opposed to the attention on him directly.
• Direct a child on how to create a particular creature. This will help a child listen to the steps and follow directions.
• Start by making a simple creation and have the child do the same. Gradually increase the difficulty as the child’s self confidence and abilities strengthen.
• Have a child think through the steps necessary to complete a creature or structure. This exercise can help attain problem solving skills that can generalize to real life situations.
• Have the child create a face using the clay. This can be an exercise in self expression and can give an adult or caregiver insight into the child’s opinion or picture of self.

Helpful Hints

• Use different items as tools – such as pencils, marker tops, toothpicks, shells, wire, cardstock, wooden scraps, plastic utensils, cookie cutters, bottle caps, stones. Children’s level of self esteem will heighten as they discover and explore and are successful in creating their own ideas.
• Clay can be used for therapeutic results. Feeling, squishing and molding clay can be emotionally soothing.
• Manipulating clay can enable a child to express feelings and emotions that he may otherwise be unable to voice.
• As children begin to understand that there are simple projects to do and more difficult projects, they will also realize in life there are big problems and small problems. Do not sweat the small stuff.
• Oftentimes, it is best for children to complete a project, rather than worry about perfecting each step. Beginning, middle and end is an important concept to learn.