Turning a Vibrating Cushion into a Sorting Activity

 

I had these vibrating cushion ordered for sensory stimulation. Then it hit me that they can do more than sit on, lean against or hold them. This young man loves vibration and especially enjoys pulling the shapes off the cushion to insert in my home made shape sorter.

Three Resistive Table Top Activities

I am always on the look out for new activities that are resistive, promote engagement and motor skills. Someone gave me the large wooden circle board that had the stretchy cord already attached. I simply added the shapes (cut out of detergent bottles) and taped a peg in the center  so that the clients could pull and place the flower shapes.
I had been using the pink vibrating cushion  mainly for sensory input and relaxation but realized that I can turn it into a pull and insertion task by attaching shapes with Velcro onto it. Many people are motivated to engage in fine motor tasks when they vibrate. Some individuals can insert the plastic pieces they remove into a slot in a container so that they have to use both hands.

 I found the cube with square pegs inside at a yard sale. I don't really understand how it is used, but it is a nice motor planning challenge to push them out and insert into a container with a square hole.

I hope that you enjoy these resistive push and pull activities .... 

Blue Tubing ring stack

These rings feel really good to grasp, squeeze and pull down the ring stack. the ring stack is made of a tube wedged inside an oatmeal container covered with felt. I put a bag of sand in the bottom of the container to keep it stable. The rings are sections of tubing I cut and put a few beads inside to make sound. This was helpful with the individual who is blind. This activity promotes reaching, sensory awareness and bilateral hand use....

Extra large Stringing Adaptation with Tubing

Someone at work donated some blue tubing used for suction. I immediately thought of making an adapted stringing activity with marbles or beads inside that they can shake. You can see them moving around inside and individuals who can't string can use this more like a rattle or try to motor plan to make the beads travel from one end to the other.

I am still experimenting with designs.  The one in the video shows a tube attached inside a box. I thought that this would be a nice way to have a container ready to hold the rings before stringing. However, some people prefer to hold the tube with the bottom dangling on their lap. I am exploring lengths that will promote reaching but not frustrate too much when pushing the rings down. 
You can see that the woman in the video needs to grasp the tube closer to the attaching end and doesn't know how to untangle the twist in the tube. So I like these motor planning challenges in what appears to be a relatively simple task.

I am thinking about making  rings to stack by inserting the marbles inside and closing the ends to make small rings that they can shake before stacking. If you swirl a long piece of tubing it makes a cook sound. .....What other ideas do you have for  making tasks out of the tubing?