As a parent, do you ever feel like the Starbucks barista who is trying to take orders in the store, make the drinks because they are short staffed, run the drive-through and fill the online order in the cue all at once? It’s unreasonable to think that anyone can do this. But did you ever…
Why Brain Breaks and Wiggle Breaks Should Not be Led by a Video
Naperville, IL became famous for a fitness program implemented by the school district physical education teacher starting in 1990 that improved students’ academic performance and learning, not just their health. This famous case study found in the book SPARK, helped the idea that kids need to move to learn grab hold. The book, written by…
Restore to Calm Down from Holiday Excitement
Rhythm, pressure, and respiration are the key ingredients for promoting calming and destressing. While for some kids a hug will do, for others with sensory differences, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation, they need more frequent opportunities to engage in supportive movement exercises. Exercises like the one below provide restorative input, slow down the heart rate, and…
Gross Motor Gift Ideas
When we are thinking about what kinds of sensory supportive and skill building opportunities to put in our environment for children to explore, it’s always a balance between things that support calming and recover, give energy to the body through speed, unpredictability, and crashing, and things that build skills. Children want to achieve and feel…
Get off the screen and get moving with this Holiday Obstacle Course
Make sure to enjoy the holiday season with some fun activities that get kids off their screens, moving, and into the holiday spirit. These activities are easy and fun without costing a fortune. Get creative for kids who have sensory and motor difficulties or trouble completing multi step sequences. For example, using a gift or…
Holiday Gifts that Energize
Energizing is about increasing connection to your body through fast and unpredictable movement, climbing, resistance, and crashing. Activities such as lifting heavy things, swimming, playing soccer or hockey, and dancing all are ways to increase this energy in an organized way. But for many of our kids with sensory and motor difficulties, they aren’t into…
Squishy Sensory Holiday Crafts
Whether your child loves to get messy making projects like slime and putting shaving cream on their skin in the bathtub or is the total opposite and doesn’t even want to touch sticky or slimy things, this craft is still for you! A kid that “loves mess” will have fun making these crafts. The kid…
This holiday season, give your child the gift of calm
Rhythm, Pressure, and Respiration are the key elements of calming input. Find the best match for your child’s sensory needs from our Amazon Restore Gift List below! RHYTHM There are so many ways to find rhythm. It comes in the form of music, rocking in a rocking chair, or even just doing something in a…
Parents! Are you Dreading the Holiday Meltdown?
We’ve all been there, right? You are at a birthday party or a holiday party and your child has a meltdown. You eventually have to make the decision to pack your whole family and go home. If you are a parent of a child who gets easily overwhelmed in a busy and noisy environments where…
Gift Ideas for a Sensational Cozy Corner
As information about sensory differences and strategies such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and breathing have become more mainstream, items that OTs have used with kids for years to improve self- regulation are readily available for purchase. Here is a list of recommended items focusing on Rhythm, Pressure, and Respiration, the key components of RESTORING activities. …
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next Page »