Ask Me Anything - Bucket Time & Touching Items

Ask Me Anything - Bucket Time & Touching Items

Welcome to my "Ask Me Anything" blog post series!

I answer lots of questions on my social media channels, and it makes sense to share this information (anonymously!) in case it is useful for others, too.

"Hello, I have a bucket time question, please! How do you deal with children wanting to touch the items? When I have done this activity previously, the children didn’t touch, but they were less complex and could do up to stage 3 of Attention Autism. Do you let them touch and play with the objects at the end of the session, or is it “bucket time finished”, and you put it away? Don’t know whether to set the rules that no we are finished and move on or give them time to play and explore?"

Here are some tips that have helped me this week;

1- Put a wipeable 2m x 2m sheet in between you and where the children are 

2- Close the lid and put the bucket behind you when you take an item out

3- Make it snappy. My stage 1 takes 2 minutes max, and my stage 2 is 3 minutes maximum 

4 - Coach your adults to give deep pressure squeezes during to regulate them

I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, let me know.

*I am not a doctor or medical professional, so for some questions, you might want to contact your GP, the National Autistic Society, or the NHS.

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