PLAY THERAPY
Glossary
Auditory system.
Is all about how we process and understand sounds that we hear in our environment.
Some children may struggle with too much noise, certain sounds or changes in sounds within their environment which may mean they have auditory sensitivities.
Dysregulation.
Occurs when a child can’t handle or deal with their emotions. It could be a build up of triggers that lead to behaviours of distress such as meltdowns or tantrums. It refers to a poor ability to manage feelings that are in a ‘typical’ range for emotional reactions.
Early intervention.
Early intervention is specialised support provided for young children who have a disability support or a learning support need. It may include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and other types of services. Early intervention should happen as soon as possible after a child’s needs are identified, as it can have a significant impact on their ability to learn new skills and overcome challenges.
Fine motor.
Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using the small muscles in our hands and wrists, to be able to coordinate these small muscle groups with competence and precision.We consistently use our fine motor skills for daily activities as they aid in many self-help tasks such as eating, dressing, cooking, and brushing teeth.
Gross motor.
Gross motor skills are large movements that we perform with our whole body, the ability to move our arms, legs and torso in a functional manner. They are usually developed throughout a typical timeline of milestones in early childhood; siting, crawling, walking, jumping, running.
Literacy.
In an early childhood sense, literacy is all about learning sounds, words and understanding language. Literacy forms the basis of your child's learning, and the early years are the most important in lying a strong foundation for literacy skills. Early literacy skills can be developed by reading to your child, modelling language, and communicating with your child.
Modelling.
In an early childhood sense, literacy is all about learning sounds, words and understanding language. Literacy forms the basis of your child's learning, and the early years are the most important in lying a strong foundation for literacy skills. Early literacy skills can be developed by reading to your child, modelling language, and communicating with your child.
Proprioception.
Is your body's ability to sense movement and location. It is closely tied to the control of movement and is the reason we can move freely without having to consciously think about the environment. Children who have difficulty with their proprioceptive system will often have some struggles with their sensory processing system - the system isn’t linking the brain and body the way it should. Proprioception activities are about providing activities that provide intense input into joints (jumping, lifting, pushing, pulling).
Self care.
Self care skills in children involve beginning to develop an understanding of the actions and skills that are required to perform everyday tasks such as eating, dressing and personal hygiene (i.e., washing hands after toileting). When children are given opportunities to practice their self care skills it boosts confidence and works on planning skills, fine motor and gross motor skills and builds on self esteem.
Self-regulation.
Is the ability to manage behaviours and emotions in an environment. When children have the capability to remain calm and handle big emotions while they adapt and respond appropriately within different environments it shows their ability to self regulate. Difficulties with self regulation are common with children who have neurodevelopment disorders.
Sensory diet.
Consists of implementing activities throughout the day that assist in keeping your child calm and regulated, it provides the sensory input that they require to stay focused and organised. A sensory diet is designed specifically for your child by an occupational therapist with input from family and teachers. Aspects like timing, frequency, intensity and duration of different sensory inputs are decided and then implemented into home and school life.
Tactile.
Tactile means touch. Often a sensory experience can also be known as a tactile experience as its something that is explored through touch. You deal with a world of tactile things daily and you use your tactile sense whenever you touch anything. In the sense of describing someone as tactile it could mean that they are often touching people or objects.
Vestibular.
The vestibular system works alongside all the other systems in our body to understand our position, balance and motion. A strong vestibular system provides us with information about where our body is in space and is developed by moving. This sensory system forms the foundation for all the sensory systems (touch, sight, sound, smell, taste, proprioception). Problems associated with vestibular processing will mean your child could be fearful of moving or on the contrast seek constant moving.
Play therapy
Early intervention. Two words that you’ve more than likely heard once or twice. The magical key to success in ensuring your child fulfils their upmost potential. But, what an overwhelming sense of pressure it can place on parents.
Often you can walk away from a therapy session with what feels like a never ending ‘to do’ list that describes all of the skills that you need to work on with your child. Or perhaps something has been flagged from a day-care teacher and you are at a complete loss as to how to ensure you can assist with your child's development in that area. Yes, early intervention is super important but what if it didn’t have to be stressful? What if you could take some of the pressure off and simply just get back to basics and play?
Traditionally play therapy is a form of therapy that allows children to express, regulate communicate and practice skills with a therapist in a playful and informal way. It’s a way to allow children to open up and share their feelings while developing skills in a way that feels safe and inviting for them.
-Diane Ackerman
I've witnessed many times the power that play has on children's learning. First working with children of a variety of different ages as an Early Childhood Educator and with my own children, in particular my daughter who has cerebral palsy and autism.
It’s often the children that struggle with sensory issues, have a delay, are behind in skills or have a disability that actually benefit most through learning through play.
I believe that focusing on a child's strength and interest should be the primary focus and the skills that need to be worked on should be secondary to that. For example, my daughter loves doll play, has a great imagination and well-developed fine motor skills with her left hand. We need to work on bimanual play (encouraging her to use both of her hands), to develop a therapy play method here I could get her to try to hold a doll with her non dominant arm/hand while her functional hand feeds her dolly.
Another example of therapy play; A child who needs to work on fine motor skills and tactile play - who loves cars. An activity that targets this skill while also tuning into their interests could be a car track painting experience. Child would pick up and put the car wheels through paint to make paint car tracks on paper. Picking up and manoeuvring the car works on fine motor skills and hand eye coordination, the paint aspect allows the opportunity to engage in sensory play. For my daughter and I, once home therapy had a strong focus on play it stopped feeling like a chore. It took the frustration away for my daughter and the stress away for me. It gave me satisfaction to feel like I was helping her while she was simply enjoying herself. . I think navigating parenthood in such a busy world means we often don’t have time to simply play with our children (well, as much as we would like). Dedicating therapy time, also meant that I was spending quality playful moments with my daughter. It took the somewhat daunting and negative feelings of navigating a road of therapy into a more positive and uplifting experience.
-Fred Rogers
Sensory systems
Sensory integration is the way that our brain receives, stores, organizes and then responds to the information (sensory input) that it receives. There are 5 basic sensory systems;
Visual/sight
Auditory/sound
Tactile/touch
Oral/taste
Olfactory/smell
Babies learn, discover and develop through each of these sensory systems along with their vestibular (balance/motion) and proprioceptive (movement sense) sensory systems.
As children learn and grow, they develop abilities to process and understand their senses. A baby will learn to follow the sounds they hear, this in turn will lead to following and interpreting these sounds through touch and sight. A child may enjoy jumping in puddles, there sensory system allows them to watch as the water splashes, feel the water on their skin, hear the splashing sound while using their proprioceptive and vestibular systems to jump, balance and explore their environment. Their brain is interpreting all this sensory information in a controlled and organized way as the emotions felt from this activity are joyful and happy.
Some children struggle with their senses, and this is known as sensory defensiveness. Their reactions to sensory stimuli are overly sensitive, meaning their brain is unable to effectively respond to the input it is receiving. In turn this will affect a child's behaviour within their environment. For example, sometimes my daughter wears noise canceling headphones when we are out as she can get extremely heightened by bright lights and too many sounds.
Early intervention is specialised support provided for young children who have a disability support or a learning support need. It may include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and other types of services. Early intervention should happen as soon as possible after a child’s needs are identified, as it can have a significant impact on their ability to learn new skills and overcome challenges.
When my daughter was younger, she had strong sensory aversions to many things. She couldn’t stand to have anything on her hands or face, disliked the texture of sand and grass to the point of getting super distressed if it touched her and was very selective with touching food. I continued to gently incorporate opportunities to engage in sensory play in a no pressure playful environment. Gradually we built upon this over time and now I have a 7-year-old that loves nothing more then going to the beach and rolling around in the sand and getting messy through sensory play is now a calming experience for her.
Providing opportunities for children to engage their senses through play is beneficial to both sensory seekers and sensory avoiders. Blowing water colours through a straw to satisfy the oral and visual senses, using pots and pans to make music to tune into the auditory system, engaging in gross motor play to wake up the the vestibular and proprioceptive sensory systems. Never underestimate the power of play and purposely tuning into the senses!
No need to spend up big
-Fred Rogers
In the earlier days, when we were initially navigating my daughter's diagnosis, I believed we needed ALL of the things. The fancy toys that came with the $160 switch, that magically turned it into an ‘adaptive therapy’ toy. The therapy tools and gadgets that were used during appointments and the equipment which consistently blew my mind with the hefty price tags. Like most, I just wanted to ensure she had the best start and that I provided her with the tools she needed to thrive in her Early Intervention years. Sure, they were all beneficial and served a purpose but turns out those bigger ticket ‘proper’ therapy toys were a bit of a one hit wonder.
There was this one toy that cost $300!!! It had a sensory string ball on top and when it was touched, ‘Twinkle little star’ played. Another ridiculously expensive one was noisy, ugly cat that had an adaptive switch which my daughter could hit. Once she hit it, the cat would move back and forth for 30 seconds to the annoying music it played. It was exciting the first few times and then it lost its appeal and turned into something that would only motivate her sometimes. One day (in the midst of feeling therapy burnout) I was at a loss as to how to keep my daughter motivated and engaged with home therapy. Something clicked, and I got the paint out! That day how we approached therapy completely changed.
No need to spend up big.
Cheap dollar stores are my jam! I could spend ages browsing around and finding creative objects to incorporate into therapy. Think a fly swatter for a bat, balloons to use for physio, pipe cleaners for literally everything, stamps for bimanual play, cookie cutter to use with playdough, ice cube trays for fine motor play, and don’t even get me started on all the crafty materials on offer. Therapy play doesn’t need to be expensive!
Recycle all the things.
Put your creative hat on, sometimes it’s the most random things that are most motivating for therapy. Milk cartons for stamping on to pop the lids off, squeezy yogurt lids for counters, food boxes and cartons to make towers. I literally have a cupboard in which I stash anything that could be re-used and recycled for play. Before my husband throws anything in the bin he even asks, “do you need this?”, it just became the norm. Often the fancy toys are the one hit wonders, it’s the materials that they wouldn’t often play with that create the most excitement.
When the fun stops, stop!
-Amanda Friedman
It helps me to look at exercising and therapy as the same thing...I know working out and exercising is beneficial, it helps me both mentally and physically and for the most part I enjoy it, but sometimes I need a break. Maybe I’m not in the mood, not feeling the best or just simply need a time out. I don’t force myself to push through during those times, I simply allow it. I try to view her therapy like this too. Sometimes my daughter just needs a break and that’s ok.
In fact, breaks are often beneficial and can be the perfect recipe for a reset. The last thing you want is your child to dread therapy so its important not to push it. Let them take time to absorb the skills learnt along the way, and sometimes that can be the final piece to mastering what you have been working on.
Find out what works for you.
What works for one family won’t work for all. While it is such a great tool to gain insight and advice from other families it’s important to simply pick and choose what works best for your family dynamic. Working commitments, siblings, resources, schedules are all unique to each household and will impact what Early Intervention looks like for your family. Perhaps you dedicate a specific time to work on skills or perhaps your more of a spontaneous ‘I will fit it in when I can’ type person, there is no right or wrong way. Give yourself time to find the path that works for you!
Try not to compare.
Just because little Billy can last a whole hour happily engaged in therapy with his mum doesn’t mean that all children will. By no means is this a reflection on you or your child. Children naturally have different temperaments and coping skills.
Its just a phase.
Maybe your child was tolerating therapy and suddenly they don’t want a bar of it. Don’t forget children go through phases...terrible two phase, teething phase, the ‘no’ stage, the ‘I’m going to just throw everything phase’. Perhaps they have hit the ‘I’m going to make therapy difficult for you’ stage. When my daughter is really resisting therapy I often just say “Ok, no therapy today I can see your frustrated, lets just play another day”. Sometimes not giving big reactions to protesting ensures that it doesn’t become a common theme.
Make it something to look forward to.
As soon as your child views therapy as a chore finding any motivation to keep them engaged is going to be difficult. Keep it lighthearted, keep it fun and do anything you can to make therapy seem like your special time together.
When therapy starts to feel like a chore, take a break.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a break.
When your child's frustration levels have peaked, take a break.
If life is feeling a bit too chaotic, take a break.
Home therapy efforts aren’t lost if you take a break.
Managing frustration
-Alexander Den Heijer
Therapy for kiddos isn’t easy! They’re already struggling with a delay of some sort and then we really amplify this by having them continue to practice it through therapy. Doesn’t seem fair, right? But as the saying goes ‘you’ve got to be cruel to be kind’. Essentially, we have this one small window during the early years in which we ‘do all the things’ to help our children thrive with any limitations they may have.
Work on this from home.
Practice a never-ending list of skills.
Make sure you follow through with this.
A never ending to do list. But early intervention can have a significant impact on a child’s ability to learn and master new skills that assist in overcoming challenges. It can change the developmental path, increases chances of improvement and sets your child up to be their most confident and independent self. So, it’s a thousand times worth it to put in that effort, especially in the early years!
All well and good but what if your child is not quite on the same page and they have other things in mind with how they wish to spend their time. It can be a hard enough battle explaining that their drink is going to taste the same as it would whether its on a blue or green cup let alone explaining the benefits of therapy.
So, what do you do to manage the frustration? How do you continue to motivate them? How do you convince your little one that therapy play with your parents is in fact really really fun and cool? Once you crack the code that therapy is simply just play an immense amount of pressure is taken off both you and your child. Simply play and then sneak therapy in. It doesn’t have to be perfect, any intentional moments of working on targeted skills at home is never wasted. Repetition through playful fun is key and all practice is progress!
Validate big feelings.
Frustration is not a bad feeling to be felt and I think its important that children know that. Acknowledge that you understand that they are frustrated and that you ‘get it’. How you respond to the moment can help to set the tone for how they react in these ‘big feeling’ moments. Working through frustration is an opportunity to build resilience.
-Dr. Stuart Shanker
Timing is everything.
It might seem obvious to not attempt therapy right before nap time or during every parent’s favourite time of the day, ‘witching hour’. But too often the day gets away from us and we may not be picking the most ideal times for therapy. Really have a think about when your child is at their happiest but also consider when you feel like you have the mindset needed to focus on therapy.
Use a countdown.
Countdowns are life in our house when it comes to home therapy. Yes, it probably has a lot to do with my daughters ASD diagnosis, but I think most children get motivation and enjoyment from having a visual countdown. We often use a sand countdown timer but regularly I will have a visual reminder for how many activities we are going to do, and she counts them down that way. Materials are a great way to symbolise how many there are, or how many left. At one stage I laminated a birthday cake and candles that would Velcro on and off. She was obsessed with singing happy birthday at the time and got so much enjoyment ‘blowing a candle out’ after each activity was done. When all the candles were blown out our session was finished, we used this countdown strategy for about 6 months!
Positive praise.
Don’t forget to praise all the times they are trying and giving things a go. As soon as I catch my daughter coping with a situation positively, I literally can’t praise her quick enough. Give the rewards, tell them you're proud, shout it from the rooftops...praise and praise again. Constant praise and reinforcement can be a great way to motivate your child.
Try three times.
Whenever my daughter really struggled with practicing a skill we would have a 3 try rule. She had to give it a go by herself 3 times and if she still needed help after 3 tries we would do it together.
Give choices.
Never underestimate the power of choices. It gives a sense of empowerment and allows children to feel as if they are in control of the situation “Today we are going to practice using your tricky hand, would you like to do this activity or this activity?”
Visuals.
Letting children know what is expected and coming up next can be a good strategy to eliminate some frustration. This is also a good opportunity to save their favourite toy or activity till last and a visual can be a reminder of this ‘We have these three activities then we have this one last”.
Have fun.
If I notice that my daughter is feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with an activity I try to distract away from that. More often then not this involves me acting a bit like a crazy person, getting those giggles is everything. I never want to end a therapy session with a negative tone to it. The goal for me is for my daughter to have fun so if the frustration is peaking too much and there is no going back then we just take a time out and try again another time.
Getting siblings involved
When we first began to implement home therapy it was more of a one-on-one approach. I felt like for it to be successful I needed to be able to have all my attention focused on my daughter who needed the therapy. I think this made it even more stressful and placed an even greater sense of pressure. Not to mention the dreaded mum guilt that constantly overwhelmed me while I felt like I left my other daughter out.Once my view on therapy changed and we focused purely on the play aspect it just made sense for my other daughter to be able to join in as well.
Often, I would set things play activities up with both girls in mind and then we would sneak therapy in. When I was pregnant with my third child, I often spent time worrying about how I was going to fit it all in. I struggled to picture what our home therapy journey would look like with a newborn in tow. But we all adapted and learnt our new rhythm. Those first few months any home therapy was managed during her baby sisters sleep time but as she became more alert, she would sit in her rocker or bouncer and watch. As she got older, she too became involved and home therapy was pretty much a ‘family affair’. I felt that including all the girls benefited us all. It motivated my daughter with cerebral palsy even more so since her sisters were involved. It took care of that mum guilt of feeling like I was leaving my other daughters out and they both got so much enjoyment from being involved.
But the greatest positive was that my other two daughters learnt more about their sister, they gained a greater understanding about their sister's diagnosis and the challenges that it presented for her.
-Dr. Haim Ginott
Repeat after me, ‘therapy doesn’t have to be perfect!’ Play is messy and fun and full of many learning opportunities so incorporating it with a focus on targeting skills means you are a ledgend of a parent and doing a sensational job. Never underestimate the power of play and all the benefits it creates. Some tips for sibling involvement...
Let them be the therapist.
More of a one-on-one activity? Have your child be the therapist, my daughter was playing this role when she was only 4years old and her little sister thought it was the best that her older sister was pretending to help her like her therapists did.
Lower expectations.
Including siblings may feel like you're not able to target the skills with the attention needed but honestly any practice with targeted therapy skills is enough. So, if your therapy session doesn’t go to plan its never a complete loss! So. give yourself that pat on the back regardless of how you ‘think’ it went.
Choose activities that need two people.
Often physio activities are better when there is extra involvement, and most activities can be modified to include others. Board games are great to practice social skills and turn taking.
Let them choose the activity.
Give siblings a sense of involvement by having them help set up the activities and choose what activity you think should be done for their sibling. “Today I’m going to work on sensory play with your sister, what do you think sand play or painting?”
Ask them to be involved.
Sometimes just asking if they want to be included is enough to make them feel included. I always tell all my girls “We are going to play (such and such) for therapy if you want to join?” Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t but being asked and included ensures that they don’t feel left out.
Sure, there will be times that this is a bit tricky to cater to sibling involvement (attached picture is an example of this –baby sister angry that she couldn’t in fact sit on the therapy table while we tried to do therapy, the joys right?) so as an alternative option during these times you could create a ‘busy box’ for siblings. Special little toys and activities that are exciting to them, ensuring that they don’t feel left out while you are busy with their sibling. Another option could be to dedicate special one on one time with them too. This might be spending 10 minutes playing their favourite game or drawing together. I think sometimes we forget the effect that this time has. You don’t need to take them out for a special date or anything extravagant, just simply give them your undivided attention for a tiny portion of your day.
Staying organised
-Christina Scalise
It didn’t take me long to figure out that having an organised space for therapy activities and games was an essential. In the beginning we had things everywhere and that was overwhelming enough, let alone finding the time to actually fit the therapy in. Try to keep everything organised. It doesn’t have to be Marie kondo style (says the fan girl who lives for organisation), simply dedicate a cupboard, and label some containers. Build up a therapy collection. You don’t need to have ‘all the things’ when starting out. Build up and add to your therapy collection as you go. I find that dedicating toys, games and activities JUST for therapy not only makes them ‘special’ but helps to keep them together. I have always stored our things away....out of sight, out of mind. Meaning little hands can’t get to them and obliterate all my efforts to be an organised, sane ‘therapy mum’.
Categorise activities.
I find it so useful to categorise therapy activities into skills. For example for upper limb therapy my daughter has to work at both constraint and bimanual therapy. I have always kept the activities for this separate. So depending on what we are working out I can just grab a container. Physio equipment and games have a separate section as do activities designed to work on speech, emotional skills and regulation.
Make space.
What if you don’t have the luxury of endless amount of cupboard storing space? I feel you and have been there! At our old house we didn’t even have a linen cupboard to store our towels but I still ensured I made space for all of my daughters therapy things. I just got creative, Kmart is my jam and has storage containers for every cupboard, door, under bed, wardrobe system going.
Organise activities.
A lot of the activities I came up with had a heap of tiny little pieces (hello pom pom explosion), in this case Ziplock bags fast became one of my favourite things, after Kmart of course!
Write it down.
So, you have your beautifully organised therapy activity system sorted. But this is just one aspect of keeping organised with therapy. How and when you find the time in your week to implement it is another story. What worked well for me was to actually dedicate and allocate time. I would write home therapy down in my weekly planner, just as I would for appointments. I planned for it to happen, this helped to keep me on track and accountable. It was also a great feeling ticking it off each time, just gave you that extra bit of empowerment. Yes, rockstar mum has achieved some therapy!
Incorporate it into your day.
Perhaps your more of a go with the flow person (hats off to you) but its still essential to try to find some sort of system and balance. Lets be honest parenthood is a juggle at the best of times let alone squeezing in the extras. Another idea could be to have a skill in mind you want to target for the day and fit it end spontaneously in small pockets of moments.
Be prepared.
Before I started a therapy session with my daughter I always set it all up before hand and wrote down a list of the activities and skills we would work on for that session. If I mentally felt organised and prepared I think it set the tone for the session.
Make it routine.
If your child is like mine and thrives on routine and knowing what is on each day, add home therapy to their routine visual. I have photos of all of my daughters therapy appointments and school days on her weekly routine board, I also have a photo of us doing home therapy together and I add this into her week too. I find this helps her feel prepared and organised for our little sessions together.
-A.A. Milne
Early fine motor skills
Pool noodle stick
You will need
Skewers, toothpicks or mini paddle pop sticks
Pool noodle
Set up
If your child doesn’t have the fine motor strength to insert the skewers, or sticks pre-stick them in the pool noodle.
How to play
Have child try to take the skewers out, then have them stick them back in. A great activity to work also work on bimanual skills. Its also a nice little activity for the auditory sensory seekers as the sticks give a satisfying popping sound when being put in.
{challenge - draw dots or lines on the pool noodle beforehand so they can try to match the skewers up, this will work on hand eye coordination}
Tara’s tip
Pom chute
You will need
Paper towel rolls
Pom-poms
Electrical tape or blutac
Set up
Secure rolls to the wall with tape or blutac.
How to play
Have child insert the pom-poms down the paper towel chute, this will work on the development of a pincer grasp along with hand eye coordination.
{Challenge -position paper towel rolls higher to encourage reaching, high kneeling or standing. An extra fine motor challenge could be to use thongs}
Tara’s tip
Pipe cleaner cup
You will need
Pipe-cleaners
Paper cup
Tape
Set up
Pre-cut holes into the cup using scissors, a screwdriver or hole puncher. Thread some pipe-cleaners through a hole and tape down an edge
How to play
Have child post the links into the holes, a great way to work on hand eye coordination. {Challenge - have the holes cut both vertically, horizontally, and diagonally to work on cognitive thinking skills}
Tara’s tip
Link posting
You will need
Cardboard box or shoe box
Baby links
Set up
Cut holes into the top of the box.
How to play
Have child post the links into the holes, a great way to work on hand eye coordination. {Challenge - have the holes cut both vertically, horizontally, and diagonally to work on cognitive thinking skills}
Tara’s tip
Link posting
You will need
Clarge beads
Thin paintbrush
Set up
If child doesn’t have the fine motor coordination to thread them on you could have all if the beads already on the paintbrush. This allows them to still practice fine motor skills by just taking them off.
How to play
Have child try to thread the beads on and off the paint brush. {challenge - use a wooden skewer or pipe cleaner and smaller beads}
Tara’s tip
Fine motor skills
Water colour squeeze
You will need
Mini sauce bottles containers (alternatively use pipettes)
Water and food dye for the mixture (can use pre made craft water colours)
Paper towel or water colour paper
Dish (optional)
Set up
Adding the paper or paper towel to a dish will stop the colours from running everywhere.
How to play
Have child squeeze the colours over the paper towel to make a water colour artwork.{challenge – use thick paint on paper instead of the water colour mixture this will require extra hand strength}
Tara’s tip
Sensory bubble tube
You will need
Empty bubble tube
Craft items (beads, sequins, pom poms, cut up pipe cleaners...)
Set up
Put craft items altogether in a container to keep them from going everywhere.
How to play
Have child fill the tube with the craft materials one by one this will require the use of bimanual skills. Add water (glitter optional) to make a sensory shaker.
{Challenge – use tweezers to add the craft materials into the bubble tube}
Tara’s tip
Paperclip stick
You will need
Jumbo paddle pop sticks
Paper clips
Set up
Paperclips can already be clipped on if child does not yet have the skills to clip them on themself
How to play
Have child clip the paperclips on and off the paddle pop stick.
{Challenge – draw lines on the paddle pop stick to motivate child to try to line them up}
Tara’s tip
Collage
You will need
Craft materials and/or cardboard coloured paper
Glue
Paper
Set up
Sort out collage materials into containers or trays so it keeps it all together.
How to play
Have child use the glue to stick their craft materials/coloured paper all across their page.{Challenge – a mini PVA squeezy tube bottle will require extra hand strength}
Tara’s tip
Peg plate
You will need
Paper plate
Coloured pegs and/or wooden pegs (mini pegs add to the fine motor challenge)Texta's
Set up
Use Texta's to make coloured shapes and/or numbers around the paper plate
How to play
Have child match the pegs with the colour or number. Pegs are amazing to practice fine motor skills and strengthen those tiny little finger muscles.
{Challenge – you can use this for an extra learning experience e.g. have a picture of an apple, ball, cat etc. and the letters on the pegs to match up}
Tara’s tip
Early gross motor skills
Hiding toys
You will need
Cups
Favourite toys
Set up
Hide the toys underneath the cups beforehand.
How to play
Show child that there are toys hiding under the cups and encourage them to crawl to go and ‘save’ all of their toys.
{Challenge – position the cups further apart and all through the house to build up crawling endurance “Lets crawl to the kitchen, are there any toys hiding underneath the cups in there?”}
Tara’s tip
Ribbon crawl
You will need
ELarge box
String/ribbons
Tape
Set up
Cut out both ends of the box to make a crawling tunnel. Tape the string/ribbon to the edge of the box.
How to play
Encourage child to crawl through the box through the hanging string. A great activity to work on child's ability to sense their movement in their environment – proprioception.
{Challenge – set up chairs and tables to make a crawling obstacle course, also add cushions to encourage crawling on an incline}
Tara’s tip
Peg pull
You will need
Air dryer (alternatively you could tie string at kneeling height, in this case you would also need pegs).
Items that will peg (we use small soft toys)
Set up
Set the air dryer up so that it is hanging at child's kneeling height.
How to play
Have child practice balancing in kneeling as they reach up to ‘save’ all of the soft toys.{Challenge – set activity up a little bit higher to encourage high kneeling and balancing}
Tara’s tip
Musical instruments
You will need
Pots and pans
Kitchen utensils
Set up
Set up pots and pans on the floor, add cushions behind if child is unsteady sitting.
How to play
Have child practice sitting and balancing skills while making music.
{Challenge – set up the pots and pans on some furniture at kneeling height to encourage kneeling and balancing}
Tara’s tip
Bubble pop
You will need
Bubble wrap
Parallel bars *if child needs assistance standing, alternately could use two dining chairsTape
Set up
Tape bubble wrap to the floor.
How to play
Have child practice stomping on the bubble wrap to pop all of the bubbles. A great activity to work on vestibular input.
{Challenge – sit child on a chair to encourage them to lift their feet to stomp and squish the bubble wrap, this encourages leg isolation and lifting}
Tara’s tip
Gross motor skills
Crepe paper fun
You will need
Crepe paper
Blutac
Set up
Blutac crepe paper on both walls of a hallway.
How to play
Have child try to reach up to pull the crepe paper down.
{challenge – use other gross motor skills such as jumping or hoping to reach for the crepe paper.}
Tara’s tip
Sock throw
You will need
Socks
Dining chairs
2 buckets/containers
Extra player
Set up
Set chairs up in a line to make a divider. Have socks each side along with a bucket.
How to play
Have child throw a sock over the dining chair to either make it into the bucket on the other side or to touch their opponent.
{challenge – have child in high kneeling position the whole time}
Tara’s tip
Exercise challenge
You will need
Paddle pop sticks
Texta’s
Anything you choose to use for the gross motor activities (e.g. Hula hoop)
Set up
Write down a gross motor activity on each of the paddle pop sticks.
How to play
Have child choose a paddle pop stick without looking, whatever they choose is the activity they have to do. Don’t forget to add amount required or set a time limit for the each paddle-pop stick activity. Any opportunity that gets a child moving is great for their vestibular system.Some ideas for activities –Hula hoop, push-ups, plank, run on spot, star jumps, cartwheel etc.
Tara’s tip
Pool noodle fun
You will need
Pool noodles
Tape
Set up
Cut pool noodles down, tape together (if extra height needed) then tape and secure to the ground.
How to play
Have child side step over the pool noodle hurdles.
{challenge – make them higher by cutting part of the pool noodle as the two feet and secure a third piece using toothpicks to make hurdles. Tape and secure to the ground}
Tara’s tip
Balloon challenge
You will need
Balloons
Bells (optional)
String/ribbon
Blutac
Set up
Add a bell to each balloon, blow them up with bell inside and then secure them to the ceiling with string. They need to be low enough for child to be able to side step in between.
How to play
Have child try to manoeuvrer through the balloon bell line without touching a balloon. The bell should make a sound if the child touches a balloon on their way through. This activity works on a child's proprioception skills and tunes into their auditory processing system.
{challenge – ab workout, have child laying on the ground, they need to do a sit up, touch the balloon and the lay back down, repeat}
Tara’s tip
Feelings and emotions
Emotion stones
You will need
Stones
Pictures of faces printed (an option could be to just draw them on by hand)
Mod podge (an option could be PVA glue, mod podge will just ensure the pictures don’t rip off)
Set up
Print pictures of different emotion faces. Cut around to fit on stone and secure down with mod podge.
How to play
Have the emotion stones in the middle and explain a scenario, for example “If someone told you that you couldn’t play the game because you don’t know the rules properly, how would that make you feel? Choose the stone which would show your feelings”. You can swap the roles around too so they can be the ones to give examples.
Tara’s tip
UNO feelings
You will need
UNO cards
DIY sponge holder (optional for little ones who can’t hold the cards
Set up
To make a DIY card holder just use a bread knife to cut three lines along the sponge.
How to play
Play UNO how it is ‘meant’ to be played but each time a new colour is put down it becomes an opportunity to talk about feelings. Using the ‘Zones of regulation’ framework (feelings categorised into zones- colours). For example if the colour is changed to yellow “A time when I felt the yellow emotions was when I was worried when our dog was sick” etc.
Tara’s tip
- Memory, when you get two of the same colour you share a time you felt that emotion.
- Snap, when you snap two of the same colours you shout out an emotion from that colour/zone
Emotion jars
You will need
Containers
Faces printed
Mod podge (or glue)
Set up
Print out faces of emotions and stick onto container using the mod podge (or use clear tape).
How to play
Ask child a time they felt each emotion and write it down to put in their container (or they can write it themselves). The aim is that when you notice your child feeling a particular emotion you add it to the container, like a journal. At the end of the week or a few weeks you can go back and read them all, perhaps they had a moment that they handled better and you can make a deal about this “Remember when we wrote in the angry container that you felt really frustrated when you got dressed, you have gotten so much better with this.
Tara’s tip
Emotion jars
You will need
Computer
Printer
Laminator (optional)
Set up
Social stories are a great way to calm children's nerves about things that they are anxious about. To make one simply use pictures and sentences that will assist with the story. I google pictures and type it up on PowerPoint to print out. Sometimes I laminate them or other times I cut it down to fit a 6x4 mini photo album.
How to play
I made a longer (photo album) social story once. It was about my daughters operation overseas. In the social story I discussed all of the different aspects of our trip. This allowed my daughter to feel a sense of control about what would be happening, it calmed her nerves and meant she wasn’t as anxious. We have made many others about; going to school, holidays, weekends, special occasions and they have each served a purpose to ease anxieties by reading them over and over together.
Tara’s tip
Feelings game
You will need
Paper
Texta
Set up
Cut out paper into circles and draw different emotions on each circle.Secure to floor with blutac or tape.
How to play
Explain a scenario to child and they need to run/jump to the emotion that they would feel if that situation happened to them. For example “Imagine you asked if you could join in and play a game with two friends and they said no, how would this make you feel?”.
Tara’s tip
Sensory play worlds
Ice potions
You will need
Water (different colours, just add food colouring)
Containers (bowls, glasses, cupcake paddies, ice-cube containers etc.)
Materials of choice (flowers, leaves, sequins, glitter etc.)
Set up
Have materials set up on a tray. Have water and containers ready to go.
How to play
Have child make their own potions using all of the materials. Then freeze. Once frozen play get it out to play with again. Use wooden hammers to crack the ice and pipettes to add water to melt it. The coolness of the ice and the mixing of colours and materials makes for a beautiful sensory experience.
Tara’s tip
Exploring with rice
You will need
Coloured rice (shake rice with ½ tsp of oil and a few drops of colouring in a snap lock bag)
Playing items of choice (e.g. paper towel tubes, cups, measuring spoons, funnels)
Tray or container
Set up
Make rice beforehand (see above, just let it dry on a tray a little before use). Add play items of choice.
How to play
Rice is such a satisfying item to use for sensory play,. The sound it makes and the texture really engages and satisfies the senses and stimulates the tactile sense of touch. Rice sensory play can work on fine motor skills, encourages hand eye coordination and can improve concentration. The sounds that the rice makes is a great way to tune into the auditory processing system.
Tara’s tip
Sensory play worlds
You will need
Sensory base (sand, coloured rice, pasta, water, playdough etc.)
Tray or container
Small world items (e.g. trucks, rocks, sea animals, natural materials, figurines)
Set up
Add sensory materials to a container or tray. Have small world items nearby so child can make and design their small world.
How to play
A small world experiences engages a child in a creative and imaginative experience while they engage all of their senses. A great play experiences to engage the tactile sense for both sensory seekers and avoiders. Sensory play has many developmental benefits and works on social, communication and fine motor skills.
Tara’s tip
Hand painting
You will need
Butchers paper or large sheets of craft paper
Paint
Tape or blutac
Set up
Secure paper down to a table with tape.
How to play
Encourage child to feel and mix the paint using their fingers and hands. They can cover their page and mix the colours and then use their finger to draw or write in the paint.Use A4 paper to transfer their creations onto.
Tara’s tip
Save the animals
You will need
Corn flour
Water
Blue food colouring
Tray
Sea animals and and other ‘sea’ decorations (rocks, foliage, shells etc.)
Set up
Have child help to make the sensory mixture by mixing the corn flour, water and food colouring together. Mixture ratio will be determined by how you want the texture to feel, make sure only a few drops of food colouring are added as it will stain otherwise.
How to play
Once the sensory cornflour base is made have child make and decorate a Sea life small world. Due to the consistency the materials will stick into the mixture which adds to the sensory play while working on fine motor skills to ‘save the animals’. All sensory experiences engage children to explore their tactile sense.
Tara’s tip
Pre-writing development
Playdough letters
You will need
Playdough
Laminated letters (will ensure they are reusable)
Set up
Print letters out and laminate them. Another option could be to just write the letters out on paper.
How to play
Have child manipulate the playdough to make the letters. Playdough is a great fine motor activity that also works on hand strength, both are essential for pre-writing development.
Tara’s tip
Letter fishing
You will need
Paper clips
Playing items of choice (e.g. paper towel tubes, cups, measuring spoons, funnels)
Thick coloured paper (or cardboard)
Set up
Cut out 26 fishes and 26 circles. Write a letter of the alphabet on each fish and a letter of the alphabet on each circle (match the colours). Add a paper clip on each fish. To make the DIY magnet wand ‘fishing rod’, hot glue gun the magnet to the ribbon and the other end of the ribbon to the paddle pop stick.
How to play
Have child pick up a circle letter, they then use their magnetic fishing rod to fish out the matching letter (magnet on rod will attach to paper clip). This activity will work on letter awareness, colour recognition and hand eye coordination which is a great pre-writing skill to master.
Tara’s tip
Dot markers
You will need
Dot markers
Paper
Set up
Secure paper to table if child doesn’t have the bimanual capabilities to hold the paper while using the dot marker in their other hand.
How to play
Child uses the dot marker to make decorative markings across the page. By using dot markers children can practice: Bimanual skills by taking the lids on and off, hand eye coordination, one to one correspondence, creativity, colour awareness and patterns, fine motor skills and building up hand and muscle strength. All essential skills for prewriting development.
Tara’s tip
Alphabet rocks
You will need
Rocks and stones
Markers
Paint cards from bunnings (or small pieces of cardboard)
Set up
Write both smaller case and upper case letters on paint cards (as pictured). Use markers to write lower case letters on stones and upper case letters on rocks.
How to play
Have child see how quickly they can match all of the lower and upper case letters. Use their index finger to trace over the upper case letters. This will familiarise them with the written symbols that make up letters.
Tara’s tip
Letter dice
You will need
White plain dice (option could be to use plain stickers to cover standard dice)
White board Texta and whiteboard (option is to use Texta and paper if using standard dice)
Set up
Use the white board Texta to write some letters on the dice.
How to play
Have child throw the dice and write the letter that is thrown. Keep practicing and then wipe the letters off and change to some new ones. If child isn’t at the developmental stage to write letters you could replace them with shapes, symbols or lines. Any time a child has the opportunity to use a writing tool is great practice for pre-writing development.
Tara’s tip
Self-regulation skills
Playdough letters
You will need
Water beads
Balloon (thick balloons are better)
Funnel
Set up
Pre-make water beads (they need to be soaked in water)
How to play
Use funnel to add water beads to the balloon, tighten the end to make a DIY sensory squishy toy.
Tara’s tip
Paddle pop fidget
You will need
Paddle pop sticks
Beads
Pipe cleaner
Elastic bands
Set up
Secure one end of the pipe cleaner to the end of the paddle pop stick with an elastic band.
How to play
Thread the beads on the pipe cleaner, make sure there is room left to still move them up and down the pipe cleaner. Secure the bottom end of the pipe cleaner onto the other end of the paddle pop stick.
Tara’s tip
Dot markers
You will need
Water colour paper or paper towel (works best otherwise just paper is fine)
Straw
Pipette (paintbrush would also work)
Water colour liquid paint (can use food colouring with water)
Set up
I usually put butchers paper down first or an old tablecloth/towel as the water colours can spray.
How to play
Use a pipette to add drops of water colour to the page. Child then uses deep breaths to spread the colour across the page. A great oral regulation activity.
Tara’s tip
5 senses grounding
You will need
Just use your own or your child's hand
Set up
Nothing to set up but this activity would work best when distractions are eliminated where possible.
How to play
Have your child put their hand up showing all 5 fingers (alternatively you could use your own hand) and point to one finger at a time.
Take 5 deep breaths
Look around the room and ask your child to name or point to 4 things that they can see.
Then they show 3 things that they can touchFollowed by 2 things that they can hear
Finished with 1 thing that they can smell.
Its an effective distracting technique that has positive benefits with tuning into all of the 5 senses.
Tara’s tip
Therapeutic drawing
You will need
Paper and pencils
Set up
Nothing to set up but this activity would work best when distractions are eliminated where possible.
How to play
If you can see your child heightened, you could suggest they have some quiet time and simply draw. This is drawing to distract; this can help to change the behaviours that were happening in their environment to divert their attention elsewhere and elevate their mood.
My daughter will often now take herself to her room to sit at her desk and draw, it instantly brings calmness to my own world let alone hers. Drawing to express can assist in helping them to tune into their emotions that they have trouble expressing in words.
Tara’s tip
Self-help skills
Doll play
You will need
Doll (could use teddy or figurine)
Doll accessories (warm clothes, cold clothes, brush, shoes, hat, spoon, bowl etc)
Set up
Have doll with clothes off to start with and all of the accessories laid out.
How to play
Have child dress their doll this will work on dressing skills and fine motor skills, ask questions like “Should your doll wear a jacket? Is it a could or hot day?”. Continue doll play with a focus on self help skills, ask more questions eg. “It’s very Sunny outside what should we make sure we do?”, “Your doll hasn’t had any breakfast yet, should we feed her? What is a healthy breakfast?”
Tara’s tip
Pack away
You will need
Mess to clean up, that should be no problem!
Set up
Your child will set this up.....multiple times a day I'm guessing!
How to play
Children love to play, the packing away not so much. But its actually an important skill for them to learn and develop. It teaches them to look after their things and about responsibility. Like anything make it fun! My girls are all for packing away when its turned into a game... “I am going to put the timer on for 4 minutes, I bet you can’t pack away all of this by the time it beeps?” Whenever they successfully and happily pack away I praise their efforts and explain how important it is.
Tara’s tip
Handwashing song
You will need
An amazing singing voice (jokes)
Set up
An amazing singing voice (jokes)
How to play
Super important to teach children the importance of handwashing from an early age but often they are too busy to stop to wash their hands and feel like its interrupting their time. When in doubt make it fun! A popular song to sing is ‘Germs are lurking’ (below). After using the bathroom, eating ect sing the song to assist in making handwashing a habit.
Tara’s tip
Visual checklist
You will need
Images of child's routine
Velcro (optional)
Laminator (optional)
Set up
Find images of your child's morning and night routine. They can be cartoon, real life or actual images of them performing the task. Print them out and laminate.
How to play
To encourage your child to be more independent with self help skills a visual reminder can be a great tool. Go through their morning and night schedules together and spend a few days looking through it as they complete the tasks. Then move to simply reminding them “What is next on your schedule?” Over time this should encourage them to become more independent and they will be able to refer to it without instruction.
Tara’s tip
Busy boards
You will need
Wood cut offs
Materials of choice (see images for ideas)
Set up
Use images as a guide to how you can set up and make you own busy boards.
How to play
Busy boards are a great way to practice fine motor skills and self help skills. Both are important to assist in dressing. We have made them using an assortment of materials such as; elastic band, pins, lid opening, zipper practice, links, latches, buttons, velcro and hooks.
Tara’s tip
Listening skills
Coloured dots
You will need
Coloured dots (you can buy them or just make a DIY home version.
Set up
To make our DIY version I used thick clear table cover. I cut this into a circle, added coloured vinal to it and then non slip matting to the bottom. You could also just use paper and laminate it, then bluetac it to the ground so that is isn’t a slipping hazard.
How to play
This is all about children listening to your verbal instructions. “Stand on the blue dot”, “Put one hand on the red dot and the other hand on the yellow dot”, ”Sit on the green dot, then sit on the red dot”. Some added fun could be to add music, the child can dance around and then when the music stops, they freeze and then listen to the instruction of what to do next.
Tara’s tip
Following directions
You will need
Paper and pen
Cool ideas!
Set up
This can be whatever you want. Only you will know what will interest your child to follow their directions. Perhaps its instructions to find a treat or to complete an activity.
How to play
The girls ‘mission’ was to make a sensory bubble tube, they didn’t know what they were making and had to follow the directions. I set up aspects of the activity around the house and their were post it clues (instructions) for them to follow to make their mission a success!
Tara’s tip
Simon says
You will need
A cute little human to play
Set up
If you want to add to the game have props, e.g. jewellery, hats.
How to play
‘Simon Says’ is the ultimate game to practice listening skills and increase children's ability to follow instructions. Give one instruction “Simon says put your hands on your head”, or move to two to three instructions ‘Simon says but your hands on your head and jump three times”. Add props “Simon says put a hat on”, make them silly “Simon says put a bracelet on your ankle and socks on your hands”.
Tara’s tip
Hiding objects
You will need
Small toys
Coloured paper
Tubs or bowls, anything to hide toys under
Set up
Hide toys under tub. Make sure you remember what you hide.
How to play
Aim is for child to find all of the toys by following the instructions given. “Can you see if Cinderella is hiding under the yellow tub”. “Let’s see if she is hiding under the purple tub”, “Put Cinderella on the green paper”.
Tara’s tip
Cooking
You will need
Craft items
Cooking pots
Spoons, tongs, measuring jug (kitchen items of choice)
Set up
Have materials set up and ready to play with.
How to play
Aim is to entice child into a dramatic play cooking experience by giving instructions (recipe). “You need to add four pompoms, then mix together”. “Use the tongs to pick up 5 coloured sticks and add it to your mixture”. Once child has completed all of the instructions from their ‘recipe’ let them play with their creation and enjoy them being busy!