6. Modifying Activities to Support Active Engagement Part 1

Have you ever used Siri, Alexa, or another virtual assistant to send a text message, drank coffee from a spill-proof tumbler, or used a ramp while pushing a stroller, shopping cart, or rolling suitcase? If you have, then you’ve used a modification. Modifications are small changes to activities, materials, and environments that help children participate as easily and independently as possible. While modifications are helpful for all of us, like the ramp example we just talked about, they are especially important in inclusive settings where children with and without disabilities play and learn together. Modifications are one simple way to make sure that everyone can participate in all activities. This video is about how to use modifications in any program or setting to help all children participate. We’ll discuss four different types of modifications and see how one school team uses these to support Elaine. Let’s get started.

Modification can have a big impact on a child’s participation, sense of belonging, and overall learning. Modifications don’t involve altering the content or goal of an activity; instead, they are minor changes that help a certain child participate. We often describe modifications as a small change that has a big impact, and when modifications are in place, children can join in the same activities as their peers and work towards the same goals. We’ll talk about four strategies for making modifications: changing the environment, changing the materials, including a child’s preferences, and simplifying activities.

Elaine is a 10-year-old with a disability in her creative drawing class. Elaine and a few other children have a hard time staying in their seats for long stretches of time. The art teacher, Ms. Miller, notices this and adds a standing table in the classroom. With this modification, Elaine and others have an alternative place to do their art when staying seated becomes too challenging. It’s also been difficult for Elaine to focus on her art during extended independent drawing time. She often wants to know when these activities will be over, so Ms. Miller provides a visual timer placed at the front of the room where it can be seen easily by everyone. With this simple addition, Elaine and the rest of the group can independently see how much time is remaining for each activity. Finally, Elaine has trouble transitioning out of drawing class. When class is over, she always needs more time to finish her start. Ms. Miller wonders if Elaine needs a warning so she can anticipate that class will come to an end and isn’t surprised when class is over. So she verbally announces when there are 10 minutes left and 5 minutes left until the end of class and uses the visual timer to count down. These two modifications give Elaine enough warning and time to prepare for the end of class, allowing her to wrap up any unfinished drawing.

Now let’s talk about modifying materials. Writing and art activities are challenging for Elaine. She has a hard time keeping her paper stable when coloring and often gets frustrated when it moves around the table. So Ms. Miller tapes her paper to the table to keep it secure. With this simple change, Elaine can concentrate on the drawing activity rather than keeping her paper in place. Holding pencils is another tricky skill for Elaine. Ms. Miller can see that there are other children in class who also have difficulty holding their pencils correctly. To help with this, she keeps a bin of pencil grips that are available for everyone to use. With a pencil grip, Elaine can correctly hold her pencil in a way that makes it easier for her to draw. Finally, Ms. Miller notices that Elaine is having trouble putting her artwork away in the small narrow art organizer. To make this task easier, she places a file tray on top of the organizer for Elaine to use instead. This allows Elaine to easily put her artwork away all by herself.

Another easy way to modify activities is to include the child’s preferences. This could be their favorite TV shows, book characters, colors, people, music artists, sports teams, or other areas of interest. Because writing in certain art activities can be challenging for Elaine, she’s not always engaged in the work. In an effort to get Elaine to be more interested and motivated, Ms. Miller asks her about things that she likes and learns that she loves books about magic and cats. To encourage Elaine’s participation, Ms. Miller includes themes of magic and animals into her art lessons and activities as often as possible. By incorporating things that Elaine is interested in, she’s more engaged in the activities and motivated to participate. Ms. Miller also notices that Elaine has a hard time sharing about her work with the class. It can be difficult for other people to understand her, and she often speaks very quietly in front of a group. To help with this, Ms. Miller asks Elaine if she might want to present her drawing with her best friend, Millie. Together, Elaine and Millie share their magical cat drawings with the class. It’s clear that Elaine feels much more confident alongside her friend. By including Elaine’s preferences, her love of magic and cats, and her best friend, she can participate in art class in a much more meaningful way.

Lastly, simplifying activities is another way to create modifications. Let’s consider Elaine again. She has a difficult time completing multi-step activities, such as gathering all of the necessary materials for a specific art project. So Ms. Miller makes a laminated card with visuals of each art material used in the classroom. For each assignment, Ms. Miller uses a dry erase marker to circle the materials Elaine will need. This modification allows Elaine to get what she needs and start on her project right away instead of forgetting what she needs and having to go back to the supply closet several times. Fine motor skills such as drawing are difficult for Elaine. This makes it harder for her to complete complex drawing assignments. Ms. Miller makes these easier for Elaine by giving her more time to complete each step. Some kids in the class might complete each step of a project, such as sketching, then painting, and finally adding detail in one class, while Elaine prefers to do the sequence over multiple classes.

Modifications are small changes that have a big impact on how children participate in inclusive settings. These are simple, relatively easy to implement, and usually work right away. Now think of a child in your program who needs some help to participate or engage in certain routines or activities. How could you make changes to the physical space or materials, embed their preferences, or make the activity a bit simpler? In inclusive settings, everyone gets the help they need to participate, and in many cases, modifications are an easy way to provide this support.