by Martianne Stanger With the New Year upon us, many folks are resolving to cut their budgets, whittle their waist lines and, of course, spend more quality time with their children. Well, today’s challenge can help you attend to all of these things. Get ready to don you SPD lenses and to look at something [...]
5 Ways to Use Wrapping Paper for Sensory Diets
December 17, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger No matter what your faith tradition, it seems that at this is the time of year wrapping paper is ubiquitous. Instead of tossing your torn pieces out, try looking at them with an eye for sensory diet fun. Original Purpose: wrapping gifts With SPD Lenses: free tools for fine motor, visual, auditory, [...]
Wearing SPD Lenses: A Thanksgiving Fingerplay Song
November 23, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger Thanksgiving is tomorrow and with it comes time for fun and feasting — and, of course, opportunities to don your SPD lenses to see old things in a new sensory-friendly way. Today’s Challenge How can a simple fingerplay become the basis for sensory-friendly themed learning? Original Purpose A few minutes of entertainment [...]
May the Holidays Ring Out with Musical Benefits for Children with Special Needs
November 10, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger With the holiday just around the corner, many children and parents are thinking about celebrations and gifts. As you do, I encourage you to think about music. Holiday concerts provide a great opportunity to introduce your child to music (with, of course, a few prior considerations made for keeping sensory overload at [...]
Observe Veterans Day with 10 Sensory Ideas
November 7, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger Veterans Day is but a few days away. Do you have your plans set for it yet? If not, here are eleven sensory-diet friendly activities to get you started. 1. Patriotic Songs Bingo For auditory input, how about some Patriotic Songs Bingo? Using fine motor skills, fold a sheet of paper into [...]
A Family’s Body Sox Experience
October 30, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger It’s big. It’s green. It’s shiny. It crawls, jumps, rolls and otherwise makes its way down my hallway regularly. What is it? One or two of my children getting some great proprioceptive, deep pressure and tactile experiences in our Body Sox, which was provided to us for review. What a great OT [...]
Wearing SPD Lenses: 5 Ways to Make Pinecones Part of Your Sensory Diet
October 15, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger For many of us, as cooler weather arrives, it becomes a season for boldly braving outerwear battles in order to get our children outside for a healthy dose of natural sensory input. With my own children, the lure to get my children to bundle up on some chilly days is pinecones. Yes, [...]
5 Ideas for SI Breaks during Fire Prevention Week
October 10, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger Did you know it is Fire Prevention Week? Sure is! So, how about a quick and educational sensory break? Here are some ideas to get you started: 1. Jump to It! For proprioception fun, draw a telephone number pad with chalk on your driveway or with markers on 12 sheets of paper [...]
Wearing SPD Lenses: 6 Ways to Feed Your Sensory Diet with Apples
September 15, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of fall is going apple picking with my family. It provides so much input for our son’s Sensory Diet – the proprioceptive work of climbing ladders to pick apples, the tactile input of hay rides and holding smooth, shiny apples, the [...]
12 Ideas to Integrate Balance and Vestibular Activities into Lesson Plans
September 11, 2011 By
by Martianne Stanger Did you know that next week, from September 18-24, it is Balance Awareness Week sponsored by the Vestibular Disorders Association (VEDA)? In honor of it, we encourage you to include a focus on balance and the vestibular system in learning activities in the next week. Need some help? Here are twelve quick [...]
