Sandbox Daily Programs 

Program Descriptions

Doodle Lounge (Daily, Monday - Friday)

Whether it's pencil and paper or Adobe Photoshop, or Procreate, Doodle Lounge invites participants to meet daily to draw, create, and share artwork via Zoom. Give your child a safe, supported environment to explore their creativity and interests alongside other students on the spectrum and our Doodle Guides. Participants can drop in to create, connect, and collaborate together. Students are encouraged to use whatever materials and technology are available to them.

Character Drawing Tutorials (Wednesdays)

So many of our students love drawing their favorite characters and/or creating their own.  So, we’ve added a 50-minute character drawing tutorial that walks students through the creative process of designing recognizable cartoon and videogame characters. The key elements of the character are shown and explained, as well as a brief look into the concepts of designing the character and ways to vary its style. The character tutorial helps students identify the features that make character design unique and allows them to apply it to their own creative endeavors, as well as learning how to customize familiar designs to fit their own style.

Smactivities (Thursdays)

Smactivities — or more formally, Subject Matter Activities — are 50-minute topic-based live video chat sessions that offer students on the spectrum the chance to dig into a particular topic while engaging in STEaM-based projects and activities under the guidance of social education professional creatives! What kind of topics? Think superheroes, sidekicks, or even outer space!

During each session, an IOB Creative Technologist will provide inspiration for students to then create a design or character that corresponds to that day’s prompt. The best part? They get the chance to create alongside their peers and add their own unique spin to their project.

Some examples of prompts:

• Create a personality potion

• Design your own planet

• Create your own iSpy

• Create a superpower backpack

Natterdays (Fridays)

Natter-what?! Natterdays! "Natter" means to talk casually; to chatter. And we know our students love to do just that especially when it comes to their favorite things. Natterdays captures that energy and enthusiasm into a 50-minute workshop where they have the chance to integrate their interests into a unique storytelling workshop alongside their peers. 

Guided by a master storyteller, students choose characters to bring into the story, take turns and collaborate with one another to develop a one-of-a-kind tale. Conversations take place in a safe, supported environment and are overseen by an IOB professional who helps direct the narrative and keep a flow of creativity and cooperation. 

Natterdays is a fun and dynamic program that helps students develop narrative skills in a format that enforces flexibility and turn-taking while remaining whimsical and interactive. Students may be pushed to think outside the box with characters behaving in unexpected ways or story trains going in a different direction than they imagined as well as expanding their use of language. In order to facilitate the story structure and clarity, participants and the story master are encouraged to illustrate the story as it happens using an online whiteboard called Mural.

Program Outcomes – SEL/Soft Skill Targets

• Self Awareness

• Self Management

• Social Awareness

• Relationship Skills

• Responsible Decision Making

This Program is a Good Fit For

• For illustrators who always have a sketchbook on hand and are looking for others they can share their creativity and creations with!

• Students who love to share their ideas and crave a place to engage in conversation with peers who enjoy similar topics

• Students who love hands-on art and welcome fun ideas to challenge their creativity

Natterdays 2023 Video Project

Our 2023 Natterdays students wanted to take things a step further to produce a video with the help of IOB’s Creative Technologists.  Here is their first video.