Building A Sensory Space A sensory room is a room or space in your home that you create for your sensory kiddo that is designed by you for your kiddo to meet your sensory kiddos needs. It is best if you talk to your child's OT to design the room that is just right for your kiddo as all sensory kiddos have different needs from severe to mild and all sensory kiddos have different symptoms. A sensory room or space is built for alerting or calming. Include tools in your kiddos room that will calm or alert all their senses. Vestibular system arises in the inner ear and it is responsible for processing movement, changing your head position, direction and speed of movement. If you do 15 minutes of vestibular input that can last up to 12 hours. Kiddo are supposed to have vestibular input 2-3 times a day morning, noon and evening and this can help a kiddo maintain a level of arousal needed to perform activities of daily living. VESTIBULAR ACTIVITIES-swinging- toddler, sling, platform, hammock, inner tube, trapeze-jumping- pillows, trampoline, rebounder-Bouncing- on large ball, on pillows-rolling- in barrel, rolling up in blanket, rolling on large ball-spinning- on chair with wheels, sit n spin toy-rocking- rocking horse, rocking chair-hanging upside down- off couch, off lap, from monkey bars, from trapeze bars-climbing- on playground equipment, on designated furniture-dancing-walking/running/hiking-wheeled toys- roller blades/roller blades
, wagons, trikes, scooters-riding on moving equipment- car, elevator, water bed, chair on wheels-playground equipment- slides, teeter totter, merry-go-roundgross motor games- catch, soccer, basketball, tag, ball hockey, hopscotch Therapy Balls Yoga Balls & Peanut Balls Peanut balls look like 2 balls welded together with a small valley where they meet. Provides all the fun and bounce of a ball with greater stability. Sit or straddle, lay on stomach or back- a very versatile piece of equipment.Yoga balls are perfect tools for working on balance, strengthening, proximal stability, as well as for providing controlled vestibular and proprioceptive input. Therapy Balls, Children's Indoor Trampolines, Rotating & Spinning devices, & other gross motor Equipment for balance and coordinationCaution: It is recommended that adult supervision be provided at all times when using these, or any other moveable surface. The Hammock Chair provides a more open and Vigorous vestibular experience.
Extra care is taken in the construction to provide an attractive, durable product of the highest quality. Perfect in clinics, therapy rooms, play and children's rooms. Great alternative to other, more institutional looking pieces of vestibular equipment. The benefits to swings are they are multi purposeful. It takes a child where their senses are already heightened and it gives them the vestibular input that they needed which then allows them to increase their attention to task and at times increase their speech. Sit and Spin Toys Some kiddos have tactile defensiveness and it impedes their activities for daily living. The goal of working on tactile activities is to decrease the defensiveness. Here are some symptoms of tactile defensiveness -Fearful of messy play-Does not enjoy vibrating toys-Dislike tags on clothing-Will only wear certain fabrics-Do not like bare feet on grass or sand-Bothered by light touchActivities for a sensory room to help your kiddo with tactile defensiveness.
TACTILE ACTIVITIES-brushing varied brushes, textures, drawing with chalk on the body, and erasing with varied textures-massage- varied oils, powders-sensory play- water, sand, corn meal, finger paint, play doh, clay-tactile discrimination activities- retrieving objects from closed box or hidden in rice, beans etc. -face and body painting, whip cream painting, pudding play, bubble baths-body tattoos- tattoo/stickers on body parts Sensory bins/Water & sand play/Bean & rice table Proprioceptive input is sensations from joints, muscles and connective tissue that lead to body awareness. This can be obtained by lifted, pushing and pulling heavy objects one's own weight. A kiddo can stimulate the proprioceptive sense by engaging in activities that push joints together such as pushing something heavy or pulling joints apart or climbing on a climbing wall. PROPRIOCEPTIVE ACTIVITIES-rough and tumble play- play wrestling-tug of war- rope or fabric-crawling- through tunnels and boxes-stair climbing- bumping down stairs-pulling/pushing- weighted cart, wagon or buggy-catching- throwing heavy weighted ball-wheelbarrow walking-scooter board activities-hitting a punching bags-pulling apart resistant toys/objects-squishing between pillows-squeezing stress balls-joint compressions-heavy exercise- push ups, sit ups-hammering-pounding/rolling out large play doh-hanging from trapeze -vibration-massage-gross motor activities-obstacle courses
, stretching and toning exercises TECHNIQUES TO OPTIMIZE LEVEL OF AROUSAL-slow rocking, rocking chair, lap, sitting, prone-slow/linear swinging-vibration- pillow/toy-deep pressure massage-joint compressions-snuggling- in a sleeping bag, in bean bag chair, in large pillows-weighted vest or collar-lycra spandex clothing-rythms-repetition of slow, strong rhythms (song or Rhymes)-heavy lifting/carrying/pushing/pulling-warm bath-stress balls-chewing- gum, fruit rollup, beef jerky, bungee cord, tubing-sucking- candy, curly straws-hide-out/quiet corner- with large pillows ALERTING ACTIVITIES-fast spinning-spinning on a chair, sit-n spin-quick bouncing- on ball/lap-wheeled toys- quick ride on wagon, trike-chewing ice chips-sucking-popsicles, frozen grapes, sour candy-drinking ice water-tag-cold water play-playing loud musical instruments-cause and effect sound and light toy Play tents & Ball tents This is as good as it gets Don't know what's gonna happen next You haven't seen nothing yet
It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable When I was a kid I saved up all my dough so I could buy C-3PO Put Mentos in my Diet Coke in the backseat of the bus When I was a kid I ate "Spaghetti Os", played laser tag and GI Joe's And if you vowed no girls allowed then you could join the club When I was I was a kid I spent my Saturday's Blowin' on Nintendo games The newest thing was Lion King and I could feel the love When I was a kid I dreamed of Power Wheels Stayed up late watching action films And I won't lie, my friends and I, were too legit to quit When I was a kid I lived for climbing trees and Dr Pepper jellybeans My favorite part of "Jurassic Park" was how real the Raptors looked When I was a kid I still had VHS, watched Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff, Zack Morris owned the first cell phone, it was off the hook! Gak, pogs, and floam and Home Alone, Berenstein bears and bean bag chairs My L.A. Looks and Goosebumps books, oh Etch-a-sketch