9 ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN WITH ASPERGER'S (WORK ON EMOTIONS) - ECONOMÍA - 2024

In this article we present 9 activities for children with Asperger's to work skills and competencies that are advantageous for general life. Because people with this syndrome find it very difficult to relate to the environment and the people around them, it is necessary to carry out activities that help them and provide clues of how they have to act in different situations.

These activities are intended to familiarize the child with basic emotions and feelings; This is essential for them to learn to relate better and improve their emotional intelligence. On the other hand, you also want to establish the associations between the facial features of the face and emotions.

Asperger Kids Activity List

1. What emotion is it?

Procedure: We will stand in front of the child and we will show him different pictograms that show basic emotions such as joy and sadness, among others. Each time we present one of them, we will tell it the emotion that corresponds to it so that the child identifies the concept in the image.

It is important that we describe the emotion and some of your facial features to you. As the session progresses, we will try to be the one who gives us the pictogram when we name an emotion.

Materials: Pictograms or images about people who are showing basic emotions in some way such as: joy, fear, sadness…

2. We play with Mister Potato

Procedure: We will create a Potato from newspaper and glue mixed with water, and then paint it as we want. This will be complemented with different facial features associated with different emotions that will be made up of eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth. To make it much easier to work with this doll, we will put Velcro on both the doll and the plasticized facial features.

In this way, at first we will be the ones who show the emotions to the child with the different parts of the face. Then we will name an emotion for him and he will play with the cards. For example, if we want a happy face, we will put eyebrows, eyes and mouth that correspond to that emotion.

Materials: we can use the pictograms that we have used in the previous activity to carry out this activity, although it is advisable that we do them so that they can be glued and exchanged with the velcro.

On the other hand, to create the doll, the ideal is that we use: balloon, glue, water, brush, brown paint, newspaper, cardboard, glue and Velcro.

3. We play tic-tac-toe

With activities 3 and 4 that we present below, the child will be able to identify basic emotions through facial features. On the other hand, it will also be possible to associate emotions and describe situations in which these emotional abilities occur.

Procedure: We will make a game similar to the original tic-tac-toe, but in this case based on emotions. This activity can be done not only with the child with Asperger's but also with the class in general. To do this, the child will have to know what the corresponding feeling is and relate it to their peers.

First, we will have him name the emotions that appear on the cards and then we will begin to play respecting the rules of the game. You can establish different turns to interact with the other children.

Material: Noughts and crosses and cards in which the different emotions to be worked on appear.

4. How do I feel?

Procedure: to carry out this game we will start from Who is who? and we will make cards with faces that show different emotions. First, we will discuss some circumstances or characteristics of emotions, such as when you are happy, angry, sad, etc.

Afterwards, the child can play in pairs with some classmates. It is important to explain that you have to remember what emotion you have and that you cannot discuss it with your partner. They will establish turns of intervention between them until they manage to find out.

Material: Pictograms of emotions.

5. Twister of emotions

Procedure: this activity is designed for the child to do with four or five other companions. It is based on the original game, only that in our case it will not be colors but emotions accompanied by two dice. In one there will be represented either the hands or the legs and in another the emotions.

At first we will only play with the different emotions as if it were the original game. That is, we will roll the different dice and it will appear depending on what is coming out in the dice while we play.

Once we are done, we will play the child different songs that make him feel different feelings, so that he can not only recognize them but also internalize them. Next, you will need to verbalize what the songs have made you feel.

To continue playing, we will remove the emotions die and leave only the body parts die. In this way, we will give the child a song that they have heard previously and they will roll the dice having to place a hand or leg on the feeling that the song produces.

Materials: Twister of emotions. In the event that we do not have this game, we can create it with cardboard and drawings.

6. We create a book of emotions

With the following two activities, an attempt is made to develop in the student the ability to express their basic emotions. On the other hand, it is also intended to offer you the possibility of being able to make your basic emotions known.

Procedure: to carry out this session, the student will create a personalized book, using cardboard that they will decorate to their liking. Your name and a title may appear on the cover of the book that reflects what it will contain inside.

This book is intended to collect the emotions felt by the child in his daily life. Therefore, to ensure that this objective is met, specific questions will be asked written on a sheet of paper that will later be given to the child.

To make this activity more effective, the child must accompany his answers with a drawing of the emotions he has been feeling.

Materials: cardboard, colored pencils, scissors and glue.

7. We build a traffic light

With activities 7 and 8, children will be able to control basic emotions at all times. They will also be taught to know how to differentiate the emotions they feel at all times and to control their behavior.

Procedure: it will be made with cardboard. On a black card, three circles will be placed, one red, one yellow and one green. A black cross will also be made, which will have a velcro on the back, as will each of the circles, to be able to stick on them, depending on how the child is at that moment.

This traffic light will help us to know how the student is at all times. Along with the creation of this, a guide will also be made that explains the meaning of each color. Red indicates stopping, for when you cannot control emotions such as rage or anger.

Subsequently, the color that goes is yellow, here what we want is to make the child aware that it is time to think and reconsider about the problem we have and for which we have stopped (red color).

Once we have stopped (red color) and have thought about the problem (yellow color) we come to green. This color has been assigned to the fact of looking for a solution to the problem that the child presents. Therefore, when you are at this point, you will try to think about the best solution that can be given.

Materials: Colored cards, colored pencils, glue, scissors and velcro.

8. We classify behaviors

Procedure: In the second activity, a board with different actions will be created. Of these actions the child will have to catalog those that he believes are good actions and those that he believes are not appropriate.

These will be related to things that may happen within the school, from the classroom with their classmates, to things that may happen in the playground at recess time. For example: I share things with my classmates, I don't obey the teacher's instructions, etc.

Materials: Colored cards, colored pencils, glue and scissors.

9. We read a story

This activity is intended for the child to know how to identify the emotions of each of the characters that appear both in the story and in any story or movie. On the other hand, it is also intended to motivate the child to empathize by asking her questions to put herself in the situation of each one of them.

Procedure: In this session the class will proceed to the reading of a story. The particularity of this story is based on the fact that all the characters throughout the development of the story have different emotions. The idea is that the child understands and recognizes the emotions of others from this point of view.

Once the story is seen, they will ask a series of questions related to the emotions of the characters. With the answer to these questions, the student will have to think and put himself in the place of these people.

Given that the child already knows how to work with the traffic light, he will practice this technique with the characters in the story, identifying each one with the color that he thinks he resembles and his emotion.

Material: traffic light and story.

Conclusions

Working with people who have autism or Asperger's can become complicated if the characteristics that form it are not taken into account.

Therefore, it is convenient that in addition to learning about this disorder, you also pay attention to the particularities that the child in question may present.

If we pay attention to this, working with him will be very easy if you are patient and consistent. At first, its evolution will be slow or we will not even see any progress, however it is important that we do not give up, since when we least expect it, it can surprise us.