Bucket time is a component of Gina Davies’ Attention Autism strategy. It aims to strengthen children’s collaborative focus abilities in a social context. Today we will focus on the best bucket time ideas for the attention autism program.
Following bucket times, the children are introduced to motivational and eye-catching environments that enable them to concentrate for long periods and participate in adult-supervised group tasks.
Although this strategy is developed for autistic kids, Bucket Time could be a valuable tool for any kid who struggles to participate in adult-led tasks and maintain focus. Before we jump into bucket time ideas, first get to know more about attention bucket time.
What Is This Bucket Time?
The Attention Autism program progresses in phases, developing per each level of ability. When the kid is willing to grow their attention abilities, a new stage is introduced. Begin with phase one and move to the next phases as the youngster is ready.
There are 4 phases to this program.
- Attention Grabber
- Attention Builder
- Turn Taking
- Shifting and Rearranging Attention
The attention bucket is in the first phase. A bucket of visually appealing toys is filled to teach toddlers how to concentrate their attention. The adult leader shows the group a toy and remarks about it using simple words. So, you should have good bucket time ideas for attention seeking.
Aims
- To draw attention
- To enhance joint attention
- To create mutual pleasure in group work
- To improve participation in adult-led activities.
- Promote spontaneous cooperation in a normal group environment
- Improve nonverbal and verbal communication
- Increasing the breadth and depth of one’s vocabulary
- To have a good time
What Do You Need For Attention Bucket Time?
A ‘bucket’ is a non-see-through container that stores a variety of tiny object classes such as wind-up, pop-up, artistic, or rotary toys.
The kids will discover it aesthetically attractive, but they haven’t seen anything like it before.The whimsical value is critical, so you must amass a diverse collection to preserve the feeling of surprise. You should be inventive, but not perplex them.Best bucket time ideas should be innovative.
During this time, you may have to be resourceful and decorate common home things such as eyewear, headgear, cooking rolls, plastic containers, containers, and so on to make visually interesting products and musical instruments.
Take something out at a moment to display to the child.Do not Allow the child to play with the toys and do not use them for anything other than bucket time as it results to lose attention.
How To Do It?
Children with Autism often are visual learners and possess a strong memory for things that they find fascinating. These domains of strength are used by Attention Autism to facilitate learning and you should include visually appealing items to your bucket. That’s the basis of the best bucket time ideas.
It seeks to engage children by providing highly engaging activities as a foundation for introducing other skills such as cooperative play, turn-taking, and verbal fluency.
The goal is to elicit spontaneous participation from the kid rather than just instructing the youngster to listen, observe, and participate in an activity.
Steps To Fulfill Your Bucket Time Ideas
- Fill a bucket with highly motivating, fast-paced toys.
- Sing the bucket song made for this activity as it can create an excitement
- Produce a specific object that will create a great joy or an excitement within a short time.
Things to Remember
Your first attempt should be to show and then you need to add some words
- Allow time for thought and be silent
- Remember that haste causes anxiety
- Practice and double-check that the toys operate
- Get your peers on board
- Have fun with the toys
The Goals are for the Youngster To
- Focus their focus on the adult-led activity ability
- To engage their focus with excitement
- Relax and appreciate these moments
To have successful bucket time ideas, you should avoid and clear all other distractions. Place the child facing towards you.
Structure
Following the applicable visual communication method, begin by sketching a bucket on a small chalkboard or pad of paper and writing ‘bucket’ beneath it. Then you set the mood by chanting the bucket song before actually opening the bucket and revealing one of its mysteries.
Vocabulary
At this time, attempt to keep your communication minimal since you want your kid to look at the item, pay close attention to it, and interact with it visually. You’ll all be gazing at it, so you’ll all have the same shared experience.
When you take it out of the bucket, for example, you could say, “Light wheel.” Then you return it to the bucket and choose another. Three tasks in rapid order take approximately three to five minutes to finish.
Then you check it, pass the bucket off the table, and go back to whatever other things the kids have been doing.Following the bucket action with a positive activity, such as snacking, may be beneficial.
Rules
- Do not give the toys/objects to your child; they should be kept special.
- Similarly, don’t put something in the bucket which your kid already owns and enjoys playing with.
- Imagine the anguish of a child who loves Peppa Pig and sees his favorite toy held out next to him but out of limits!
- Practitioners begin by displaying three items from the bucket in a quick sequence, gradually increasing to 3-4 minutes of focused attention. ‘Focused attention’ may appear differently in an Autistic child than in a non-autistic child;
However, the Attention Autism method does not demand the kid to look at the adult or to maintain an eye-gaze on the objects; rather, ‘focused attention’ may be noted by gestures such as appearing alert and keen and often looking at the thing.
Bucket time ideas final outcome should be the attention.When the happiest, comfortable, and looking forward to the session, they are prepared to move on to stage 2. This is a procedure, not an only one activity.
Conclusion
This approach seeks to instill a desire to discover new things and facilitate communication in whichever way works best for the child. Teachers must be certified in this strategy to successfully offer it. Having great bucket time ideas is essential to deliver the best experience to children.
