Toys and activities for sensory child

amother

Navy

Sun, Dec 04 2016, 10:47 pm

My child gets OT twice a week for a half hour each session through the BoE which is definitely not enough. Nevertheless, the evenings after a session are usually much more bearable for the whole family but I am still sometimes at a loss on how to keep dc occupied/ calm/ stimulated etc. DC is 6.

DC is very bright and extremely extroverted, constantly needing company and action. Due to dc's sensory and social issues, the other kids from the building do not want to come over to play, and siblings are too young to be playmates. As an apartment dweller, I am having a hard time coming up with activities that are quiet, safe and satisfying enough for dc to be happy and stimulated.

What toys and/or activities should I try? We are doing a home exercise routine besides the therapy as recommended by the therapist, but it still isn't enough. (Jumping off the counters and nagging about not having a friend are the new favorite activities, for instance.)

I am (almost) considering converting an area of the apartment into a sensory gym, but I doubt without company or constant motivation it will be interesting for long.

HELP!

seeker

Sun, Dec 04 2016, 11:16 pm

I find there are two different approaches to kids who constantly seek action:
1. Provide extra stimulation, obviously they need it.
2. Work on calming down their system so they don't need so much stimulation.

I find a lot of people automatically go toward #1 but I've seen a lot more effectiveness with #2. My overactive sensory kids (both at home and at work) only seem to get more riled up with more stimulation instead of having their (presumed) need satiated. Instead, routine deep massages, music therapy, and other techniques help organize their sensory system so they're not always so hyper. Then "in the moment" direct them to calmer activities, including calm sensory stuff like stiff putty - just because they're bouncing off the walls and furniture doesn't necessarily mean that's a sign their body needs to bounce off the walls and furniture.

amother

Salmon

Sun, Dec 04 2016, 11:21 pm

seeker wrote:

Great post, I just want to point out that as OTs we do 1 and 2. When a child is "crazy" we do 2. When they are calm and ok, we bring in 1, then 2 so they can handle it.

smother29

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 7:18 pm

I find that a lot of the sensory games make too much of a mess and I am already swimming in it.

I would try a removable swing that you can hook up to the door frame. Also there are small trampolines that are fold-able so you can keep it in a closet. Large exercise ball is also good and he could use it as a chair if he is fidgety. With music this may keep him happy for a short period of time and help him relax.

Also those baby toys that play music. My son sometimes gets in the mood and presses the buttons over and over again but he finds it relaxing and fun as he loves music.

If he is not too difficult to manage, I would also talk to the high school girls and see if any of them are willing to come over and play with him or take him to the park for an hour for payment on the days when he does not have OT. Usually they would like the extra money and it could be couched as a very big mitzvah, which it is.

anonymrs

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 7:34 pm

seeker wrote:

My kids are the opposite, we do things like ball pit, trampoline, when they're calm. I find it helps them get it out of their system and then they usually don't get riled up later on. When they are riled up, we do lots of cuddling, massaging type of things.

amother

Navy

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 7:47 pm

sharona29 wrote:

I would like to know where to find these girls. Posters keep on mentioning "chessed girls" all the time to help overwhelmed moms, but I can't even seem to locate any girls that are willing to do it for money.

DVOM

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 7:50 pm

Hi OP! I don't know where you live, but maybe your sensory seeking 6 year old wants to come over to play with my sensory seeking 8, 5, 4, and 1.5 year old! I can so relate to wanting to tear your hair out or hide in the bathroom while your kid(s) goes bananas. I live in a tiny basement apartment where we will remain until my husband finishes school, so I can also sympathize with the limited space to play in. For me, planning is the key. Here are some of the things we've done over the years:

1)Let them play with ice. We often do this outside in the summer, but also in the bathtub or at the kitchen counter in winter. I will freeze water on a cookie sheet to make slippery 'roads' for little cars. We also play archeologist. Freeze water mixed with food coloring and plastic dinosaurs in a big tub. I sometimes add glitter to the mix when I'm feeling super adventurous. Give the kids salt shakers full of salt (which helps melt the ice), little shovels, and turkey basters or medicine droppers filled with warm water (also helps melt the ice), and they will spend hours 'excavating' the dinosaurs.

2)Play prisoner. Wrap your kid up tight in a stretchy blanket, put the couch cushions on top of him (and maybe a younger brother or sister?), and challenge him to wiggle out without using his hands. We also often spend the afternoon making 'jails.' I find my sensory kids just love small, enclosed spaces. Give them a ball of yarn. Have them wrap it around things (legs and backs of chairs, door knobs, closet handles, bed posts) until the yarns creates a sort of web that stretches across the room. Different parts of the web are different prisoners' jail cells. The kids spend a lot of time crawling around on the floor (can't stand up because of the web) 'escaping' from jail. Sometimes I get to be the evil warden. Great fun.

3)My kids are very artistic, so that is always a good way to go in our family. I love making salt dough and adding things like plastic beads, dry corn or dry noodles and letting the kids sculpt. After, you slow bake the dough and you can paint it. We also really love garbage sculpting. We save all our empty food cans and bottles and cereal boxes, and when we have a really huge garbage bag full I give each kid a glue gun (not the eighteen month old, but my other guys have learned to handle them safely) and they glue all the stuff together to make robots and cities and 'machines' (most of the time when you ask any of my kids what they are doing at any given time they will answer that they are building machines. So cute.).

4)In the summer, my kids spend an enormous amount of time in our driveway playing in their mud kitchen. My husband and boys found an old ceramic sink at a construction site. They rigged it to our hose so that the boys have an outdoor sink that really works. We picked up old pots, pans, and utensils at a flea market. They love baking and cooking with whatever they can find: dirt, leaves, grass, flowers, twiggs, all mixed together with water. Yum.

These are just some of the stuff we've been getting into lately...OP, feel free to PM me if you want more ideas!

smother29

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 8:14 pm

"I would like to know where to find these girls. Posters keep on mentioning "chessed girls" all the time to help overwhelmed moms, but I can't even seem to locate any girls that are willing to do it for money."

It depends on your community. In our community the high school girls do a lot of activities with the kids at shul on Shabbos and they also arrange activities for the kids after school (with payment to participate). A lot of them will do private babysitting for payment. I mention chessed because it is probably preferable for them to babysit a child that does not have special needs so you have to have some angle to appeal to them if you can.

That being said I prefer using Care.com, I have to pay a bit more but usually I can get someone that is a teachers assistant or has a sibling with special needs.

amother

Navy

Tue, Dec 06 2016, 9:20 pm

DVOM wrote:

Thank you so much for all the ideas, though not all are ones that I can copy.

Will need to work up the courage to PM you though.... I am a very private person by nature.

amother

Pewter

Wed, Dec 07 2016, 2:34 pm

1) Cook and bake. Have your kid hold the hand mixer for cookies and cake. Have him learn to crack the eggs and measure the ingredients. My son is older and I am teaching him how to turn on and off the stove. These things are fun for sensory kids (all kids, really).

2) Household chores - clear the table, load the dishwasher. My more active sensory kids love this.

3) Other chores - polish the silver becher for Shabbos, wash the dishes, put together the pekelach for a party. My kids as young as 5 can do most of these, and the 3 year old can do some. You have to be willing to accept that it's not perfect. Same thing with setting the table and rinsing (swishing) the strawberries.

4) Ask the kids to prepare a show for you. Better if it includes dancing, or couch pillow gymnastics.

5) Ask the kids to do the gardening. It's too cold now, but in the spring, summer, and fall they can water the plants, help with the weeding, and harvest the vegetables and fruits as they are ready.

6) Water, water, and more water. Give a long bath, let them be fish and go swimming in the bath, more water play when the weather is good. There is a great park in Long Island City called Gantry park which has lots of water play. It's close to Manhattan, Queens, and Williamsburg. (By the way, my sensory son takes a long hot bath and makes "countries" out of the soap suds. The countries fight each other and annex territories from each other. Keeps him very busy.)

7) Have your kids "rearrange" their room and/or basement to make a better spacing for the toys. My kids like to be room designers.

8) Make a pretend store in your basement with a fake cash register, credit cards, and fake food. Make a fake library with books, a scanner, and a stamp.

I didn't read all of the posts, but my kids tend toward sensory and can't yet sit still for board games so they tend to do the above to pass the time.

MyUsername

Wed, Dec 07 2016, 3:30 pm

In terms of chessed girls, if it's just to play with yoru kid when you are around, try for the mother's helper angle with a 10-12 year old (and it can be a boy or girl). This age is perfect for entertaining a younger child (because there is enough overlap for them to play together) while being older enough to take care of them in some way (enough for you to be in the house). They also charge less. I used to do this. It's not something you can have every day, but if you can get one for even an hour a week, it would be great. Plus, 6 years old is the perfect age to idolize someone around 5 years older than them, so the mentoring effect would probably be nice for both of them. And if they hit it off, your mother's helper might be happy to come more than once a week.