Learning Activity 1

Magic Carpet Rides 3

Creating anAtmosphere

What You Need• Appropriate music or video• Scented candle or oil• A selection of fabrics for

role-play

Areas of LearningPrimaryPersonal Development and Mutual Understanding

Post-PrimaryPersonal Development

2 Magic Carpet Rides

Touch• Different carpet textures

• Fabrics such as velvet, silk or organza

• Sand

• Water

• Wool

• Beads

• Jewels

• Gems

Smell• Spices

• Cinnamon sticks

• Herbs

Taste• Spices

• Curries

• Rice

• Dates

You can also search online for sensory ideas.

Setting the SceneCreate an inviting and colourful area in the room by decorating your walls and notice boards with views of the wonders which the learners will experience on the magic carpet ride. These can be photographs or pictures from travel books and holiday brochures as well as some of the learners’ artwork.

What to DoPosition the ‘magic carpet’ so that the learners can either sit on it, or group around it.

Some sensory cue suggestions for Magic Carpet Rides are:

• the Whole New World video from the Disney film Aladdin, or the Magic Carpet music video by Daniel Wurtzel;

• a piece of carpet presented to the learner so that they can become familiar with the feel and texture of it; or

• scent from a candle or an oil to represent your destination, for example an Indian Spice scented candle.

Further SuggestionsSensory boxesLearners with PMLD explore and understand the world through their senses. A simple, inexpensive but effective resource which can support and enhance your theme is to create sensory boxes. You can fill these boxes with items that evoke each of the senses of smell, touch, sight, taste and hearing. These items must be connected to the activities.

These boxes can be used to support learners to develop their senses by:

• focusing on one sense at a time through a one-to-one interaction between teacher and learner in order to ‘wake up’ the senses (be careful to choose the most suitable time of day for individual learners); and

• using them to enhance the other activities throughout the theme.

You can use the following to get you started:

Sight• Projector lights

• Projection wheel

• Colourful fabrics

• Torches

• Lamps

Sound• Ocean drums

• Indian bells

• Shakers

Magic Carpet Rides 3