Plunger Ring Stack Activity

I haven't been writing on this blog much because most of my work centers around hippotherapy and I write about my activities on the hippotherapy blog at horseot.blogspot.com
But here's an idea I came up with while trying to help a 3 year old child with CP to sit more erect on the horse. He grasped onto a Princess Wand toy in front of him and the distal stability helped him to control his trunk and sit tall. The toy is a bit flimsy. Then I thought of using a small plunger which of course has a strong wooden dowel. I then discovered that a massager, shown below fits perfectly inside the plunger and the suction holds it in place.







I have been making rings to stack for many years (a common recycling technique) out of container lids. This green one can be used to turn my plunger into a ring stack activity. The thing I love about this is that as the child stabilizes the plunger part, it vibrates.

I will try this out next week during hippotherapy. I have introduced vibrating toys to the ponies before but will test this one out. Then I can use it for a ring stack activity or to help the little guy with CP stabilize his arms and trunk. I already know that he loves vibrating toys.

Barbara Smith, M.S., OTR/L author of, The Recycling Occupational Therapist
RecyclingOT.com
Source: How Vibration Helps Children with Autism or Sensory Processing Disorders by RecyclingOT