Sensory Saturday: Rain, Rain, Go and Play!

We just got back from a week at our best friends' lake house - it was almost everything we hoped it would be ... Good Friends, Good Food, BAD Weather. Bad. Thunderstorms on the first day were actually beautiful and welcomed. There's something about sitting on the porch listening to the storm that had a calming affect on all of us. Lots of cuddling and even some hot chocolate in July. We had left realllly early so the boys were knocked out and took a heavenly nap. That was day one. By day 4 of the rain we were going a little stir crazy!
After three days of crafts, songs, movies, baking and indoor play, we were ready to kick the kiddos outside ... rain or no rain. Well, we did, and they had a blast! Here's a few of our new favorite Sensory Play ideas.


Puddle Jumping! Let a little boy outside during a rain shower and he'll find the puddles. Splashing and jumping took up the better part of an hour, but we got a little creative too. We practiced our animal walks and played "Mother May I" ... LM, take 3 giant frog jumps over these puddles. Bear, waddle like a penguin across this puddle. R, stomp like an elephant and swing your trunk through that big puddle. Who can make the biggest splash???

Mud Pies: We had all the sand toys out already, let's put them to use! We dug and squished and molded mud. Thick, squishy, messy mud. Pretty much anything we usually do with shaving cream we did with mud instead. LM wrote his name in the mud, we even "painted" the sidewalk with it. Added bonus: walking barefoot! Dig your toes in and pull them out for a satisfying "squelch" sound.

Nature Walk: While we're barefoot in the mud - let's take a barefoot walk and feel how different everything feels when it's wet. I told a modified version of "Going on a Bear Hunt" and we squished through mud, ran through the field and kicked through the puddles hunting for our bear. We also collected all sorts of little boy treasures in our pails ... leaves, worms, rocks and bugs.

Fill the Bucket: After 4 days of rain there was ALOT of water around. Garbage pails and flower pots were full. We gave each of the boys a sand pail and sent the on a mission: fill this giant garbage can to the top! They had a great time trying to carry full buckets (heavy work!) across the yard to fill the can. A little teamwork to build social skills ... LM and R carried buckets together by putting a piece of wood through the handle and getting on either side. LM ran right to the drain under the gutter and refilled his buckets rather quickly ... Bear stood still and tried to fill his pail with the drizzle that was still falling - he might still be out there ... lol.

How Wet Can You Get?: BY the end of the afternoon we had ditched the boots and raincoats and ultimately changed into bathing suits. One last mission ... get as wet as you can! "I'm getting wet under the trees!" "I'm getting wet in a puddle!" LM laid down on his back and let the rain cover him - Bear opened his mouth and tried to catch rain drops. All the boys "washed" the cars and splashed each other with sheets of water. We even pulled out the water guns.

Singing in the Rain: How many "rain songs" can you think of? We sang a lot! This was our favorite:

Bear is splashing in the water,

Bear is spalshing in the water,

Bear is splashing in the water ...

But he didn't get his bellybutton wet. Yet!

Drying Off: All good things must come to an end. Aunt Jenn was nice enough to put our towels in the dryer and they were cuddly warm when we stripped down and then wrapped up each little puddle jumper. Wrap them tight and hug them close - this was a day we won't soon forget.

Sing and Play the Sensory Way!
=D Lea

La La Library - Mem Fox's 10 tips on how to read to your child

I had to learn how to read to my child.

Me, the voracious reader... the one who reads three books at a time, the one who's only detention in my school career came because I got caught reading a book under my desk during lectures one too many times, the one who's only gift request at my baby shower were books to start LM's library ... didn't really know how to read to my child.

I imagine it's not easy for any toddler to really pay attention to storytime, but for a child with SPD it's an extra challenge. I had imagined these tender moments of reading my favorite classics all cuddled up in our reading chair. Instead I was chasing him around the house or trying to keep him from tearing the pages. Luckily we had a wonderful speech therapist who was able to give me a crash course on how to successfully read to a little one, and in turn, how to instill a love for language, words and books. I'm glad to say it's been a huge success!

So I'm starting a weekly La La Library post. I'll share a favorite book of ours and let you in on some of the ways we make it interesting and language appropriate. Today I'll start with an awesome list of tips by one of our favorite authors, Mem Fox.

Mem Fox's 10 Read Aloud Commandments:

1. Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud.

2. Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three times. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to learn to read.

3. Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh a lot.

4. Read with joy and enjoyment: real enjoyment for yourself and great joy for the listeners.

5. Read the stories that the kids love, over and over and over again, and always read in the same ‘tune’ for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time.

6. Let children hear lots of language by talking to them constantly about the pictures, or anything else connected to the book; or sing any old song that you can remember; or say nursery rhymes in a bouncy way; or be noisy together doing clapping games.

7. Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books for young children, and make sure the books are really short.

8. Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such as letting kids finish rhymes, and finding the letters that start the child’s name and yours, remembering that it’s never work, it’s always a fabulous game.

9. Never ever teach reading, or get tense around books.

10. Please read aloud every day, mums and dads, because you just love being with your child, not because it’s the right thing to do.

Thanks, Mem! That's a great start to our La La Library posts! Now it's your turn ... What are some favorite books in your house??

Sing and Play (and Read!) the Sensory Way!

-Lea

Sensory Saturday: In the Kitchen

I know there are a hundred articles about cooking with your kids, but I figured I'd put a sensory spin on this one. From homemade pretzels to fruit smoothies, my kids love to cook. Here are some tips on how to make the most of your time in the kitchen.

LOOK THE PART:
Besides having fun playing dress up, giving LM an apron and chef's hat transitions him into this activity. I remind him that now that he's "Chef LM" he needs to have quiet hands and wait his turn. I bought a kid's sized apron, but we make a new hat every few weeks. Easy to do and gets some fine motor cutting and stapling activities in too.

1. Cut a piece of white poster board 4 inches wide and measure length to child's head.

2. Staple ends closed to form a crown.

3. Take white tissue paper, fold a few times to give it strength and attach to the inside of the crown to make a tall column.

PREP WORK:

Think about your favorite cooking show where they have all the ingredients set out in small dishes. You can talk about the recipe and count ingredients or work on sequencing (first crack the eggs, then pour the water). Let your kids help with this part. Set out the bowls and help them use measuring cups and spoons. Kids can crack eggs into a small bowl (and you can pick out the shells LOL), or grease a baking sheet. If you have more than one child this is great for turn taking as well. Each chef gets assigned an ingredient to prep and then add to the dish.

COOK WITH ALL YOUR SENSES:

Use this opportunity to discover all your senses. Describe the food ... it's color, it's shape. How does it smell? What does it feel like ... wet, bumpy, sticky? What do you hear ... an egg cracking, a timer ticking, water boiling? And best of all, how does it taste?

DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET A LITTLE MESSY:

Let the kids get their (clean) hands into the food. Who needs Play-Dough when you have the real thing? Let the kids explore what different ingredients feel like. Let them stir and pour, and try not to worry about a few spills.

IT'S THE PROCESS NOT THE PRODUCT:

In other words, the food doesn't have to be gourmet. While this is a great way to introduce your child to new foods (they'll like it more if they helped make it!) "cooking" frozen waffles together is a great activity too. It's about spending time together and experiencing new things.

There are a bunch of great "kid-friendly" recipes. Here's one of our favorites.

BANANA CATERPILLARS

2 medium bananas

1/2 cup almond butter

1/4 cup flaked coconut

4 raisins

thin pretzel sticks

1. Peel and slice each banana into 10 slices. Make caterpillar by spreading slices with almond butter and pressing slices back together.

2. Sprinkle half of coconut over each caterpillar and press lightly with fingertips to coat.

3. Attach 2 raisins to one end with a little bit of almond butter to form eyes.

4. Break pretzel sticks into small pieces and press between banana slices for legs and antennae.