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Written By John Drzewiecki And Janine Hradsky

Introduction

Body Sox can provide comfortable pressure to students with special needs (especially students with autism) and can enhance tumbling, dance and creative movements for students of all abilities. Curiosity makes the student want to go in, creativity and spatial awareness abounds once they are inside and motor planning gets them out. This guide is designed to help you and your students get the most from Body Sox.

Age Use: For students in early childhood through high school.

Objectives: Spatial awareness, balance, coordination, motor planning and creative movement.

Safety Suggestions: Be sure that students are aware of the space around them and any obstacles before they move about while inside the Body Sox. Students may need to be prepared for what to expect once inside and reassured that they will be able to see through the fabric.

Activities And Games

What Am I?

Set Up: Divide students into teams (up to 5 per team). Each team has a mat with one Body Sox and a small bowl or box with 10 slips of paper, each with a different item to be "acted out" as in charades. Examples: Letters (X, W, L, etc.), shapes (circle, square, triangle, etc.) and animals (inch worm, camel, snake, bear, etc.).
The Game: Students take turns selecting a piece of paper, then acting out the object. As in charades, the person who guesses the object gets to go next. When all have gone twice, rotate teams.

Crazy Dancer

Set Up: Have students stand in circles in groups of 5 or 6, all on a very large matted area. Be sure to have on hand a CD, tape or record player and plenty of great music. Suggested music: Shadow Dancing by Greg & Steve.
The Activity: Have students decide who will go first, second, third, etc. When the music starts, one student at a time wears the Body Sox and, in the center of the circle, dances to the music. Other students keep time to the music while jogging in place or moving in place, and enjoy the performance of the "crazy dancer." Students may be taught and encouraged to give positive feedback, like clapping or identifying a movement that they liked. If possible, videotape the performances and allow students to watch themselves (they will love this), perhaps on a day when the gym is unavailable.

Tumble Out Of Darkness

Set Up: Lay out several long mats and divide students into equal groups at the ends of each mat. Give each line a Body Sox and place a plastic bowling pin at the far end of each mat.
The Activity: On the signal to begin, the first person in each line wears the Body Sox and "tumbles" (forward roll, log roll, egg roll, etc.) to the bowling pin. They knock down the pin, then "tumble" out of the Body Sox. They then reset the pin in an upright position, walk, carrying the Body Sox back to the next person, and go to the end of the line.

Statue Maker

This activity is similar to the "What Am I?" game above, except for the following changes: After a discussion on appropriate and inappropriate contact/touching, the group takes turns molding the person in the Body Sox™ into an object. The other groups guess what the statue represents.

Who Am I?

This is a good activity to help students get to know each other and to perform in a small area of space.
Set Up: Can be done seated randomly. One at a time, students come up and put on the Body Sox.
The Activity: Students wearing the Body Sox, standing in front of the group, can introduce himself/herself and then act out a favorite activity for the group to guess, i.e., a sports or exercise activity (baseball, jogging, swimming, etc.).

Tent And Chariot Relay

Set-Up: Relay formation with cones at the end line. Players take turns wearing a Body Sox.
On the signal to begin, 2 players take the elbows of a teammate who is wearing the Body Sox and escort him/her to the cone and back. Once back to their line, the 3 players go to the end of the line, and all take turns wearing the Body Sox when they reach the front of the line.

Sox Relay

Set Up: Group 4 to 6 players in small circles with one person in the middle wearing Body Sox. A line across the gym marked with cones is the halfway destination.
The Activity: On the signal to GO, each team moves as a group, holding hands to form a circle around the person in the middle who is wearing the Body Sox. The team travels to the line and goes around the cone and back to their starting point taking care to keep the person wearing the Body Sox in the middle. Continue until all have had a turn being in the middle with the Body Sox.

Opaquesox

Set Up: Use an opaque projector with shapes that can be duplicated wearing a Body Sox (square, circle, zig zag, etc.) and a screen or light-colored wall. One person at a time wears the Body Sox. Others sit in a random formation.
The Activity: One at a time, students take a turn putting on the Body Sox and duplicate the form as projected by the opaque projector. Those watching can help out by giving cues, like moving arms or legs in various directions to create the shape.

Stuff-It Relay

Set Up: Teams of equal numbers line up from behind a line and across from a hula hoop on the other side of the gym. A Body Sox is placed at the starting point of each team. The following objects are placed half way in a hula hoop between the Body Sox and the far-sided hula hoop: Balls, jump rope, small cones, etc.
The Game: On the signal to begin, the first person in each line puts on the Body Sox and runs to the objects, stuffing them inside and carries them to the hula hoop where the items are unloaded. They then return the Body Sox to the next player, who runs and brings the items back to the centerline. Play continues until all have had a chance to wear the Body Sox and transfer the items.