Sensory Fun in the Snow - Guest post by Martianne

Guest post by Martianne Stanger, full time mom and learner, part time teacher, tutor, blogger at Training Happy Hearts and Sensational Homeschooling Editor at Our Journey THRU Autism.
What an honor it is to have been asked back by Hartley to share ideas as a Winter Edition compliment to our summertime Sensory Fun in the Sun (and Shade) post.

Even though we rarely don our literal shades during the cold northeastern United States winters we face, we still find ourselves looking through our SPD lenses all the time in order to ensure frugal fun while feeding our son’s sensory diet. Indeed, whether we are rolling about in the snow in our own front yard, trekking through the nearby woods or freeing ice-bound creatures inside, we always do so with an eye for winter exploration and a good portion of sensory input!

Perhaps your children will enjoy one of our favorite Winter Sensory Fun Ideas:

In the Yard: Painted Snow Angels (for Motor Planning and Coordination, Proprioceptive Input, Tactile Input and Visual Fun)

Rinse a spray bottle out, add five to six generous drops of a favorite food coloring, fill the rest of the way with water and, then, don your snow suits (or whatever layers of warmth and water-proof coverings your SPD child will agree to).

Head out to the nearest patch of freshly fallen snow. Lie down on the ground and move your arms in and out from your body jumping-jack style to make a traditional snow angel. Then, step back and start spraying. Add a face. Color the wings. Spray on pants, shoes, a top and jewelry. Change the colors of these by spraying a second color over the first one. Then, if your kids are anything like mine, go ahead and decorate the entire yard! Shrubs laden with snow become all that more beautiful when a bit of color is added, don’t you think? And, the more of your yard you paint, the better work out those trigger-fingers get!

Looking through your SPD Lenses:

This activity feeds the tactile sense for three reasons. (1) The change in temperature when you go from inside to outside. (2) The feel of the cold and snow as you make snow angels. And (3), the pressure on your finger as you pull the trigger of the spray bottle.

The 12 Days of Christmas -- SPD Version

12 Days of Christmas -- SPD Version

On the first day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

A meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the second day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the third day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

Three screaming boys,

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the fourth day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

Four spinning Egg Chairs,

Three screaming boys,

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

On the fifth day of Christmas,

SPD gave to me

A five hour migraine,

Four spinning Egg Chairs,

Three screaming boys,

Two heavy blankets,

And a meltdown Oscar worthy!

Keeping Calm on Christmas

It’s almost here – are you ready? I might be. I mean, I think I am.

Presents from Santa. Check.

Stocking Stuffers. Check.
Waffle Mix (from Williams-Sonoma, holiday tradition). Check.

Lots of Bacon (that’s not a formal tradition; it just tastes good with waffles). Check.

Kids new Christmas Jammas. Check.
Camera Battery Charged. Check.
Fresh Coffee for morning. Check.
New Kid-Photo-Clad Coffee Mugs. Check.
Diet Pepsi for morning. Check.
PLENTY of wine for *after* morning. Check.

But you know what I still need? A Plan.

Yep, A Plan.

Not just any plan, The Plan.

You know this plan, right? The part of the overall Plan that includes how to regulate your child during the UTTER chaos that will ensue the moment he wakes (assuming he sleeps) on Christmas morning.

Yeah, that Plan. The Keeping Calm on Christmas Plan.

The one that accounts for free time, and visitors, and family, and anxiety, and strange foods, and general chaos.  Do you have one?  No?

Interested in hearing my Plan?  Even if you aren't, here it is:

The Plan

Christmas Eve: Kids are put to bed as close to on time as possible after being WORN out with Proprioceptive input. Yes, if I could have them move the stove and clean behind it, I would. But, something more kid friendly, like shoveling snow, sledding, carrying groceries, shelving books (or Diet Pepsi cans…just sayin’), rearranging the furniture, moving chairs, pushups/pull ups, heavy blanket work (carrying it on their shoulders up and down the stairs), playing Santa (load a ‘sack’ with stuff to carry around and deliver to each room), animal walks, ‘wheel barrow’, crawling work, tunnels (behind the couch works wonderfully), etc. You get the idea. LOTS of proprioceptive input to help them sleep.  Then, obviously, grab a glass of wine and cross your fingers!

Sensory Diet for School

Many people ask me what a good sensory diet for school is, and unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer. But, in light of how many people are interested, I am going to breakdown what we do/have done for Gabriel in an effort to give you a starting point in determining the best fit for your own child.

PLEASE remember that I am offering mom to mom advice, which is in no way shape or form medical advice, and of course, should not be substituted for your own good judgment. Now that you have my disclaimer, here we go.

Day begins (Gabriel awakes low):

Eat breakfast with input. Offer breakfast items that provide input, like crunchy granola, yogurt through a straw or chewy dried fruit. We focus on high protein and low sugar. Use weighted lap pad or allow standing (or any other at-the-table option) to make sure he finishes his entire breakfast.

Get ready for school. Dressed, teeth brushed, things packed, lunch ready, etc. This is all good linear movement for Gabriel, so I have included him in doing these things since he was very young. The goal here is to get his body moving and his blood pumping.

Heavy work (10-20 minutes before school). To get him the proprioceptive input he needs, I usually have him do chores (I am big on that more since he is older).  Carrying, moving and lifting chores like reshelving books, carrying laundry upstairs, pushing the dining room chairs in, carrying the trash, are all good options. Younger kids might require more 'fun' like a quick game of Simon Say, short obstacle course with pull ups, stretching/yoga/dancing, pulling/pushing with a door frame, carrying a loaded backpack around, or jumping on the trampoline.

NOTE: We do NOT watch TV in the morning before school. Gabriel gets too low, and even with his heavy blanket for proprioception, it is just a bad idea. I highly recommend against TV watching first thing in the morning. Just a personal opinion.

Bus ride to school. This is where individualized seating arrangements are helpful. Gabriel could very well be over-stimulated by the bus ride (too much noise), so we have him sit up front by the bus driver, and allow him a designated seat (eliminating the potential argument over 'his' seat). He is also first off, is always ‘line leader’ when he gets off the bus. Alternatives would be to wear headphones or MP3 player with quiet music to help control noise during the ride.

Do YOU Have Sensory Issues?

I had the most amazing time talking to Lisa Davis at It’s Your Health Radio this last week. It was truly like talking with a good friend – we laughed, and exchanged stories about our kids and our husbands, and of course talked a lot about Sensory Processing Disorder and my book This is Gabriel Making Sense of School. But the best part? Laughing about our own sensory issues.

Yep, that’s right, turns out that we as parents of SPD kiddos seem to have our own sensory issues. Just call me Captain Obvious.

There is always time to chat about our kids, and exchange stories about their therapies or quirky and funny behavior, but how often do you actually talk to another sensory-mom about yourself? Never. I know.

So, when Lisa and I started laughing about our childhoods and how those little sensory quirks of ours are playing out in our kids, it was just a blast. And, I wanted to include all of you in the discussion too!

When I was a child I had definite sensory preferences that lean towards being defensive (Nick is exactly me, but I ate more than peanut butter). I needed to have my socks just right, no itchy tags, definitely no screen-printed shirts (that feeling was AWFUL on my skin!), I wore my jacket inside during the winter, I learned to self-soothe by rubbing my feet on my sheets and shoving them under anything heavy (my hubby’s legs are my fave now), I hated certain food textures (like peas, lima beans, olives, mushrooms) and to this day I can’t stand loud noises.

I am definitely more auditory defensive than anything else these days – it is like I have the capacity to handle a certain amount of noise, and once it is reached, I am done. No additional background noise, no crowded places full of people moving and making noise, and by rule, no electronic or battery operated toys after 4pm.

I also have to out myself here and say that I hate to brush my teeth. I just hate it. I hate the taste of toothpaste, and the feeling of the brush, but the thing I hate THE MOST is the feeling of all of that spit in my mouth that I have to hold there while I brush. Holding the spit in to brush over the sink is IMPOSSIBLE. I will gag, and throw up. Truly. As embarrassing as it is, I just can’t do it. And don’t get me started on mouth wash – same problem (spit in mouth) but worse.

Sensory Seekers and Sensory Avoiders

I had such a huge response to my post, “What is Sensory Processing Disorder?” that I wanted to talk a little bit more about how it presents itself.

I want to start by talking about Sensory Modulation Disorder – or in basic terms: Sensory Avoiders and Sensory Seekers (for a full definition, click here).

For the purpose of this post, I am going to list sensory seeking and sensory avoidant behaviors, to paint a more accurate picture of what sensory-based behaviors look like. You can consider these 'symptoms' or a 'checklist' but my real goal in posting them is to help parents and caregivers recognize the sensory challenges in the children in their life.  In addition to that, I hope to paint a bigger picture of specifically of the kinds of behaviors Sensory Seekers have, as they seem to be the least understood.

Let's start with Sensory Seekers.