Ideas for Sensory Routines for Families During the Coronavirus Social Distancing

Sensory based activities as part of your daily routine:

Help you child to be able to identify their energy with this energy scale so that you can choose an appropriate strategy to regulate their energy up or down.

10 Out of Control (Rage, Terrified, Ecstatic, Panic)
9 Anxious, Angry, Threatened
8. Frustrated, Jealous, Scared, Worried
7 Excited, Silly, Active
6. Thankful, Proud, Loving/Loved
5 Just Right, Happy, Understood
4 Calm, Relaxed, Safe
3 Shy, Bored, Disappointed
2 Sad, Depressed, Avoidant
1 Sick, Exhausted
0 Sleeping

Morning: Wake up at a scheduled time.

Have a consistent morning routine which includes deep pressure hugs and snuggles. Deep pressure is important to the nervous system as it supports the nervous system to feel calm and start its day in a regulated state. If your child does not like snuggles, you can ask him/her to offer you hugs on his/her accord, or you can invite them to be wrapped into a flat sheet or blanket for a blanket burrito.

Breakfast:

Have a breakfast that includes drinking a thickened liquid (like yogurt or a smoothie) through a smaller diameter straw. This is also very calming/regulating for the nervous system.

Mid-morning sensory snack:

Heavy work exercises (which can include heavy work chores). This can include family exercise time that ranges between 5-10 minutes.

10 lunges

10 push-ups

10 cross crawls (right elbow to left knee; left elbow to right knee)

10 sit-ups

10 burpees

10 squats

20 seconds of balance, increasing the amount of time as balance can support inhibition and increase self-control.

Morning work- 25 minutes of structure after sensory mid-morning snack.

This can include: Madlibs; Word searches; Reading; Crossword puzzles; Worksheets found online; Online curriculums.

Lunch:

Enjoy a lunch that includes a chewy item (bagel, beef jerky, dried fruit, protein bar)

Mid-afternoon sensory snack:

Complete a heavy work structured activity or a chore for 5-10 minutes.

Please be aware that some of these activities can be more alerting for your child. The goal of these activities are to help them not get overly excited, however get to a place of “just right” so that they can make safe and helpful choices during their free play time.

- Deep Pressure Sandwich- Make a sandwich out of your child with bean bags, couch cushions, or pillows. Add pressure as you pretend to put on pickles, cheese, lettuce. Have your child try to push against the pillows/ bean bags to increase proprioceptive input.

Burrito Roll- Lay a flat sheet on the ground. Have your child lay down on one side of the sheet. Roll your child tightly in the sheet by have them roll from their stomach to back while you tuck/roll the sheet around them until there is no more sheet. Have them manuever out of the sheet without unraveling it.

Wheel barrow walk – Have your child get on the floor in a crawling position, now grab both of his/her feet so he/she has to walk on their hands. Have your child try to wheelbarrow walk up stairs.

Crab walk- Have your child sit on the floor. Next, place both arms on the floor behind you –elbows should be bent. Then, push up so his/ her bottom is off the floor. Now walk around, using arms and legs to move around.

Bear Walk- Assume a crawling position and lift knees of of the ground. Crawl forward or backward slowly. Ask your child to bear crawl up stairs.

Snake crawl- Have your child lay flat on their stomachs. Then ask them to crawl like a snake using one arm to reach for something, switching reaching hands (alternating hands) on the next movement.

Modified push-ups- Have your child lay flat on their stomach. Have them push their body up so that their bottom comes up to an arc, then have them lay flat on their stomach again. Repeat several times.

Push-o-war -put palms against each other and push as hard as you can.

Suck a smoothie through a straw. You can use a crazy straw to drink for extra difficulty.

Ball roll- Roll a big ball over child’s limbs and back.

Ball push up- Position child over ball so that his/her trunk is off of the ball. Then have him’/her touch their nose to a stuffed anima/floor and then have them come back up. Complete for 5-10 repetitions.

Ball feet/hand push- Have your child lay flat on their back. Stand over them with a therapy ball. Have them push the ball with their hands or feet up for you to catch. May need 2 parents to help.

Deep pressure massage- Give your child a deep pressure massage to their arms, legs, and back. When touching your child, try to provide deep pressure to give them a greater sense of where their body is.

Heavy objects- Create obstacle courses moving, pushing, pulling heavy objects in order to create it.

Resistive putty/molding clay

Resistive pop beads

Dinner:

Eat together a healthy meal while playing a fun game that incorporates mindfulness.

While eating dinner, spend time connecting with each other as that is what is most regulating to the nervous system. Staying connected leads to a sense of safety which will help during this time of uncertainty.

Mindfulness activities.

•Auditory Mindfulness
•Name a song, and/or name a song being hummed
•Create playlists for different energy states/moods (calm, happy, excited, silly)
•List sounds in the environment and identify changes in energy because of the sound.
•Place a sound (phone with music) somewhere in the house and go on a hunt for it.
•Play hide and seek while the person hiding makes a sound “uuu-whooo”
•Play ABC game, remembering a word for each letter and repeating words sequentially for the entire alphabet.
•Create a beat and have the child imitate it, or vice versa
Visual Mindfulness
- •Where’s Waldo
  •Word search puzzles
  •I Spy- identifying objects not only by color, but also by texture, temperature, weight, etc.
  •Look at an object and describe details (soft, hard, bumpy, cold, warm) without touching it
  •Study nature or art and discuss what you’re seeing, using descriptions rather than labels for things
- •Tactile Mindfulness
  •Close eyes while holding an object and guess what the object is
  •Touch different parts of the body with a feather or other object and state where on the body is being touched and with what (pencil, feather, straw, pompom, cotton ball)
  •Draw on your child’s back or arm and have them guess what is being drawn (shape, letter, number, object)
  •Provide different sensations (vibration, light pressure touch, deep pressure touch) and have your child describe the sensation and report any change in their energy (calm, excited, relaxed)
  •
  •Olfactory (smell) Mindfulness
  •With vision occluded, have your child smell a food to guess what the food is (orange, strawberry, onion, celery)
  •Vision occluded, have child smell an essential oil scent and state different ways it makes their body feel (energy up/down, calm/excited/silly/tired, open/closed)
  •Smell flowers or other objects in nature to see if it causes any changes in body arousal
  •
  •
  •Gustatory (taste) Mindfulness
  •Blindfold and do food tasting in teams starting with parent being blindfolded
  •Describe foods while eating (sweet, bitter, sour, spicy, salty, buttery)
  •Describe temperature and textures of foods
  •Describe changes of food texture/temperature as food is being chewed and swallowed (afterward)
  •
  •
  •Interoception (internal) Mindfulness
  •Use descriptive words when identifying emotions or other bodily sensations (sharp, dull, heavy, light, warm, cold, full, wet, dry, smooth, rough, fast, slow, tingly, dizzy, buzzy, fluttery, pressure).
  •Describe where physical bodily sensations are experienced (“I feel emptiness in my belly so I must be hungry;” “I feel goose bumps so I must be cold.”)
  •State physical sensations and have your child guess what you might be experiencing (e.g. My arms and eye lids feel heavy, what do you think I feel?” “I feel like my body is moving fast and my heart is racing, what do you think I might be experiencing?”)
  •Practice different breathing techniques to feel changes in internal body sensations and identify changes by using descriptive words
  •Describe where emotional sensations are experienced (“I feel soft, slow, and warm throughout my body when I am calm, where do you feel calmness and what does it feel like to you?” “I feel anger as a wave in my belly that goes into my chest, how about you?”).
  •
  •Proprioceptive Mindfulness
  •With vision occluded, move your child’s arm or leg in a position and have them copy the position on the other side.
  •Complete 3 different movement tasks (jump, march, clap) and have them copy it starting with visual observations and moving to auditory directions
  - •Vestibular Mindfulness
    •Blindfold your child and move them outside of their base of support while seated to see if they can come back to sitting upright
    •Blindfold your child and walk them around a familiar environment and have them identify where they are
    • Balance activities (balance on 1 leg ; balance on all fours and lift 1 body part (arm/leg), balance by lifting right arm/left leg; dynamic balance of touching foot while balancing on 1 leg).
    •Yoga movements
    •Other Mindfulness Activities
    •Breathing games (Compassionate hug breathing; Space between breathing; Dragon breathing, Teddy bear breathing)
    •Stillness exercises (not moving until the other moves)
    •Listening to guided meditations
    • Powerful thoughts (I am AWESOME; I am BRAVE; I am SMART) verse Disempowering thoughts (I am stupid; I hate this) to feel changes in the body

Nighttime: Bathtime with dim lights and calming music. Consider essential oils and massage to the back, arms, hands, legs, feet support the nervous system to relax. Read a book together.

Development, Family, Parenting, Social-emotional learningElizabeth ZoleyMarch 17, 2020Comment

Ideas for Sensory Routines for Families During the Coronavirus Social Distancing

Sensory based activities as part of your daily routine:

10 Out of Control (Rage, Terrified, Ecstatic, Panic)

9 Anxious, Angry, Threatened

8. Frustrated, Jealous, Scared, Worried

7 Excited, Silly, Active

6. Thankful, Proud, Loving/Loved

5 Just Right, Happy, Understood

4 Calm, Relaxed, Safe

3 Shy, Bored, Disappointed

2 Sad, Depressed, Avoidant

1 Sick, Exhausted

0 Sleeping

Morning: Wake up at a scheduled time.

Breakfast:

Mid-morning sensory snack:

Lunch:

Mid-afternoon sensory snack:

- Deep Pressure Sandwich- Make a sandwich out of your child with bean bags, couch cushions, or pillows. Add pressure as you pretend to put on pickles, cheese, lettuce. Have your child try to push against the pillows/ bean bags to increase proprioceptive input.

Wheel barrow walk – Have your child get on the floor in a crawling position, now grab both of his/her feet so he/she has to walk on their hands. Have your child try to wheelbarrow walk up stairs.

Crab walk- Have your child sit on the floor. Next, place both arms on the floor behind you –elbows should be bent. Then, push up so his/ her bottom is off the floor. Now walk around, using arms and legs to move around.

Bear Walk- Assume a crawling position and lift knees of of the ground. Crawl forward or backward slowly. Ask your child to bear crawl up stairs.

Snake crawl- Have your child lay flat on their stomachs. Then ask them to crawl like a snake using one arm to reach for something, switching reaching hands (alternating hands) on the next movement.

Modified push-ups- Have your child lay flat on their stomach. Have them push their body up so that their bottom comes up to an arc, then have them lay flat on their stomach again. Repeat several times.

Push-o-war -put palms against each other and push as hard as you can.

Suck a smoothie through a straw. You can use a crazy straw to drink for extra difficulty.

Ball roll- Roll a big ball over child’s limbs and back.

Ball push up- Position child over ball so that his/her trunk is off of the ball. Then have him’/her touch their nose to a stuffed anima/floor and then have them come back up. Complete for 5-10 repetitions.

Ball feet/hand push- Have your child lay flat on their back. Stand over them with a therapy ball. Have them push the ball with their hands or feet up for you to catch. May need 2 parents to help.

Deep pressure massage- Give your child a deep pressure massage to their arms, legs, and back. When touching your child, try to provide deep pressure to give them a greater sense of where their body is.

Heavy objects- Create obstacle courses moving, pushing, pulling heavy objects in order to create it.

Resistive putty/molding clay

Resistive pop beads

Dinner:

Mindfulness activities.

•Auditory Mindfulness

•Name a song, and/or name a song being hummed

•Create playlists for different energy states/moods (calm, happy, excited, silly)

•List sounds in the environment and identify changes in energy because of the sound.

•Place a sound (phone with music) somewhere in the house and go on a hunt for it.

•Play hide and seek while the person hiding makes a sound “uuu-whooo”

•Play ABC game, remembering a word for each letter and repeating words sequentially for the entire alphabet.

•Create a beat and have the child imitate it, or vice versa

Visual Mindfulness

•Where’s Waldo

•Word search puzzles

•I Spy- identifying objects not only by color, but also by texture, temperature, weight, etc.

•Look at an object and describe details (soft, hard, bumpy, cold, warm) without touching it

•Study nature or art and discuss what you’re seeing, using descriptions rather than labels for things

•Tactile Mindfulness

•Close eyes while holding an object and guess what the object is

•Touch different parts of the body with a feather or other object and state where on the body is being touched and with what (pencil, feather, straw, pompom, cotton ball)

•Draw on your child’s back or arm and have them guess what is being drawn (shape, letter, number, object)

•Provide different sensations (vibration, light pressure touch, deep pressure touch) and have your child describe the sensation and report any change in their energy (calm, excited, relaxed)

•

•Olfactory (smell) Mindfulness

•With vision occluded, have your child smell a food to guess what the food is (orange, strawberry, onion, celery)

•Vision occluded, have child smell an essential oil scent and state different ways it makes their body feel (energy up/down, calm/excited/silly/tired, open/closed)

•Smell flowers or other objects in nature to see if it causes any changes in body arousal

•

•

•Gustatory (taste) Mindfulness

•Blindfold and do food tasting in teams starting with parent being blindfolded

•Describe foods while eating (sweet, bitter, sour, spicy, salty, buttery)

•Describe temperature and textures of foods

•Describe changes of food texture/temperature as food is being chewed and swallowed (afterward)

•

•

•Interoception (internal) Mindfulness

•Use descriptive words when identifying emotions or other bodily sensations (sharp, dull, heavy, light, warm, cold, full, wet, dry, smooth, rough, fast, slow, tingly, dizzy, buzzy, fluttery, pressure).

•Describe where physical bodily sensations are experienced (“I feel emptiness in my belly so I must be hungry;” “I feel goose bumps so I must be cold.”)

•State physical sensations and have your child guess what you might be experiencing (e.g. My arms and eye lids feel heavy, what do you think I feel?” “I feel like my body is moving fast and my heart is racing, what do you think I might be experiencing?”)

•Practice different breathing techniques to feel changes in internal body sensations and identify changes by using descriptive words

•Describe where emotional sensations are experienced (“I feel soft, slow, and warm throughout my body when I am calm, where do you feel calmness and what does it feel like to you?” “I feel anger as a wave in my belly that goes into my chest, how about you?”).

•

•Proprioceptive Mindfulness

•With vision occluded, move your child’s arm or leg in a position and have them copy the position on the other side.

•Complete 3 different movement tasks (jump, march, clap) and have them copy it starting with visual observations and moving to auditory directions

•Vestibular Mindfulness

•Blindfold your child and move them outside of their base of support while seated to see if they can come back to sitting upright