Tri-County Therapy | Sensory Processing: Tactile Play

Sensory Processing: Tactile Play

March 29, 2019Tri-County Therapy Blog occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy sensory processing

Sensory Processing: Tactile Play

Our tactile systems help us interpret everything related to our sense of touch, including textures, temperatures, vibration, pressure, and pain.  Development of a child’s tactile system has a huge impact on his daily experiences.  A healthy tactile system makes gaining independence with grooming, bathing, and dressing tasks fun!  A few common tactile-avoiding behaviors are listed below:

Avoids certain textures or clothing

Dislikes being messy

Avoids hugs or physical contact

Toe walking

Refusal to walk barefoot

Try making dry sensory bins filled with rice, flour, beans, or corn.  Have your child scoop and pour with cups, spoons, and shovels or hide small toys!

Sensory dough is great for hand strengthening, as well as tactile play!  See if your child can make a worm, ball, or even bird’s nest out of playdough, cloud dough, and moon sand.

Messy play can be a bit more challenging for some kiddos.  Try painting with finger paint, shaving cream, even pudding.  If your child is upset by having his hands messy, start out with a paintbrush or even a glove… baby steps!

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Toys for Motivating Infants to Roll and Sit

March 22, 2019Tri-County Therapy Blog occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy sensory processing

Toys vary based on the age and targeted activity for the child. For infants beginning to work on rolling and sitting, musical, light up toys are always a favorite! Entertainment is always needed when performing tummy time which a child, as most children do not initially enjoy placement in this position, but it is vital to development. Anything that can distract a child in these positions is beneficial, usually music and lights are favorites and promote calming or distraction from the challenge. Some great toys to use include:

1. Baby Einstein Turtle – this adorable turtle plays calming music for a fussy baby disliking tummy time, encourages visual tracking with its bright flashing lights, and encourages reaching to activate the music/lights with a hand.

2. Rattle Shaker Toy – this simple toy mimics a rattle sound when shaken, but also provides a soothing, rainlike sound when placed on its end. Babies enjoy reaching for this toy, knocking it over, and rolling or reaching for it when it rolls just beyond their reach. It is also a great toy for teethers who want to pick everything up and put it against their gums.

3. Laughing Monkey Toy – this laughing monkey entertains babies with his silly sounds and ability to roll in every direction. The monkey shifts back and forth over the ball, as well as rolls in circles to encourage rolling and reaching beyond a child’s comfort zone in sitting.

Toys to Encourage Gross Motor Activities and Movement

March 15, 2019Tri-County Therapy Blog occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy sensory processing

Frequently parents ask for toys that will help motivate their child to move, participate in gross motor activities, and play. Toys play a huge role in motivating children by incorporating fun and play into harder or more challenging activities. A boring toy is similar to a less than desirable activity with no end-goal, humans, young and old, need to be motivated to participate and put forth our best effort! Toys that tend to be the most motivating for children include music, as most children love to dance and enjoy the beat while they play. Additionally, toys that light up, sparkle, or have surprises, such as ball poppers, and any toys with preferred characters from favorite movies or shows will help increase your child’s interest!

There are two simple and inexpensive “toys” that work for all ages and walks of life. When all else fails, bubbles and Mardi Gras beads are always a hit!

1. Bubbles – bubbles can be used for simple, visual entertainment and calming. They can also be used to teach a child to point and pop the bubble, as well as using feet only and working on single leg balance or weight shifting. Bubbles can be stomped on, chased, run through, crawled to, walked to, jumped over, jumped on, etc. The list of ideas is endless! Popping bubbles with feet can help promote core strengthening.

2. Mardi Gras beads – these sparkly, eye-catching beads are a favorite from infancy through later childhood. Infants love to watch the colors and reach for the beads, toddlers love to walk or crawl to reach the beads, children love to jump over or to the beads, and even older children enjoy earning the beads as rewards for participation in activities. Both boys and girls love the sparkle and noise and enjoy the imaginative play with them! (Please, as with any toy, be careful and monitor children with these as they can be a choking hazard for small children and can be dangerous when worn around the neck!!)

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Gross Motor Activities for Children Through Age 5

March 8, 2019Tri-County Therapy Blog occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy sensory processing

Gross Motor Activities for Children Through Age 5

Older children can require more entertainment and imagination within play to stay focused and participate. It is much easier for an older child to simply say ‘no’ and refuse. Some favorite toys and activities for children who are now walking (18 months+) through age 5 don’t have to be complicated to be useful or entertaining. Today we are going to share a few ideas of how to incorporate toys you may have at home into gross motor activities.

It is important to incorporate what the child loves into the activity, so focus less on the toy and more on the child’s personal interests. For older children, it is easier to have a small supply of activities that can be applied to a toy of interest rather than a lot of specific toys. It is always helpful to have simple games, food games (like pizza building), and puzzles with princesses or trucks/trains/cars handy. The activities below can be modified to practice gross motor skills with race car games, playing with animal-type movements, or obstacle courses with bridges and hot lava.

Bean bags – these are another simple, every day object that can be used in a ton of fun activities. Depending on the skill you are targeting, bean bags have a variety of uses and sometimes the children will come up with fantastic ideas! For leg strengthening, specifically in toe walkers, place bean bags on the top of the foot and have the child walk a short distance with the bean bags on her feet and then kick through a hoop or to a target. Having a child kick a bean bag off a cone is also a fun activity that will encourage gross motor skill development. Bean bag toss to a target is another fun game or searching for bean bag animals to bring back to the farm using various animal walks, skipping, hopping, galloping or running!

Scooter Board – the scooter board is a familiar activity to all of us and something we likely used in our younger days in gym class. The options with the scooter board are endless!

Sitting and scooting for puzzle pieces/toys/games, Blast-Offs using feet on the wall or Blast-Offs using arms on the wall, Child laying on stomach and using arms to propel through scooter obstacle courses, scooter planks, scooter races, scooter sport games, etc. It’s a fantastic toy and tool for working on leg/core/upper extremity strengthening, postural control, improving heel strike for toe walkers, and overall balance/coordination!

Noodles and Jump Ropes – these two inexpensive toys can create obstacle courses with the addition of a puzzle or game. A jump rope creates an easy balance beam (winding or straight), an object to jump over, a “bridge” to cross, a circle to jump in/out of, and a target to throw into. Noodles as a whole or cut into pieces can be a balance beam, obstacles to step or jump over, and small balance boards. When you combine a variety of noodles with the jump rope, a small obstacle course can be created with a puzzle or game of the child’s choice!

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