A Few Sensory Activities

One of the things I love about my job is working with individuals with a wide range of abilities.   One young man enjoyed pressing on a water bag placed on top of a light box.

 I made this by filling a heavy duty zip loc baggie with some water, glitter, beads and hair gel. then I put this bag inside another one and covered all edges with duct tape.

I made a 2nd bag by filling it with a lot of hair gel and a eye ball that lights up when you smack it. This was a hit.

The 3rd baggy has glitter and water and a few beads inside. It was leaking  bit so I put the first 2 bags inside a 3rd bag and this seems to be holding up pretty well. One client has found this exciting and it helps him to wait for lunch to be set up and another client told me that it is relaxing.


The bottom left picture shows an individual who  need to work on using his hands together.  He is pressing the clothespins to remove pictures. I cut holes into the plastic frame and wedged the pins into them, duct taped in place on back of the board. I actually cut each picture in half so that he can put them back together later- working on matching skills.

I later cut the yellow plastic board to fit inside the book stand clip and bottom ledge so that it stays in place better. 

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Hanging Hangers Activity

I work with some wonderful staff and one in particular is a great carpenter/activity designer. He attached the suspended dowel from the ceiling so that the individuals (with developmental disabilities) can hang them up. The hangers are on the floor so this gentleman has to repeatedly move up and down to pick them up- receiving wonderful vestibular stimulation.  He enjoys sorting them by color- he chose to do that without being told and it appears to be quite relaxing for him.

The cord holding up the bar is attached to small carabineers and these are attached to small hooks attached to the ceiling. It is not designed to be pulled with force  or hold much weight but it seems to be working really well for this activity.

Closing Zippers- A Repetitive, Fine-Motor Task

I decided to throw away the many pants and skirts that I have not worn in over 10 years. I put them all in a bag ready for the Good Will bin but decided to cut away some of the zippers from the pants. I ended up with quite a few for this task....

The video below shows 3 different individuals zipping closed and inserting into a container. This adds a new twist to the usual insertion task.

 I put flower designed duct tape on the ends that needed to be grasped and a piece of pipe cleaner through the zipper slider with a round piece of plastic attached to grasp.

I think that pulling them closed not only develops some nice bilateral coordination and a strong grasp but prepares them for the functional skill of pulling the small zipper slider tab or grasping an adapted zipper with a larger tab to pull (like the green ones in the photo). 

There is also a certain sensory quality to it pulling them closed. It is  quick and they don't rip when pulled hard so the individuals can feel an immediate sense of accomplishment.

After closing each zipper, I helped them push it through an opening in the large container so that they perform a 2 step task. I used the words "Close and push inside" . The gentleman in the photo was feeling a bit agitated but he loves to use his hands. So he is sitting in a rocking chair covered with soft material with a pink vibrating cushion on his lap while closing the zippers.

I chose to teach him only to close them. It seems like an easier skill than opening the zippers and then they fit more easily into the container opening when closed.....

Developing Strong Tripod Grasp with Squeeze Push Activity

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This activity works on many skills. It involves squeezing the open ends of plastic pieces I will call "tongs" and then inserting them into the bottle opening.  I thought of this because a new client loves insertion tasks and she also puts everything in her mouth first. It was pretty easy and fast to make many of these tong shapes and large enough so that I don't worry about her choking. Sometimes she gets confused as to which end to put in first but she understands when I direct her to insert the open or closed end.

You can see in the photo how I cut 2 sides of a bottle to create the tong shape and the fold is already in the plastic's "memory".

Some individuals do not understand about folding and try to open it before inserting. This may be OK for some people but I want the option of the increased sensory motor/cognitive challenge of folding and pushing. If you are working with someone who doesn't put objects in the mouth, try taping the tong closed at the tip so that it stays folded but there is still plenty of squeezing to do above the tip.

This task is very easy to grade using bottles with smaller openings as skills develop to push or make the tongs larger. Its great for developing stabilizing  with the non-preferred hand and also as you see in the video it offers sensory input.


The woman in the video loves to rip paper and cardboard, so pushing these into the bottle also provides that push and squeeze sensory input she craves. Of course, squeezing the tongs using the tripod fingers, strengthens the fingers used in grasping a writing tool. So I also recommend using this activity with 2- 5 year olds with that goal in mind. Perhaps you  can add cognitive challenge by having matching color bottles and tongs or add an electric toothbrush inside for more sensory input....

Making Pom Poms

There's lots of great pom pom crafts all year long... I made this adapted pom pom  maker for individuals who have a weak grasp or increased muscle tone. The individual shown has left side hemiplegia and very good control in his right hand. He is able to wrap the yarn independently but I like to do some range of motion by gently stretching his left arm toward me while he works.

This adaptation can be used when providing hand over hand assistance to grasp the handle while staff do the yarn wrapping steps.   Next place pipe cleaner in the center,  or better yet position it before starting the yarn wrapping. Tie off tightly and snip the yarn to remove from holder and trim again to make pom pom round.  

There are some great seasonal crafts using pom poms, like the Red Tag Art Spider...  http://www.redtedart.com/2014/09/17/spider-craft-pom-pom-spider/ 

 or use orange yarn to make pumpkins
http://www.craftsunleashed.com/seasonal/fall/fall-crafts-pom-pom-pumpkins/

Teaching Motor Skills to Floss

Staff worked on teaching this individual how to wrap yarn around his fingers and move side to side to remove the "dirt" from simulated "teeth" made out of egg cartons or Legos.  I think this is a clever way to demonstrate how dirt is removed using the similar motions required for flossing real teeth. This was challenging and I don't know if he will have the motor control to floss his teeth but the individuals were very focused and fascinated as they took turns "flossing" .......

Lacing to Decorate Ring Stacks

My clients love ring stacks. But they love them even more when they have pictures or decorations on the materials they are stacking.

 I have been working with the higher functioning individuals to lace around the edges to make rings. Then I had the idea of attaching pictures to the larger plastic pieces used on the bilateral ring stack and then attach them by lacing. You can see in the photo how fancy some of the art work was when lacing for the single dowel ring stack. This ring stack is made by inserting a water blaster inside a bottle. Then I can pull up the handle to make it shorter or taller.

Many individuals avoid using their hands together and the bilateral dowel ring stack works on developing these skills. The lady in the picture loves photos so she will enjoy the end product with pictures on the materials she uses . ......

Note that the rings that I sliced from shampoo bottles are more challenging to lace. The flat rings or plastic pieces are easier to lace, so plan accordingly....

Bilateral Ring Stack