You will need:

• A transparent container – we used a 500ml drinks bottle but you can use something with a wider neck if you want to use larger objects inside. 
• Something ‘granular’ for the shaking part of the search jar, e.g. rice, lentils, small plastic beads, sand. 
• A range of objects small enough to pass through the neck of your container but varied enough to be easily and separately identifiable. Items could include coins, small plastic figurines, nuts and bolts, snippets of coloured thread, shells, brightly coloured beads or even parts of old jewellery!

Instructions:

1. Place all your ‘search’ items into the container and cover with the granules. Top tip: Do this in layers to ensure they are spread out within the jar. Don’t just fill the jar with granules first and then try to fit them all in as that will end up in a mess. 

2. Secure the lid: depending on who you will be sharing the jar with, you may want to glue the lid shut, or simply ensure it is well screwed on. 

3. Label accordingly, either with a list of items or simply the number of items that are in the container. Top tip: Add a short instruction or question, e.g. “Find 6 items” or “What can you find in me?” 

4. Your search jar is complete – we hope it brings you and the children hours of fun!

You will need:

• Punnet of strawberries 
• 4/5 bananas 
• Zip seal freezer bags 
• Blender 
• Mixing bowl 
• Cones/bowls 

Instructions:

1. Prepare the fruit in advance by chopping up a punnet of strawberries and 4 or 5 bananas. 

2. The children can help by placing the fruit into zip-seal freezer bags and sealing them tight, being careful to squeeze out the air without squeezing out the fruit!  

3. Freeze for 6 hours, break up into chunks and blitz in a blender until it is the consistency of a smoothie.  

4. Pour it into a big dish, cover and freeze for a further hour.  

5. The children can then spoon the ice cream straight from the freezer and serve it to each other in a cone or in a cup.  

6. Don’t forget the sauce and sprinkles! 

10. Add the frozen peas then mix

11. The rice should be a lovely brown colour. Mix and put on the hob on a high heat and keep stirring

12. Add the chopped pineapple and the chopped omelette

13. Mix it all together and cook on a high heat for around 5 minutes

14. Serve this into a bowl

This craft is in relation to the “Celebrating difference and neurodivergence - part 4” article by Joanna Grace

5. You could try the following:

Cotton wool, peeled soft fruit - like grapes or tomatoes (dropping them into boiling water makes their skin easy to peel off) something gooey or slimy, like slime, gak or a homemade playdough, feathers, polystyrene, ice cubes

6. A feelie box is essentially a container that isolates our sense of touch. Consider how you could create a similar experience for other senses, like tasting with a blindfold on or closing your eyes and listening

10. Add the frozen peas then mix

11. The rice should be a lovely brown colour. Mix and put on the hob on a high heat and keep stirring

12. Add the chopped pineapple and the chopped omelette

13. Mix it all together and cook on a high heat for around 5 minutes

14. Serve this into a bowl