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Section 10
Track #10: Shape Sorting Box


Table of Contents | NCCAP/NCTRC CE Booklet

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Transcript of Track #10

Earlier I talked about the bank exercise. The next exercise is called the Shape Sorting Box. If you have a resident who is able to do the bank exercise easily but have problems doing the geometric puzzle, a step higher in difficulty above the bank exercise is shape sorting. To construct this activity, take a shoebox and cut various shapes in the lid. The three holes in the shoebox lid could be a circle to drop a Styrofoam ball through. A rectangular shape through which a Gatorade type lid could fit and a slot through which a 4-inch by 4-inch square of cardboard could fit.

A little history on this activity before I go on. Years ago there was a toy called the Tupperware shape ball. Many of us old timers will remember this one. Activity departments use to give these to residents as a one-to-one activity. However in many cases it proved to be very frustrating and actually demoralizing to the resident because it clearly was a child’s toy.

However there were so many shapes with subtle differences it was hard to match the correct shape with the correct hole. Also the fit was so snug that it required a lot of manual dexterity to get the shape to go into the hole. The point to be made is the shape sorting box is a simplified cheap much more appropriate Tupperware shape ball.

However, when choosing objects to drop into the box, choose shapes that are mutually exclusive. That is for example with my shape sorting box I have a Gatorade lid which will not fit through the hole for the cardboard rectangle and neither of these two objects will fit through the hole for the Styrofoam ball. Also a hint about construction, I find a matinee for a paint scraper that you buy at a hardware store paint store that holds a razor blade works well to make these cuts in the top of the box.

Also this matinee works fine for the Bank Exercise to cut the rectangle in the top of the butter dish. You take a sharp pointed scissors, poke a hole to get one point of the scissors through then cut. As with other objects, the shoebox and cardboard rectangle are covered with construction paper and then clear contact paper.

After you have assessed that the resident can do the lower ability level activities of Caps in a Bowl and the Bank Exercise you might then put the shape sorting box in front of your resident and say something like “Martha I got a game for you to try. Would you like to try a game for me? Let me show you how this works” and then usually limiting verbalizations just demonstrate. Take the lid and just show them how it drops through the rectangular shaped hole, demonstrating a couple of times.

I find a lot of verbalization is distracting to disorientated residents so assess what works best for you and your resident. Then hand one lid to the resident to see if they understand how to do it after you have demonstrated a couple of times. If they start to put it through the wrong hole gently glide their hand over to the correct one. Once again you do need to have a resident who has the capability of eye contact, the thumb and index finger movement to grasp, as well as an attention span of at least 30 seconds.

Two Ways to Adapt Difficulty
There are two ways to vary or to adapt the difficulty level of shape sorting.
1. First of all you can vary the amount of assistance that you give to the resident. For example, for your lower functioning resident, your care plan goal might be to do shape sorting with physical assistance. Remember how I talked about gliding the resident’s hand to the correct hole? A more difficult goal would be to do shape sorting independently once started.

By this I mean you demonstrate a couple of times and once you get them started they can function independently. The highest or most difficult shape-sorting goal based on assistance would be to do shape sorting independently. In short you give the resident a stack of shapes and they put the shapes into the box for you.

2. Also you can adapt the difficulty level via the number of shapes. Your care plan goal might read something like “shape sorting with two shapes” or “to do shape sorting with four shapes”. As with the Bank Exercise, you can vary the sizes of the holes in the box lid which requires less manual dexterity the larger the hole is.

The goal would be to do shape sorting with two shapes using large holes or with large slots. The care plan approach would be to encourage with praise or to encourage with the fun aspect of a game or a puzzle or to remind the resident that picking up and pushing the shapes through the holes is a good finger exercise.

Question 10: What is an example of mutually exclusive shapes for the shape-sorting box?

NCCAP/NCTRC CE Booklet
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Table of Contents

Note-Taking Exercise
Shape Sorting Box

What three things does a resident need to have to do the Shape Sorting Box?
1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

What are two ways to adapt the difficulty of the Shape Sorting Box?
1.

 

2.

 

 

Residents with whom to try the Shape Sorting Box

Residents

Who will gather materials and/or construct project?

Staff /Volunteer to work with resident?  When?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culture Change Implementation: Place the Shape Sorting Box in an Activity Project Bag left in resident’s room for CNA, volunteer, etc. use.


NCCAP/NCTRC CE Booklet
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