April is a very special month to me. My first born, Selina, was born in April. This month, six years ago, I got to fulfill my biggest goal in life, becoming a mommy. As these past six years have come and gone, April has also gained another importance in my life. April is Autism awareness month.
When Selina was just about a year old, I became concerned at some of her behaviors. She was very sensitive to sounds and textures. She didn’t want to self-feed or eat foods that could have been messy. During her birthday parties, she would cover her ears or hide under the table when “Happy Birthday” was being sung to her. These behaviors are common with children on the Autism Spectrum. Sensory needs and education are so important to children with Autism.
While at an elementary conference this winter, one of the presenters was sharing with me about how she uses Wikki Stix in her classroom.
I had only seen them on TV at that point and had never even touched them. The presenter shared how she used the Wikki Stix to help her students practice their sight words. Just a few weeks later, I was given the opportunity to review Wikki Stix myself. I was so excited to sign up to check out this new product to see if these ideas I had just learned about would be beneficial to my girls and the kids in my own class. I was thrilled to be able to introduce Wikki Stix to Selina and Sophie.
I told the girls that we were going to explore all of the great things that we could do with the Wikki Sticks. When I came downstairs, the girls were sitting in the living room with TV trays ready for some exploration.
First of all, I wanted to try a more “teacher” approach to the Wikki Stix. Both the girls are learning how to read. I cut the Wikki Stix into small pieces and had the girls look in a book and underline each word that they knew with a Wikki Stix piece.
The girls were so excited to see how many words they knew on the pages. Then when they read the page, each of the girls read quickly when they got to the underlined words they knew.
It was really awesome to see their reactions. The best part is that the Wikki Stix did not damage the book pages, and can be used over and over again on each new page.
The next thing I had the girls do, was use the Wikki Stix to form letters of words that they know to practice their sight words. I took some of the Wikki Stix and cut them into different sizes so they could form the different letters. I really liked this use of the Wikki Stix for sight word practice.
In my own classroom, I use sand, gel, and shaving cream to have the students practice their sight words. Wikki Stix would also provide another form of multisensory practice for students whom might be sensitive to the other forms I already use.
The girls were most excited when I allowed them to explore the Wikki Stix freely.
They had so much fun using all the Wikki Stix pieces to create pictures. Selina played with them for over an hour. She loved that she could place the stix down on the cardstock and pick them up again to make her picture “just right.”
What I Love About Wikki Stix:
- Many uses for education and recreation
- Mistake free
- Reusable
- Multisensory resource
The products were provided for review. No compensation was received. The honest opinions are my own and that of my family.
Follow Us