Helping SPD Children Learn to Reach Out Through Play

My daughter, Jaimie, said these words to me as she watched her younger sister, Jordhan, and I enjoying our family craft time. Jaimie chose not to participate because she wasn't able to handle the sensation of the pompoms or the smell of the glue. As alot of you know already, Jaimie has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). It can also interfere with their ability to experience their environments the way they'd like to, even at playtime.

Not all children are affected by SPD the same way. Some seek out sensory stimulation while others avoid it. Jaimie's form of SPD is rather severe and her level of sensitivity varies from one day to the next. But we were determined to make sure she experienced as much as she could despite struggling with SPD. All she needed was to have things tweaked a bit so she could enjoy an activity, just in a way more comfortable for her.

Allow me to share with you some of our family's favorite fun time activities. Included are how to alter the activity with a sensory sensitive child in mind, including tips on whether their a seeker or avoider.)

Finger Painting: For sensory sensitive children having paint on their hands is not a welcome sensation. Jaimie often refuses to participate in crafts where her hands get messy. Seekers: Finger painting is an excellent activity for seekers because they need to get right in there and rough handle things in order to (feel) experience it. Avoiders: I offer Jaimie a paintbrush instead of having to use her hands. I also give Jaimie shaped sponges or cut shapes into potatoes to use with the paint so can still experience using her hands, but not have to get them dirty.

Cut and Paste or other gluing crafts: Crafting can be a great source of comfort and help a child learn to focus. For a child with sensory sensitivities working with scissors, glue or markers can be a frustrating experience. In our crafting box we have a wide variety of materials to work with depending on how everyone feels. Seekers: Have loads of brightly colored things like pompoms, feathers, pipecleaners even different textured types of cloth. Scented markers are a plus too! Avoiders: The smell and stickiness of glue isn't fun for Jaimie. We squeeze some glue into an empty individual yogurt container and offer her a paintbrush or offer her a glue stick instead. Picking pictures from a magazine is a nice option if using the "touchy-feely" objects is too much. Jaimie uses magazine pictures to tell a story then draws her own story around them.

Sandbox: Constructing things in the sand is always fun. But when you have sensory sensitivities sand can be a painful experience. Seekers: Have lots of things to push, pull and dig in the sand. Seekers find the resistance soothing. Avoiders: It was a challenge to find a way for Jaimie to enjoy playing with sand when she doesn't like getting her hands dirty or even the feel of the sand. We just make sure she has a shovel of her own-because she likes digging-and on more sensitive days, we offer her a rice box to use instead (see sidebar.)

Splish Splash in the Pool: Jaimie has always had a love-hate relationship with water. She loves the idea of swimming but on really sensitive days, she'll only be able to handle standing in our kiddie pool and play with toys. Seekers: Give them loads of toys that have holes in the bottom to play with the dripping water. (Pasta strainers are terrific!) And let them splash their little hearts out. In deeper pools, give them some flippers to provide resistance or take them down a water slide! Avoiders: Jaimie doesn't like to submerge herself in the water and doesn't like getting her hair or face wet. The same toys work with the avoiders but things like squirt guns or using straws to suck the water up and spray out (or blowing bubbles in the water) are great ways to play in the water without getting too wet.

Out on the Playground: When Jaimie was really young we couldn't make her go to the playground. It was too loud, too busy and too much to do-she never knew where to start. (For a girl who needed routine and structure, it wasn't as fun as it should have been.) Now we've found other ways to enjoy the park. Seekers: The playground is an awesome place for a seeker. Things like slides, swings, teeter-totters, or bouncing balance beams are great stress releasers as well as ways to play with the other kids. Avoiders: On more sensitive days, Jaimie was leery about the slide or going too high on the swing. First, we'd be sure to go at a time of day that wasn't as busy (earlier morning or later evenings) and start Jaimie off in the younger child section (eg: baby swings, shorter slides and play structures). Usually that was enough for her. But some days if she was able to do the younger section, she'd venture out to the big-kid stuff.

Of course we aren't able to re-structure things for Jaimie in every situation. But we do what we can where we can and help her through the rest. Tweaking projects at home this way has helped Jaimie build her confidence up enough to express her individual needs at school or when she's playing with other people. Now instead of saying, "Teach me to play," she's says, "Play with me!" much more often. And that's music to my ears.

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SIDEBAR:

Sensory seekers love to squeeze, manipulate, push and pull things. They also like to do activities that require a lot of excursion when they're overstimulated because it's hard for them to calm down. One cool activity to help both seekers and avoiders (when the sandbox is too much) is a Rice Box.

Essentially you find a box about the size of a small shoebox (preferably with a lid). You can either use an actual shoebox the child can decorate or go to the dollar store where there's a wide selection of colorful or decorated boxes to choose from. Fill the box with rice or small pasta (Pasta is easier to clean up!) Finally, find small toys to put in the rice. Cereal box or Cracker Jacks prizes or other small toys are perfect. Again the dollar stores usually have a great selection of small toys. Marbles are great too.

Then the child digs for the toys or pushes them down into the rice or pasta. Jaimie can do it for hours, if we let her.SPD children can participate in all forms of play, even with a bit of tweaking.Learn to figure out how to tweak whether your SPD child is a "Seeker" or "Avoider"