Category Archives: Sensory

Investigate evidence-based sensory integration strategies and therapeutic tools designed to help individuals of all ages regulate sensory input, enhance emotional regulation, and improve behavior, attention, and participation across a variety of environments.

Therapro’s Free Activity of the Month: Sock Snowman

Sensory, ,

Looking for a cozy, winter-themed craft that doubles as fine motor practice? Therapro’s Sock Snowman Activity Idea guides you step-by-step through creating adorable snowmen from recycled socks.

The Snock Snowman Activity is from the Pre-Writing Curriculum Enrichment Series, written and illustrated by Peggy Hundley Spitz, OTR. The books are split into 5 sections, and each section is packed with seasonal activities to enhance your classroom or therapy session. The sections are as follows: Trace & Draw, Crafts and Costumes, Cooking, Stories to Color and Read, and Games.

This month’s activity comes from the Crafts and Costumes section of Winter Activities: Snowflakes Snowflakes Everywhere.

Materials:

  • 1 White tube sock
  • Rubber band
  • Polyester stuffing
  • Fabric paints
  • Felt Strips, 1” x 12” or Ribbon
  • Colorful yarn scraps
  • Scissors

Directions:

  1. Fill sock with polyester stuffing. Leave 2” at the top unstuffed.
  2. Wrap rubber band around the top of the sock to close the end.
  3. Tie a felt strip or ribbon firmly around the sock where the neck and the scarf of the snowman should be. This will divide the sock into “head” and “body”.
  4. Tie some colorful scraps of yarn around the rubber band,
  5. Use fabric paints to add features and buttons to your snowman.
  6. Allow paint to dry completely.
  7. Enjoy!

Activities:

  1. Explore and encourage tactile awareness by discussing the variety of textures- stuffing, sock, felt, paint, yarn and rubber band.
  2. Add uncooked beans or uncooked rice instead of polyester stuffing to make a weighted snowman.
  3. Add lavender scented sachet to the inside of the snowman for a relaxing friend.
  4. Encourage each child to make their snowman unique and name them.
  5. Use light colored socks such as light blue or pink and shorter socks, see how different they look.

Make it a sensory activity:

After you complete your snowmen enjoy our recipe for Winter Fruit Salad. The recipe is in the cooking section of Winter Activities: Snowflakes Snowflakes Everywhere.

Winter Fruit Salad

Food Needed:

  • 1 red delicious apple, cored and sliced
  • 1 granny smith apple, cored and sliced
  • 1 winter pear, cored and sliced
  • 1 8oz can mandarin orange slices
  • ½ cup seedless grapes
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • Miniature marshmallows
  • 8-10 maraschino cherries

Equipment Needed:

  • Large Bowl
  • Plastic knives
  • Mixing spoon
  • Can opener
  • Serving bowls

Directions:

  1. Wash & dry hands.
  2. Cut apple and pear slices into cubes. Place in a large bowl.
  3. Wash grapes. Add to bowl.
  4. Open can of orange slices and drain. Add to bowl.
  5. Add some marshmallows and ½ cup of shredded coconut. Stir in until all the fruit is covered with coconut.
  6. Spoon into serving bowls. Sprinkle with more coconut and top with a cherry.

Three examples of the Sock Snowman from the Snowman Activity Idea

Using Sensory Stories & Sensory Strategy Cards for Regulation

Sensory,

For children with over-responsive sensory modulation, participating in everyday activities can be overwhelming. Victoria Nackley, MS, OTR/L, co-author of Sensory Stories, presented a Therapro seminar on Saturday, October 18th, entitled Using Sensory Stories and Sensory Strategy Cards (45 Strategies to Add to Your Sensory Diet) to Promote Self-Regulation. She engaged the audience of about 60 therapists, teachers, parents, and grandparents in learning how to use sensory stories as a therapeutic tool to help a child engage successfully in typical home, school, and community activities that intrinsically are loaded with sensory experiences. Victoria discussed the fact that 15 research studies currently support the theory that Sensory Stories promote a child’s ability to engage in day-to-day activities.

Sensory Story Cards for regulation Sensory Stories empower a child to cope with day-to-day life activities such as getting dressed, riding the school bus, and going to the store. Victoria and her co-author, Deborah Marr, have developed 30 individual stories that can be customized to each child. She engaged the attendees as a group in a sensory story about brushing their teeth. The calming strategies recommended are simple and quick so that they can easily be incorporated into a task that a child finds difficult to accomplish. For example, calming strategies might involve deep touch pressure, like a self-hug or using a towel to apply deep pressure to the skin.

For a child to feel successful every day builds self-esteem and social acceptance. Sensory Stories are a powerful tool in our toolbox that can help a child learn self-regulation. The following are a few of the many positive comments from those who attended the Sensory Stories seminar:

“Informative practical ideas that can be used right away.” Karen D.

“Exploded my ideas beyond the ‘typical’ applications of the Sensory Story cards.” Elizabeth S.

“Gives a very good presentation not only on Sensory Stories but also the importance of understanding sensory modulation.” Brooke W.

“She provided a great background/review on self-regulation. She gave many great examples and treatment ideas. I’m looking forward to trying them both with my clients and my own son!” Natalie S.

Thank you, Tory!

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L

Sensory Exploration with Pumpkin Carving

Fine Motor & Hand Skill Development, Sensory, ,

It is October, and it’s time to harvest not only pumpkins and apples, but also the sensory exploration this time brings. Have you ever broken down all the sensory input that the simple task of carving a pumpkin can provide? If you have the opportunity to go to a farm to pick your own pumpkin, take advantage of it. The experiences that you and your child will share stay with you forever.

Read on for all the ways a trip to pick your own pumpkin is sensational fun.

pumpkins on a fence ready for carving and sensory exploration

Pumpkin Carving Sensory Experiences

Senses

At the Farm

At Home

Visual
  • The leaves changing colors
  • The bright orange pumpkins
  • The roots and vines through the pumpkin patch
  • The blue sky
  • The animals at the farm
  • Browsing through different designs for the pumpkin
  • Tracing the design unto the pumpkin

Tactile
  • Feeling the breeze
  • Touching the Leaves

 
  • Feeling the grooves on the pumpkin
  • Scooping the pulp
  • Sifting through the pulp to separate the seeds

Auditory (hearing)
  • Shoes crunching the dead leaves and dry ground
  • Tractor on the farm
  • Hearing other people talking
  • The animals making noises
  • Singing Songs as you prepare to carve the pumpkin
  • Listening as the carving tool cuts through the pumpkin

 

Olfactory (smell)
  • The smell of the hay
  • The smell of the grass
  • Baked goods at the farm
  • The smell of the pumpkin pulp
  • The smell as you bake the pumpkin seeds or other desserts

Proprioceptive
  • Carrying the pumpkin from the patch to the car
  • Climbing up the ladder to go on the hay ride
  • Carry the pumpkin to the table
  • The feeling of carving the pumpkin (this must be done with adult supervision and using the appropriate tools)

Vestibular
  • Going on a hay ride
  • Sitting on a rocking chair while enjoying some of the baked goods

Gustatory (Taste)
  • If the farm has a bakery, get some of their delicious baked goods
  • Bake pumpkin seeds (see recipe below)

Pumpkin Seeds Recipe

  1. Separate the seeds from the pulp.
  2. Rinse and dry the seeds (sometimes they have to dry overnight).
  3. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
  4. Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle to taste with the seasonings of your choice. For sweet seeds use Cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar, for salty seeds use garlic powder, salt and pepper.
  5. Toast for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until dry and toasted. Larger seeds may take longer.

For more seasonal activities get Therapro’s Hats Off and On to Scissors Skills– you get to practice scissor skills and make hats for every season. Below are pictures of a Pumpkin Time Hat.

Also see our seasonal writing readiness workbooks and our Pre-writing curriculum enrichment series!

Please share other ideas and ways you can have sensational fun this fall.
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