Sensory Seeker - what do you have at home?

Brewtowngrl · January 2013

We are thinking of a mini trampoline. My couch really could use a break. I was also thinking of making a hammock swing since we have a spot for it. Do you have any sensory toys?

4Speedy · January 2013

Lots of bean bags for making crash pads and pressing into DS. A bounce house in the basement. A turtle pool filled with rice and beans in the basement (on top of a tarp for easy clean up). A bath or a shower is a great way to calm DS. We have exposed rafters in our basement so we have hung heavy duty hooks. I alternate between a hammock swing, a pod swing and a board swing. A board scooter that DS lays on his belly on an pulls himself across the floor--we do relay races. So e times I sit on it and he pulls me with a jump rope for heavy work, speaking of which, a jump rope, lemon twister and Chinese jump rope for compressing his joints, brushing (wilbarger protocol) and my 6 yo is awesome at making obstacle courses out of household items for my 3 yo. We play with a lot of theraputty, shaving cream, blowing through straws to push cotton balls across the table, we have a large a Tupperware bin that we use for sensory play--sometimes we put a bit of chocolate pudding in the bottom then set up his Little People Barn on top of the "mud" and play farm (we use the pigs to trace letters and shapes in the mud), ride tricycles in the basement, we play outside almost every day, we have races rolling across the living room floor. We do a ton of crafts that use sticky glue, feathers, pipe cleaners, anything to touch and manipulate. We bake a lot--DS loves to dump the ingredients, mix the dough, drop the balls of cookie dough on the sheet, etc. I also have a DS at my side all day long. He loves to push the vaccuum for me, sweep, wash dishes. When I do laundry, he climbs in the basket and I swing him around in it and spin ten times in each direction. Sometimes I pile the warm laundry on top of him and we toss it up in the air before I fold it, etc.

Your whole day is filled with sensory opportunities, just include your child in it and take the time to let your child immerse him/herself in the task. We do a lot of the above activities while listening to music/stories on the IPod to make them multi sensory activities.

ETA: balls in every size. My sister is an OT and says the best toy you can give a kid is a ball because there is so much you can do with them. We have a giant yoga ball that DS sits on and we bounce him, we sit on our bums and use our feet to push it back and forth, DS lays on it and I rock home back and forth, etc. Throwing a ball outside is great for joint stimulation. We just finished putting insulation in our attic so we have huge sheets of rigid foam insulation. We let DS use a rubber mallet to pound golf tees into the foam, you could get floral foam at Michael's and do the same. DS helps DH bring firewood up to the house, it's heavy work.

JoJoGee · January 2013

4Speedy:
Lots of bean bags for making crash pads and pressing into DS. A bounce house in the basement. A turtle pool filled with rice and beans in the basement (on top of a tarp for easy clean up). A bath or a shower is a great way to calm DS. We have exposed rafters in our basement so we have hung heavy duty hooks. I alternate between a hammock swing, a pod swing and a board swing. A board scooter that DS lays on his belly on an pulls himself across the floor--we do relay races. So e times I sit on it and he pulls me with a jump rope for heavy work, speaking of which, a jump rope, lemon twister and Chinese jump rope for compressing his joints, brushing (wilbarger protocol) and my 6 yo is awesome at making obstacle courses out of household items for my 3 yo. We play with a lot of theraputty, shaving cream, blowing through straws to push cotton balls across the table, we have a large a Tupperware bin that we use for sensory play--sometimes we put a bit of chocolate pudding in the bottom then set up his Little People Barn on top of the "mud" and play farm (we use the pigs to trace letters and shapes in the mud), ride tricycles in the basement, we play outside almost every day, we have races rolling across the living room floor. We do a ton of crafts that use sticky glue, feathers, pipe cleaners, anything to touch and manipulate. We bake a lot--DS loves to dump the ingredients, mix the dough, drop the balls of cookie dough on the sheet, etc. I also have a DS at my side all day long. He loves to push the vaccuum for me, sweep, wash dishes. When I do laundry, he climbs in the basket and I swing him around in it and spin ten times in each direction. Sometimes I pile the warm laundry on top of him and we toss it up in the air before I fold it, etc.
Your whole day is filled with sensory opportunities, just include your child in it and take the time to let your child immerse him/herself in the task. We do a lot of the above activities while listening to music/stories on the IPod to make them multi sensory activities.
ETA: balls in every size. My sister is an OT and says the best toy you can give a kid is a ball because there is so much you can do with them. We have a giant yoga ball that DS sits on and we bounce him, we sit on our bums and use our feet to push it back and forth, DS lays on it and I rock home back and forth, etc. Throwing a ball outside is great for joint stimulation. We just finished putting insulation in our attic so we have huge sheets of rigid foam insulation. We let DS use a rubber mallet to pound golf tees into the foam, you could get floral foam at Michael's and do the same. DS helps DH bring firewood up to the house, it's heavy work.

I want to come over and play at your house.

4Speedy · January 2013

Also, do your best to always have your son enrolled in some sort of community Ed class like swimming, tumbling, gymnastics, etc. community Ed is pretty cheap and it is so nice to turn your active kid over to someone else so they can tire them out for 45 minutes each week.

The first time I enrolled my kid in gymnastics was just after his Dx at 2.5 yo. I was distraught at the end of the first class be because he was so far behind his same age peers as far as motor skills, attention span, etc. I left the class in tears. But we kept at it and now at almost 4 yo, he is one of the better students.

This week, we start a sports sampler class for 3-4year olds, I'm really excited about that one. He'll be running, jumping, hitting balls, kicking, etc. for an hour twice a week. Can't wait!!!

woodstock46 · January 2013

Wow this is an amazing list! Thank you so much for sharing!!

Brewtowngrl · January 2013

JoJoGee:
4Speedy:
Lots of bean bags for making crash pads and pressing into DS. A bounce house in the basement. A turtle pool filled with rice and beans in the basement (on top of a tarp for easy clean up). A bath or a shower is a great way to calm DS. We have exposed rafters in our basement so we have hung heavy duty hooks. I alternate between a hammock swing, a pod swing and a board swing. A board scooter that DS lays on his belly on an pulls himself across the floor--we do relay races. So e times I sit on it and he pulls me with a jump rope for heavy work, speaking of which, a jump rope, lemon twister and Chinese jump rope for compressing his joints, brushing (wilbarger protocol) and my 6 yo is awesome at making obstacle courses out of household items for my 3 yo. We play with a lot of theraputty, shaving cream, blowing through straws to push cotton balls across the table, we have a large a Tupperware bin that we use for sensory play--sometimes we put a bit of chocolate pudding in the bottom then set up his Little People Barn on top of the "mud" and play farm (we use the pigs to trace letters and shapes in the mud), ride tricycles in the basement, we play outside almost every day, we have races rolling across the living room floor. We do a ton of crafts that use sticky glue, feathers, pipe cleaners, anything to touch and manipulate. We bake a lot--DS loves to dump the ingredients, mix the dough, drop the balls of cookie dough on the sheet, etc. I also have a DS at my side all day long. He loves to push the vaccuum for me, sweep, wash dishes. When I do laundry, he climbs in the basket and I swing him around in it and spin ten times in each direction. Sometimes I pile the warm laundry on top of him and we toss it up in the air before I fold it, etc.
Your whole day is filled with sensory opportunities, just include your child in it and take the time to let your child immerse him/herself in the task. We do a lot of the above activities while listening to music/stories on the IPod to make them multi sensory activities.
ETA: balls in every size. My sister is an OT and says the best toy you can give a kid is a ball because there is so much you can do with them. We have a giant yoga ball that DS sits on and we bounce him, we sit on our bums and use our feet to push it back and forth, DS lays on it and I rock home back and forth, etc. Throwing a ball outside is great for joint stimulation. We just finished putting insulation in our attic so we have huge sheets of rigid foam insulation. We let DS use a rubber mallet to pound golf tees into the foam, you could get floral foam at Michael's and do the same. DS helps DH bring firewood up to the house, it's heavy work.
I want to come over and play at your house.

me too.

thanks for all the ideas

mommy0411 · January 2013

We have a big yoga ball for bouncing and rolling on him (though he prefers when I lay on him), lots of push toys, a small trampoline outside as well as a slide. We also have a tub of beans.

My DS also just got added to a sensory playgroup at a sensory gym made specifically for sensory kids. I am so excited to go check it out! It has trampolines, swings, crash pads and more!

I am also working on a weighted blanket at the request of his OT and we do brushing every two hours during the day.

kcisthebombdotcom · January 2013

Yes. Part of our finished basement serves as our sensory play area. We have a mini trampoline, tunnels, a 5 foot climber with slide, and lots of balls.

smiling76 · January 2013

we also have a mini trampoline--it's actually right in our living room and we have it set up so they can bounce on to the couch too--and then they climb and jump on that---and then we put cushions and pillows on the floor and they pound themselves on to those (LOL). We set up obstacle courses so they have to climb cushions, crawl through tunnels, run around the island in our kitchen, etc etc.

Even a sit and spin can be good at their age.

Set up hop scotch or even the twister mat---have them jump to each color--so then they are jumping--but also learning.

Sensory Seeker - what do you have at home?

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