Ice Pops for Calm: A Nugget Ice Machine for Sensory Regulation
Leah Jones
ID-150
School Name:Cypress Palm Middle
Grant Request Grade:6-8
Grant Request Subject:Special Needs Students
Additional Details
The goal is to increase student access to learning by providing a consistent sensory‑regulation tool—nugget ice (“ice pops”)—that helps students calm their bodies, reduce anxiety, and remain engaged in instruction throughout the school day.
Our students will use nugget ice (“ice pops”) as a calming sensory tool woven into their daily routines. During transitions, academic work, and moments of emotional difficulty, students can request an ice pop to receive oral‑motor input that helps regulate their bodies. Staff will guide students in using ice pops appropriately as part of their individualized sensory plans and behavior supports. This routine will help students reduce anxiety, increase time on task, and participate more fully in lessons. The ice machine will ensure students have consistent access to a regulation strategy that helps them stay in class, communicate their needs, and build independence.
The benefits of using a consistent sensory tool that supports emotional regulation and daily learning include the following. The Nugget ice (“ice pops”) provides a calming oral‑motor input that helps students reduce anxiety, manage frustration, and remain in the classroom during challenging moments. With this tool, students will experience fewer behavioral disruptions, improved focus during lessons, and more successful transitions throughout the day. These benefits directly support academic growth, social‑emotional development, and progress toward IEP goals. The ice machine will create a calmer, more predictable learning environment where students feel safe, supported, and ready to learn.
The funding will be used to purchase a countertop nugget ice machine, along with any necessary water filtration and cleaning supplies, to provide a consistent sensory‑regulation tool for students with diverse cognitive abilities. Nugget ice (“ice pops”) offers calming oral‑motor input that helps students reduce anxiety, manage frustration, and remain engaged in instruction.
Currently, our classroom relies on store‑bought ice pops or small ice trays that take too long to freeze, leaving students without consistent access to a tool that significantly improves emotional regulation and learning readiness. The nugget ice machine will ensure students have reliable, daily access to ice pops as part of their individualized sensory plans.
This investment directly supports learning by increasing time on task, improving transitions, reducing behavioral disruptions, and helping students stay in the classroom during challenging moments. The machine is a durable, long‑term resource that will benefit current and future students for years to come.
