Sensory Friendly Preschool Time

My days are filled with weighted blankets and breathing techniques, and that is okay. Sensory regulation is something my family is trying to manage on a daily basis. It is a small snippet of the bigger picture that is my beautiful, bouncing three ear old boy. As a former early childhood educator, I always made it a goal to address every child as an individual who learns and grow in their own way and at their own pace. Now as a parent who is hoping to enrich their child's education at home, I am tasked will not only addressing my child's unique style of learning, but also meeting his sensory seeking and avoiding needs.

A little over a year ago we began using a home school curriculum called Mother Goose Time. In the last year, the company has taken a lot of feedback from parents and educators and really improved the products and even taken into account fulfilling the needs of children with delays, aversions or sensory needs. We've used a lot of their tips when tailoring our work to our son's preferences.  Because what is the point of buying a toy, going to play place or paying to educate your child if you are just forcing a square peg into a round hole?

I want to give my readers a snapshot of what my three year old's typical day looks like, and how Mother Goose Time fits into that day.

We wake up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:15 am. My son and I race to the kitchen and he grabs the milk and picks out his cup. I make my coffee and my son foams some milk for me. This is a very important job, obviously. I pop some french toast or waffles into the toaster and cut up some fruit. We then sit at the table and read a few books and enjoy breakfast.

We then brush teeth and get dressed, which often involves me chasing him with each individual piece of clothing until he's put together like a ragged paper doll. We grab his "chewy stick" and head out the door to his therapeutic based school. For two hours his therapeutic needs from Occupational Therapy to Social Emotional Regulation are met. I then pick him up and we head either home or to the park.

It might sound crazy to head o a park after two hours of school, but this child needs some heavy work and input. Swings, climbing and jumping or riding his tricycle meet those needs. We then head home and have lunch.

While my son is at school, I take ten minutes and review the Mother Goose Time lesson book and set up a craft based activity, get a book ready and whatever writing or science station we might be doing. after lunch, we usually spend about 45 minutes exploring with Mother Goose Time.

Mother Goose Time does a great job of creating a full sensory experience, so that keeps my seeker engaged. I also make small adaptions that help him stay with the learning a bit longer. If we have a project with paint, Mother Goose Time encourages paint with different materials, from feathers to balls. I will take it one step further and let my son help me make the paint into shaving cream infused puffy paint or let him finger paint at the end.

In any given 45 minutes of Mother Goose Time, we could be blending colors with water and eye droppers on coffee filters or collecting leaves and pine cones to decorate a tree and make a den for a bear to hibernate or even practicing our phonics and reading by making letters from tin foil and play dough or writing in shaving cream. I always keep my son's Z Vibe chewy stick handy and if possible let him take brain breaks and bounce on an exercise ball.

When we have wrapped up, its time for a warm bath to remove all of the dirt, paint and who know what else. Afternoon baths have really allowed my son to slow himself down and not hit that 4 pm crash so hard. We then will either read and use our Mother Goose Time magnetic story pieces and tell stories, play a game or do some math work with the manipulatives. This usually is a 15 minute time frame. Then he watches some Daniel Tiger, Super Why or Thomas for a half hour while I prep dinner.

I hope this peek into our day allows others with children that have sensory regulation issues to see that it is possible for their child to get a lot out of their day with some simple adaptions and a sensory friendly curriculum like Mother Goose Time. 

Finding Oral Sensory Balance in the Early Years

At my son's one year checkup, we ticked off the list of milestones without much hesitation. My son was growing, moving and happy to interact with family and friends. I decided to mention something that I had noticed since first introducing him to more textured solid foods, a few months prior. I told our pediatrician that our son would close his lips and turn his head away when offered baby food that had mixed textures. He also gagged when he would try a bite. I found this somewhat perplexing since he shoved any rock, pine cone or stick he could find in his mouth, and consumed banana teething biscuits like they were going out of style. By the way, the foliage eating was not encouraged, and erroneous items were quickly removed. Also, we do live inside. The pediatrician felt that this behavior could be the result of discomfort do to earlier acid reflux, or something more, but we needed to wait and see.

Fast forward eight months and we were in feeding therapy that was lead by an occupational therapist trained to work with kids that have oral motor issues. Over the course of a year, we determined that our son had some low muscle tone throughout his body and in his mouth. We also learned that he was both a sensory seeker and a sensory avoider. While my son craved proprioceptive input from his beloved cheddar bunnies, he also couldn't handle pasta with sauce on it. After months of practice at home and in therapy, my son had become more of a picky eater and less of a problem eater. We also were met with a struggle when giving up the bottle and drinking from a cup. We continue to work on strengthening his muscles and exposing him to new textures almost two years later.

Toward the middle of our time in therapy, we were introduced to the ARK Z-Vibe. It has become one of the most used sensory regulation tools in our home. If you have a "seeker" I highly recommend a giant foam-filled bean bag chair and a Z-Vibe. ARK Therapeutic has been kind enough to send over some products for my son to experiment with and we are loving the experience.

In the beginning, we used this vibrating, oral-motor tool to essentially wake up my son's mouth muscles a bit before trying new foods. Overtime, this tool has become an amazing regulating device. My son asks for his "buzzy," when he feels that he needs it and we give it to him before and after activities that demand a lot of consideration or sensory input. The Z-Vibe and some headphones were a big part of our recent successful trip to see Madagascar the Musical.

ARK even provides a book filed with information and techniques to work with the tool in the child's mouth and on lips. Having this guide is so great, because I have at times felt that we as parents need the full picture of how to carry out protocol and activities in the home. Seeing a therapist once a week can only do so much.

Our go-to ARK tool is the Z-Vibe with the yellow, bumpy tip. We have several tips that work with the Z-Vibe, including ones that look like animals. I am also a fan of their chewy jewelry and simple chewies that act as pen toppers, which might be useful as my son gets older. The company has a variety of products that help with drinking, fine motor needs and eating. I've found everything to be very durable and easy to clean.

I am so thankful that these fun tools are available to my child and that the people making them are smart, kind and truly want their consumers to get the most from the products. While I am not a therapist or a physician, but I am a parent who has loved their experience with this company and their willingness to share helpful information and make a product that helps regulate my child. Please feel free to share with me your journey toward better sensory regulation. I love all the tips that I can get!