Welcome to our series, "Playful Possibilities: Everyday Items, Endless Fun," where we explore creative ways to use everyday household items to foster learning and interaction for young autistic children. In this article, we'll dive into the surprising potential of plastic containers and how these items can be used to create fun, interactive play experiences. By incorporating Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) strategies, we'll show you how to enhance attention, boost motivation, and support social engagement using this simple household item.
The Power of Everyday Play
Plastic containers are often overlooked as toys, but they offer a world of possibilities for open-ended, imaginative play. When combined with NDBI strategies, they become a powerful resource to help build foundational social and communication skills. Let's take a look at how this everyday item can be used to create meaningful connections through interactive play.
1. Stacking Towers
Description: Use different sizes of plastic containers (and lids) to build towers. Encourage the child to stack them as high as they can before they tip over. Or, before you knock them over together.
Learning Opportunities: This activity helps with fine motor skills, visual performance skills, turn-taking, and problem-solving as the child decides which container should go on top.
NDBI Strategies: Narrate the actions as you and the child build the tower (e.g., ‘block on’ ‘tower crash’ ‘fall down’). Remember to use clear words and phrases that the child can understand and might be able to repeat (e.g., up, on top, uh oh, down, so big, crash, boom, etc.). Offer the child choices about which container they want to stack next, whether they want to knock the tower down themselves, have you knock it down, or, even better, knock it down together. If you are playing in the kitchen, you can keep some of the plastic containers in a cupboard or on the counter where they are out of reach. This environmental arrangement strategy will provide you with opportunities to have the child follow a point, reach for the item, request using sounds, words, or phrases, gesture to be picked up to reach the container, and more!
2. Sound Shakers
Description: Fill plastic containers with different materials (e.g., rice, beans, small bells, etc.) to create shakers. Let the child explore the different sounds by shaking each container and discovering which makes the loudest or softest noise. Always supervise young children when using small items to ensure they do not put them in their mouth.
Learning Opportunities: This activity helps with sensory exploration, cause and effect understanding, and auditory discrimination.
NDBI Strategies: Exaggerate your facial expressions as the child shakes the containers. You can pretend to be startled or scared, happy, or excited. Watch the child’s reaction and see if they find your animated actions entertaining. If so, watch for them to orient or shift their gaze towards you before you react. You can change the pace of your actions. Take one of the containers and shake it slow, shake it fast, or mix it up. Did that capture the child’s attention? Did they copy you? Observe what the child is doing and imitate their actions. Did they notice you copying them? You can also use the filled containers as drums. What sound do the containers make when you and the child bang on them? Can you create a rhythm by banging the 'drums' together to promote shared engagement?
3. Container Hide and Seek
Description: Hide a small toy or snack inside one of the containers, mix them up, and ask the child to guess where the item is hidden. Take turns and let the child hide the item for you to find.
Learning Opportunities: This game builds anticipation and focus as the child waits to reveal the hidden object.
NDBI Strategies: Provide verbal hints or gestures, offering the child the opportunity to make guesses and engage in the discovery process. Celebrate with enthusiasm when they find the hidden item, reinforcing the joy of shared play. Exaggerate your gestures when it’s your turn to find the hidden item. You can put your hands on your hip and make a thoughtful facial expression, put your hand on your chin while you're ‘thinking,’ or raise your arms in an ‘I don’t know’ gesture. You can point to, knock on the lid, or tap the top of the container to help the child locate the hidden item, while showing interest in gestures and actions.
Enhancing Attention - While stacking the towers, you can make silly sounds each time the child adds a container. This technique helps them shift their attention between the stacking activity and the fun sounds, enhancing their engagement and focus. The higher they build the tower, the more nervous you can pretend to get with your facial expressions (e.g. use wide eyes, an open mouth, gasps, etc) and when it is time for the tower to fall down, you can pretend to be scared. Place the container on your head to see if the child will notice it, and reach for it or request for you to hand it to them, so they can continue stacking.
Boosting Motivation - For some children, the big event for the activity can be highly motivating (e.g., block tower falls down, find the hidden item, etc.). For other children, they might need you to try other strategies to help maintain social motivation during the activity. If they enjoy stacking tall towers, you can assist them by lifting them up so they can place the containers on top, especially when the tower gets too high for them to reach on their own. For the hidden item activity, try using wind-up toys. When the child finds the item, they’ll have a chance to ask for your help in winding it up, providing another opportunity for communication. There are wind-up toys that spin, flip, turn, or move quickly—observe which ones the child enjoys the most to boost their motivation.
Supporting Social Engagement - For the sound shaker activity, if it's safe and there's no risk of the child putting items in their mouth, you can give them a spoon to help fill the containers before sealing the lid. Some children enjoy the visual and auditory effects of pouring items that make different sounds. You can support social communication by offering the child choices of which items to pour. For the stacking towers activity, animate your facial expressions and gestures (ways to maintain both attention and motivation) which can also help support shared engagement. You can place the containers around the room, so that both you and the child need to run and find them before stacking the next tower. Remember to place a few containers where the child can’t reach them (in sight, out of reach) so there are opportunities for the child to request help.
Conclusion
The beauty of using plastic containers (and other everyday household items) is that they provide low-cost, accessible tools that can spark creativity and social engagement in young autistic children. By incorporating NDBI strategies like offering choices, adjusting your energy to match the child's, and sharing excitement during play, these simple items become catalysts for learning and interaction. Stay tuned for more creative ways to foster fun and learning in our "Playful Possibilities" series! Whether it’s laundry baskets, plastic containers, or other household items, the opportunities for play and connection are endless.
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