This glow in the dark chalk sensory bottle is one that is added to some of our favorite sensory bottles. SO, if you’ve seen sensory bottles before, you might be surprised to see this calming sensory tool is made with CHALK. Yep, chalk!
This post contains affiliate links.
But first,
Why use sensory bottles?
Sensory bottles are a tool for calming and self-regulation in kids with sensory needs. Some children (and adults) use them as a tool in their sensory diet. Just like kids with motor planning issues NEED modifications or children with visual motor integration concerns NEED to use certain accommodations in order to write legible, there are kids who NEED self-regulation in their sensory diet in order to function in their day. They are not just another blog post that you might see out there in your Facebook feed.
Self regulation is essential skill that allows us to keep emotions in check and think before acting.
Here are some of the benefits of using a sensory bottle as a self-regulation tool:
Calms
Helps with focusing
Helps with attention
Allows clear thinking
Keep calm under pressure
Provides proprioceptive feedback
Provides a “just right” level of sensory feedback
Relaxes the mind
Can you imagine a child with sensory processing issues or social emotional concerns who could not regulate their emotions on their own or step back and make the “right” response in situations because of their self-regulation needs? Can you imagine if this was your child who had these needs and there was a simple DIY (and often times quite inexpensive) tool that could help? Why not explore all of the sensory bottles out there on the internet to find one that meets your child’s interests? It’s a sensory bottle no-brainer!
Now that I’ve stepped off my soapbox, on to the glow in the dark chalk sensory bottle fun!
Glow in the Dark Chalk Sensory Bottle
We’ve been making a bunch of sensory bottles this year along with a team of bloggers. Each month, we’ve had a specific theme in mind. This month is all about Glow In The Dark. How fun is that? I don’t know a kid who doesn’t get excited about glow in the dark toys, shirts, or glow sticks, do you?
When I was trying to brainstorm materials to make our glow-in-the-dark sensory bottle, I remembered a set of glow in the dark chalk that I bought on clearance at the end of last summer. After a quick glow-check, I was excited to find that the chalk still glowed after 6 months in a storage bin. We used the chalk for a cool sensory bottle that could calm and regulate in the dark!
Materials you’ll need for a CHALK Glow in the Dark Sensory Bottle
To make the calming sensory tool: Place the chalk in a plastic baggie and use a kitchen mallet to pound the chalk. Try to get it as fine as possible. This is a GREAT proprioceptive workout for kids and a lot like our ice pounding activity, so get the kids involved in this step!
Next, mix together the chalk dust, one cup of liquid dish soap, and one cup of warm water.
Drop in the marbles (You will definitely need the marbles to break up the chalk dust as it will settle in the bottle of the bottle.) A benefit of the marbles is that it adds weight to the bottle, making this an even more effective sensory tool.
We love to share creative ideas for sensory bottles. They are an easy way to explore the senses with so many different themes. This month’s sensory bottle is Nature themed and it’s a calming sensory tool that kids will love. We made our calming nature sensory bottle with items we had in our backyard but this idea could be adapted to include so many different nature-made materials.
Calming Nature Sensory Bottle
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Usually, our sensory bottles are made with recycled bottles. Some of our favorites were made with spice containers, peanut butter jars, and even popcorn containers. This sensory bottle is a little bit different because it has a handle, making it perfect for calming proprioceptive input. We had ours in the house, but you can grab a similar container here.
Inside the paint can party favor container, we added small pebbles and sticks from our backyard. I broke sticks into various sizes and had my Toddler drop them into the container. She loved this activity so much that we’ll be doing this easy eye-hand coordination activity again. The tin bottom made a satisfying “clink” sound when she added the sticks and the stones. Once our nature sensory bottle was full of nature, we popped the lid on and it was done!
Calming Sensory Bottle Idea
This was such a simple way to create a proprioception sensory tool. My kids could haul the sensory bottle around, using a hook grasp to hold the handle. The weight of the sensory bottle adds proprioception input through the carrying arm. This was a fun sensory bottle to turn over and over again as we watched the small pebbles roll and drop down between the sticks. The metal bottom of the container added auditory input. Watching those pebbles fall was very relaxing and mesmerizing!
Looking for more nature themed sensory bottles? Try some of these:
Do your kids like to snack constantly? Mine are allllllways hungry. Always. So, when I pulled out this Animal Cracker Oral Motor activity that we designed to address oral motor sensory processing, they were just a bit excited. Make that completely-jumping-and-cheering-excited. Anything that involves play and food makes the Best Thing of the Day column. It’s an oral motor exercise that kids will love. Why? Because it’s an out-of-the box way to work on oral motor skills for tasks like drinking from a straw, lip closure for safety when feeding, and sensory benefits of an oral motor activity.
We used animal crackers and a couple of straws to provide calming oral input. This was an easy way to add in an oral motor strengthening exercise, too. Here is some information on development of oral motor skills.
Oral MOTOR EXERCISE
This post contains affiliate links. Problems with oral motor skills can be an indication with feeding. That seems pretty obvious, right? But when there truly is a problem with oral motor skills and feeding, real issues can result. That’s why we wanted to cover a few big issues along with this oral motor activity. Be sure to check out that link to read more about the vast area of skills that make up oral motor processing and how it impacts feeding and other areas.
Sensory processing allows us to take in information from our environment and process it appropriately. Typically, we adjust to sensory input and adjust appropriately. Sensory input to a person’s mouth is no exception. We must process movement of the tongue, textures of food, adjust to drinking liquids, monitor and adjust the force required to bite and chew, and move our mouth/lips/tongue in order to speak.
When there is a difficulty with oral sensory processing, a child might drool excessively, chew on their shirt or hair, have difficulty eating certain foods, have trouble moving their tongue to swallow all of their food, show difficulty removing all of the food from a utensil, be unable to use a straw, refuse certain food textures or tastes, or have trouble with articulation in speech. Here are tips for kids who chew on everything.
Children with proprioceptive sensory needs may present as benefiting from calming, resistive activities. Sucking from a straw is one activity that involves the oral input and is typically effective in calming a overactive child.
Oral Motor Exercise
First, a quick disclosure: Be sure to provide direct observation during this activity. Use judgement in deciding if this oral motor activity is right for the child or not. This activity and all others on this website are not intended as interventions. This is for educational purposes only. Consult your physician or medical professional when oral motor interventions and assessment is needed. The OT Toolbox is not liable for any action on your part. Your reading this website and webpage indicates your understanding.
For this calming activity, we used just a few items. Some brightly colored straws were the perfect tool for adding proprioceptive input to the mouth. I love the bright straws for their high contrast and tendency to draw the eyes toward the mid-line. When we added the learning portion to this activity, attention and precision were important so the bright colors helped.
You can find many fun oral sensory activities out there that involve blowing as a sensory processing activity. The one that we did used straw sucking as a way to add proprioceptive input. When a child sucks on a straw, their lips are forced to close while their cheek muscles tighten and the tongue retracts. This activity would be beneficial to a child who needs to build strength and endurance of the cheeks and muscles or a child who demonstrates tongue protrusion.
With the straw, I had my preschooler suck in order to pick up an animal cracker. She placed the straw flush on the cracker and sucked in order to pick the cracker off of the table. This was a real workout for her! She was able to figure out that turning the animal cracker over so that she placed the straw against it’s back side made the task easier. Sucking the animal cracker up off the table in order to move it provided a lot of calming proprioceptive input.
To grade this activity down (to make it easier for kids who are building their oral motor musculature and can not yet pick up the animal cracker), try smaller/lightweight crackers like Annie’s Homegrown Bunny crackers. These were much easier to move with the straw yet still provided sensory feedback to the mouth.
To add a bit of learning and motor planning to this activity, I provided a few small shape containers to the table. Ours were from a local dollar store, but these shape sorter shapes would work perfectly for addressing shape discrimination and actually comes in more options than the shapes that we talked about with our containers. We use these containers as lunch box compartments but the bright colors and shapes made a great shape recognition activity for her. She is working on identifying a triangle and rectangle and often times gets the two shapes mixed up. When she was doing this activity however, she was able to move the animal crackers and bunny crackers to the right shapes.
We practiced a bunch or rounds with this activity, because she loved it so much!
Looking for more animal cracker activities for learning and play? Try these ideas:
As an Occupational Therapist, I LOVE using clay with my kids in fine motor work. Clay uses a resistance that works the small muscles of the hands and builds arch development on the hands, increasing endurance for activities like coloring and writing for longer periods of time. Kids will often times complain of their hands being tired when they color. They will press very lightly or switch colors overly-often, allowing themselves to sneak in breaks from coloring. A strengthening activity like using clay is a great way to build the strength of the intrinsic muscles.
Manipulating a pencil with minute movements is essential for handwriting. Clay is perfect for fine tuning pencil control in a fun way!
Create a flat disk with the clay. Use a pencil to write in the clay. Practice letter formation.
Roll the Clay
into a “snake”. Poke a pencil into the clay, encouraging a tripod grasp on the pencil.
Roll small balls of clay between the thumb and pointer finger and ring finger.
Create a thick “stick” with the clay. Show your child how to rotate the clay and twirl it between the thumb and fingers.
Use Clay Cleaning Tool Set for utensil use while providing verbal cues for appropriate grasp. NOTE: Using utensils like these may not encourage tripod grasp due to the nature of the tools. They will improve intrinsic strength and open web space.
Press a pencil eraser into the clay.
Create a flat disk from the clay. Place a piece of paper on top of the paper. Practice writing on the paper, encouraging your child to write lightly enough to not poke the pencil point through the paper. This is an exercise in proprioception for the hands.
Have you tried making a sensory bottle yet? These a super easy and creative ways to encourage learning through a calming visual sensory tool. We’ve shared awesome ways to make them and have a great new idea to bring you today, and just in time for Valentine’s Day: this heart waterbead sensory bottle! It’s a great Valentine’s Day activity to add to your therapy toolbox.
I love sensory bottles to use as a calming and quieting sensory tool. My kids love making them and the fun of discovering items in the bottle. When you add a learning component like math or literacy it’s even better!
Valentine’s Day Sensory Bottle
Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
We made this discovery bottle very quickly one day. I had a bunch of pink and rose colored Waterbeads ready to go. I poured them into a big bin and had my kids help me fill the bottle.
Depending on the age of your child, you may want to prepare the sensory bottle yourself and just present the finished tool to your child. My kids had a blast playing in the water beads and placing them into the bottle, though. It was a sensory experience in itself!
We used a regular peanut butter plastic jar that had been cleaned out. (Get the kids in on the cleaning job too!)
Use any combination of Water beads. You can find them in the dollar store in the craft section or many large stores in the floral section. I love grabbing a bunch of different colors at once, though and get them online here. It’s hard to find a lot of different colors in the stores, so online is easier for me.
Have the kids fill the bottle with water beads for a fine motor activity. Manipulating the Water beads and dropping them into the bottle is a nice way to encourage in-hand manipulation and tripod grasp.
Once the bottle is 3/4 full with water beads, add a handful of foam hearts. Kids can slide these into the sensory bottle.
You can add superglue to the lid of the plastic bottle if you are worried about little ones opening the bottle and dumping the contents. We just used ours as is and did not glue the lid shut. This way, we could have a nice storage container for the water beads and play with them again.
Now play! Shake the jar and count the hearts. Ask your child to find all red hearts or all pink hearts. Use this sensory bottle as a calming tool when kids need to focus or attend.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Last month, we created a calendar of Occupational Therapy ideas using a Christmas theme. It was such a hit among our readers (that’s you!), that I decided to create a monthly version of sensory integration activities. Be sure to read our blog post on Ayres Sensory Integration for more information on this theory.
What’s better is that these SI activities are geared to turn therapy into play. Children of all ages can participate in their Occupational Therapy goal areas with themed activities while working on proprioceptive and vestibular input. These activities are designed to address gross motor, fine motor, and visual perceptual skills through January’s winter theme of snow, snowballs, snowflakes, and ice.
Occupational Therapists are skilled at turning therapy into play in order to make goals of therapy fun. Kids can work on areas they need to develop with fun and playful winter activities. You’ll find many recommendations for winter play with a focus on sensory integration.
Be sure to stop back each month for a calendar of Occupational Therapy and playful activities!
NOTE: These activities are meant to be a resource. No child is alike and so no therapy regime is alike. Please contact you physician and Occupational Therapist for individualized evaluation and treatment. These activities are designed to provide creative treatment ideas only.
I’ve tried to keep many of the vestibular and proprioceptive activities the same or similarly themed for each day.
The links below will show ways to work on vestibular and proprioceptive activities and has descriptions on how to work on each area with the day’s theme. Many children have specific proprioception or vestibular needs. Other children benefit from a combination of these treatment areas. The activities linked below show ways to hit these areas in a combination or separately.
I’ve included other resources with each linked activity as well, so be sure to check out each activity for proprioception and vestibular therapy ideas. Make sensory integration fun by turning therapy into play!
These calendars are meant to provide a general plan for daily vestibular and proprioceptive input. We all have best intentions when it comes to our day’s schedule and sometimes life challenges our plan for the day. No problem! You can easily switch activities with another day’s activity and adjust activities according to your family’s needs.
Just a small amount of proprioception and vestibular activity are enough to help with regulating a child’s sensory needs.
One activity each day should be effective for most children, so add these themed activities to the sensory diets you’ve got in place to turn therapy into play this winter. HOWEVER, all children should be assessed by an Occupational Therapist to assess individual needs and abilities.
January Winter Calendar: Proprioception Activities turning therapy into play
Proprioception Activities with a Winter Theme:
The proprioceptive system involves receptors in joints and muscles that tell our body how much effort to put into a task. The system allows us to know how to move and use our bodies in response to stimulation from the environment. Children with proprioceptive difficulties may bump into other children, break pencils when writing because they press too hard, show “no fear”, crash into objects, appear uncoordinated, appear lazy, chew clothing/pencils/anything, among other signs.
Proprioceptive input can be achieved through heavy work activities that adjust the child’s level of arousal and “wake up” or calm the body’s system. Activities that involve pushing, pulling, jumping, blowing, squeezing, pinching, throwing, skipping, crawling, and lifting can be achieved through play.
1. Heavy Work Sled Pull- For a proprioceptive work activity, load a sled up with books (or another child!) Pulling a loaded sled is a heavy work activity that is calming to the sensory system. Try pushing the sled with arms or legs, too. Take the sled outside and pull it on snowy slopes for added resistive work.
4. Snowball Stomp-Stomping with the legs is a great way to incorporate proprioception into the lower extremities. Make snowballs and STOMP on them for a fun and playful heavy work activity. Don’t have snow? Try makingbaked cotton ballsand stomp on them. Have you ever made baked cotton balls? It is a super sensory and creative way to work on so many fine motor skills. Simply coat cotton balls in a flour/water mixture and bake them until hared. They will have a hard shell that is perfect for pulling, tearing, and stomping on. Read more about making baked cotton ballshere.
5. Polar Bear Igloo- Get into the polar bear theme and build a polar bear igloo using couch cushions. Cover your cushion igloo fort with a white blanket to make an igloo. Pulling heavy couch cushions to build a fort is a great whole body proprioceptive workout. This heavy work activity is calming, but the warm igloo will be an even more calming area to relax and organize a child’s body.
6. Paint Snowflakes- Create masking tape resist snowflakes with tape and blue paint. Pinch and peel the tape from the roll and stick it into a snowflake shape on white paper. Now add a dab of blue paint onto the paper. Use a heavy cardboard box to smash the paint on the snowflake. Moving a box full of books is a proprioceptive activity that provides heavy work to the whole body.
7. Build a snowman- Rolling snow into a snowman is a great proprioception activity. If you don’t have snow, use several blankets to fold and roll into snowman-ish balls. Lift those blanket balls to build a snowman indoors. You’ll probably need to prop your blanket snowman against a wall to keep him standing.
8. Blanket Bundle- Lay a blanket out on the floor. Roll the child up in a blanket, burrito style. Now roll them back and forth on the floor. This works best on a carpeted floor. Add extra blanket layers and pillows for more proprioceptive input.
9. Indoor Skiing- Coming soon! (I promise!)
10. Snow Angels- Snow angels are an excellent way to provide proprioceptive input! Pushing snow or heavy blankets with the arms and legs is a powerful proprioception activity for kids. You’re providing heavy work input to the legs and arms as they abduct and adduct. Don’t have snow to make snow angels outside? No problem! Incorporate proprioceptive work into this activity by using heavy blankets on a carpeted floor.
11. Snowman Soda Dough- Soda Dough is a fun activity that provides proprioception to the small muscles of the hands as the child rolls small snowmen. You can find the recipe here.
12. Cut Icicles– Cut multiple layers of paper to create indoor icicles while providing proprioception to the hands.
13. Boot Dash {link coming soon!}
14. Snowshoe Walk {link coming soon!}
15. Polar Bear Crawl- Animal walks are a great way to incorporate proprioception into play. Show your child how to crawl like a polar bear on hands and knees. This position is a great way to provide proprioceptive input to the shoulder girdle and hips. Add a heavy blanket or towel over your child’s back for additional deep pressure.
16. Build a Snow Maze- If you’ve got snow in your area, this snow maze activity is a fun way to add heavy work to play. (My kids are still talking about our snow maze!) If you haven’t had snow in your area, build a maze using rolled an piled blankets, pillows, and couch cushions. Move the items around to construct a maze right in your living room.
17. Skate on Thin Ice {link coming soon!}
18. Snowy Walk- Just walking around in snow is a proprioception activity in itself! Enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of a snowy day during an outdoor winter nature walk.
19. Snow Bin- Create a proprioception sensory snow bin with resistive materials like rice or homemade proprioception dough. Add scoops, cookie cutters, and plastic utensils to work on proprioception to the hands and arms. Push glass gems, beads, or other small items into the dough for more play.
20. Dance Party- Get the kids moving with a winter dance party! Add a proprioception component to your snowy winter dance party by adding wall push ups, floor push ups, and push-pull movements.
21. Hole Punch Ice Drops- Punching holes with a paper hole punch is an excellent way to provide proprioceptive input to the hands. Use this activity as a fine motor or handwriting warm up activity to wake up the muscles of the hands. use white paper to punch mini snowflakes and ice droplets. You can scatter these on blue paper covered in glue to create a snowy scene.
22. Snowman Squash- {link coming soon!}
23. Snowball Roll- For this activity, you’ll need masking tape, cotton balls, and a straw. Tape out a line across the floor. Use the straw to blow the snowman snowballs (the cotton balls) along the line while crawling. Adding the straw provides proprioceptive and oral motor input, too. Consider more ways to add proprioception to this activity: Have your child sit on a scooter as the adult pulls the child along with a towel. Another child can push a child’s back as they scoot along the line. Have the child sit on a square of cardboard and move their way along the line using their feet. Roll a weighted ball along the line.
24. Snowman Says- Play “Simon Says” with a winter theme by calling it “Snowman Says”! Add proprioception directions to the game like calling out:
Animal Walks
Wall Push Ups
Tug of War with a blanket
Jumping
Hugs
Stomping
25. Shovel Snow- Shoveling snow is a great way to provide proprioception to the whole body. If you’ve ever shoveled snow, then you know it gets all of the muscles moving…even muscles you didn’t know you had. And the sore body for the next two days keep reminding you! Have your child shovel small scoops of snow to clear a sidewalk. They can help out in the neighborhood by shoveling neighbor’s walks, too. If you are lacking in the real snow department in your area, take the shovel indoors. Use a clean shovel to scoop and move piles of towels, small toys, or even shredded paper.
26. Snow Bucket Brigade- Fill buckets with snow and create a bucket brigade with neighbor hood kids. Use all of that snow to build a snow fort. If you don’t have snow in your area, make an indoor bucket brigade using bean bags, toys, balls, or other small items. Children can dump the buckets’ contents into an empty laundry basket. Pouring the weighted buckets is a great rhythmic and calming activity.
28. Snow Pile Jump- Use outdoor snow to create a pile of snow. Jump into the snow with both feet. Show the child how to try to land on their back or on their side. They can also jump into the snow with one foot or two, or on their knees. No snow in your area? No problem! Create a snowy pile using bed pillows, couch pillows, or foam and cover it with a thing blanket or bed sheet. Jump into the “snow pile” from a trampoline. Use both feet, one feet, and knees to jump.
29. Snow Plow Push- For this activity, use a large cardboard box. Play snow plow by turning the box or laundry basket on it’s side and have the child push the basket around the room, pushing on all fours. They can scoop up balls or other items, including heavier items like pillows for heavy proprioceptive work.
31. Snowboard Balance- Create a homemade balance board like this one for proprioceptive and gross motor input. OR, make an ice wobble disc!
January Winter Calendar: Vestibular Activities turning therapy into play
Vestibular Activities with a Winter Theme:
The vestibular system involves the body’s ability to adjust and move in space based on organs within our inner ears. Problems with vestibular integration may exhibit by difficulty with balance, or a gravitationally insecure child.
You may see a child who craves movement, can’t sit still, seeks excessive movements, or is hyperactive. They might have trouble planning movements, crossing midline, or difficulties with reading and writing. Vestibular activities can be completed in therapy goals through play:
1. Sled Rides- Have your child ride a sled while sitting up, laying flat on their belly, an laying on their back. Pull your child around a yard covered in snow, down gentle slopes, and up small hills. The changes in grade challenges the vestibular system. Don’t have snow? Bring this activity indoors! A plastic sled works great on carpeted floors. Pull your child as they sit/lay in all positions. Add a bit of bumpy terrain by building a “ramp” with couch cushions and a blanket. Don’t forget to spin the sled for circular spinning motions.
2. Snowflake Toss- Use an inflated balloon to toss and hit from above and the sides. Encourage your child to extend their head and neck back to see a high “snowflake” and down low as they hit the low tosses. Bending, reaching overhead, and swooping side to side allow vestibular motions with a playful function.
4. Snowball Spin- Curl up like a snowball and get ready to spin! Use a large piece of cardboard for fun break-dancing, snowman-style! Show your child how to turn and move on the cardboard and slide in all directions and planes. For a challenge, draw or paint snowflakes on the cardboard. These are targets for hands and feet and provide a visual motor planning, visual tracking, hand-eye coordination, and crossing midline components! You can number the snowflakes to incorporate more skills. This is an activity that is sure to inspire smiles!
5. Polar Bear Roll- Lay on the floor and roll like a polar bear (log roll style). Use pillows to create obstacles and bumpy targets. Put items on both sides of the room and transfer the objects by only rolling. Rolling is an organizing activity for children.
6. Upside Down Snowflake Paint- Place a large sheet of butcher paper or newspaper on the floor. Have your child hang over a large therapy ball or ottoman to paint on the paper. You can also push dining room chairs together to create a place to hang. Try turning the child over so they are laying on their back and painting overhead with an extended head and neck. When your snowflake paintings have dried, hang them on the ceiling to encourage more neck and head extension as you gaze up at your snowy work of art! TIP: Try this snowflake stamping art activity to incorporate fine motor skills.
7. Bounce a Snowman- Bouncing a ball is rhythmic and calming. Bounce three different sized balls (the snowman’s bottom, middle, and head). Bounce the balls one at a time, then try to bounce two balls at once to encourage bilateral hand coordination. Add ping pong balls (the snowman’s eyes and buttons!) for a challenge. THEN, change the vestibular input by sitting on the balls and bouncing the child or showing them how to bounce up and down. A large therapy ball works well for this activity but other options include blow up beach balls, rubber balls, and kick balls.
8. Blanket Roll-Roll the child up in a blanket on the floor. Roll the child back and forth the whole way across the floor. Be aware of overstimulation and be sure to only do this activity for 10 rolls before taking a break. Now pull the blanket’s end so that the child is moving in the direction of their feet or head. Try pulling the child as they lay on their belly and then on their back.
9. Indoor Skiing-Coming Soon (I promise!)
10. Snow Angels– Cover a hard floor with a bed sheet. Ask the child to lay on the blanket and do snow angels. The thin sheet on a hard floor will provide little resistive feedback (which is what you want if you are working on proprioception activities!) Do angels while standing and while laying on a large therapy ball or over an ottoman, too.
11. Snowman Hop Scotch- Draw a snowman on a sidewalk or driveway. If it has recently snowed, draw a snowman in the snow with a stick. If the temperatures are too cold to play outdoors, draw a snowman on a large sheet of cardboard or create a snowman on the floor using masking tape. No matter where you make your snowman hop scotch board, don’t stop at just three circles! Make your snowman as high as you like! Play hop scotch with the snowman shape for jumping and hopping vestibular input. For a challenge, draw buttons on each circle. Children can count the number of buttons as they play hopscotch.
15. Polar Bear Crawl- Crawl on all fours like a polar bear. Add throw pillows and a body pillow, as well as rolled blankets to add a balance course. Ask them to hang their head down low as they crawl, then stand up on their knees like a polar bear. Changes in head position is calming and organizing for the vestibular systems integration of sensory input.
16. Snow Maze Obstacle Course- If you’ve got snow outside, build logs of snow for climbing over, walking along, and rolling over. Pile up a lump of snow for climbing on and sliding down. Get creative with building piles of snow and showing your child how to slide, drop, swoop, jump, roll, and crawl around, over, and through. Kids can position themselves in all planes for a variety of vestibular input. If you haven’t got snow in your area, create an indoor snow maze. use pillows and blankets to make “snow piles”.
19. Snow Slide- Use a large sheet of cardboard to create a snowy slide on the steps. You can also pile up a few couch cushions and pillows to create a ramp for sliding. If you’ve got snow outdoors, cardboard makes a great sled! Try sliding while sitting, laying, and spinning for more vestibular play.
20. Snow Dance Party- Turn up the music and spin, twirl, shake, stretch, jump, and sway to the music. Play music listening games like Freeze Dance. Turn the music off and everyone needs to freeze in the position that they are in. Try dancing with scarves and hoola hoops for more movements.
Other Winter Dance ideas:
Spin and twirl around a frozen lake
Pick up “ice cube” cotton balls and leap across the room to another “ice cube” as kids collect the ice cubes.
Frozen Bottom: dance to music and someone stops the music. When the music stops, everyone drops to the floor and sits on their bottom.
Winter Clothes Dance- Everyone dances until someone stops the music. When the music stops, everyone grabs an article of winter clothing and puts it on. You can have available a sweater, scarf, mittens, hat, earmuffs, coats, etc.
21. Snowflake Pillow Pull- Cut snowflakes from a small square of felt. Pin these to a body pillow. Children must lay on the body pillow, holding onto the snowflakes. An adult can pull the body pillow around the room as the child hugs the pillow. An alternate activity is to have the child sit on a a snowflake on the pillow as they hold on to the sides. Being pulled around on a moving seat is a calming vestibular activity for kids.
22. Snowman Squash- {link coming soon!}
23. Snowman Roll- Do somersaults along the floor. Tape a line of masking tape on the floor and have your child somersault along the line. Use the line to roll balls across the room, using ping pong balls and larger balls. Use a wheeled scooter to roll along the line. Scoot along the tape with the scooter while blowing a cotton ball “snowman” with a straw.
24. “Snowman Says”- Simon says with a snowman theme is a fun way to incorporate vestibular and proprioceptive input and adding the components of your child’s needs into a playful game.
Try some of these Snowman Says movements: Vestibular: Twirl your arms. Bend at the waist and reach between your legs. Jump Hop Skip Roll Dance Spin Somersault
25. Shovel Tumbles- Use a sandbox shovel to toss a ping pong ball “snowball” into a target such as a bucket or an empty laundry basket. For added vestibular input, add a tumbling movement to the activity as the child tries to keep the ball in the shovel while they tumble.
26. Snowy Wobble Jump- You can up the vestibular input by placing a mini trampoline on the wobbly cushion base. Jump on the trampoline or jump off of the trampoline. Put a cushion or pillow on the trampoline and jump on that.
27. Upside Down Frozen Writing- Encourage head tilt and alternate planes by writing while hanging over a chair or stack of couch cushions. Writing in the prone position puts the hands at a more optimal writing position than hanging from supine.
28. Snow Pile Jump- Use outdoor snow to create a pile of snow. Jump into the snow with both feet. Show the child how to try to land on their back or on their side. They can also jump into the snow with one foot or two, or on their knees. No snow in your area? No problem! Create a snowy pile using bed pillows, couch pillows, or foam and cover it with a thing blanket or bed sheet. Jump into the “snow pile” from a trampoline. Use both feet, one feet, and knees to jump.
29. Snow Plow Push- For this vestibular activity, use a large cardboard box. The child can climb into the box and an adult can pull them around. Take the cardboard outside on a snowy hill. If you don’t have a cardboard box large enough to hold your child, use a laundry basket. Play snow plow by turning the box or laundry basket on it’s side and have the child push the basket around the room, pushing on all fours.
Proprioception activities are organizing and regulating. This weighted snowflake activity is a fun way to turn Occupational Therapy and therapy goals into play with a winter theme.
Proprioception activity to throw weighted snowflakes
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Make weighted snowflakes. We used bean bags and felt snowflakes.
Cut felt snowflakes from white glitter felt. Cut a small square of the glitter felt. Ours were 3″x 3″ and big enough to fit on our bean bags. Cutting the felt is a great proprioception activity for the hands.
Pin these to bean bags with safety pins to create weighted snowflakes. Your weighted snowflakes are done and ready for a little indoor proprioception play!
Toss the weighted snowflakes into a target such as a bucket or a basket. You could even toss them into a sled like we did in this snowball fight activity.
This activity can be modified to work on other goal areas: Move closer or further back from the target. Try adding additional body movements like jumps and hops for added proprioceptive input. Work on counting with one-to-one correspondence. Add additional movement components by creating an indoor obstacle course.
This post is part of our January Calendar activities where we’re sharing proprioceptive and vestibular activities for each day. See all of the posts here.
Are you looking for more information on Vestibular or Proprioception (and ALL of the sensory systems) and how they affect functional skills, behavior, and the body’s sensory systems? This book, Sensory Lifestyle Handbook, will explain it all. Activities and Resources are included. Get it today and never struggle to understand or explain Sensory processing again.
Looking for more proprioception activities? Try these:
Play dough with kids can be a sensory experience. Or, it can be a VERY sensory experience.
This Marshmallow Fondant dough is one of those VERY sensory dough play experiences. If you’re looking for a way to incorporate proprioception into play for its’ calming, relaxing, and heavy work to stimulate joint receptors and awareness of self, then this sensory dough is for you. It’s perfect for proprioceptive input to the feet and whole body (with play dough! Really!), the small joints of the hands (Use it as a handwriting warm-up exercise.), and upper body heavy work.
Who could have thought that a simple play dough could provide a whole-body heavy work workout?
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Marshmallow Sensory Dough Recipe
This recipe is one that I’ve used for fondant decorations on cakes. It requires heavy muscle work and is a great way to provide proprioceptive input to the whole body. It’s a recipe that I’ve used many times in baking and thought, “Phew! My arms are tired! This is a workout!” Why not use that muscle power with kids that crave proprioception?
HINT: Using smaller pieces of the dough is perfect for muscle work with kids.
Add confectioners sugar by the cup, mixing for 4-5 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
Dump the dough onto a counter or cutting board that has been dusted with confectioners sugar. The dough will be very tough and sticky. You will need to knead the dough to get a smoother texture.
Kneading dough is an excellent way to incorporate proprioception to the upper body. Encourage your child to pound and pull the dough. However, we decided to take the proprioceptive input up a notch…
Proprioceptive input with sensory play dough
A while back we made a Cooking With Kids recipe for udon noodles. In this traditional Japanese dish, noodles are kneaded with the feet. Our marshmallow fondant sensory dough was SO tough, that we thought getting our feet in on the kneading action was a GREAT idea.
Kneading with Feet: Proprioceptive input to the lower body
Sometimes, you see a child who is kicking constantly in their seat, moving those little legs, bumping into others, fidgeting at school or home, and just needing more awareness of their body in order to calm and focus on a task. A proprioceptive task can help with this.
How to make heavy resistance dough
To use the marshmallow dough in a proprioception activity, place it and a little confectioners sugar into a gallon sized plastic freezer bags.
Saturate a kitchen dishtowel with hot water.
Squeeze the excess water from the dishtowel.
Fold the towel around the plastic bag.
Layer another (dry) dishtowel over the wet towel.
Place the towel/dough package on the kitchen floor.
Now, use those feet to stomp, jump, and knead the dough!
Kneading with your feet gives the dough much more pressure and stretch. You can use the heels of your feet to really press into the dough.
Kneading our fondant dough was very cool and sensory. The warm towel could be felt through the dry towel, and squishing the dough provided an unsteady surface. This proprioceptive activity was not just therapeutic. It was FUN!
Marshmallow Sensory Dough
After kneading the dough for about 10 minutes (and with a lot of dancing, and jumping on the dough!) we pulled out our sensory dough and started playing. It was amazing to see the difference in texture and pliability before kneading and after kneading the fondant with our feet.
Place the dough on a cutting board surface that has been lightly dusted with confectioners sugar. Show your child how to pull of lumps of dough and roll them into balls.
Use a rolling pin to roll out thin layers for an upper extremity strengthening and proprioception work out.
While the dough was easier to manage, it still packed a tough and resistive punch! We found that working with small amounts of dough at a time made rolling for my four year old easier.
We decided to add sprinkles for a bit of teeny tiny fine motor precision work. Sprinkle the candies onto the layer of fondant and give it another rolling pin roll or two to press the sprinkles into the dough.
Then, we used our letter alphabet cookie cutters to press the marshmallow fondant sensory dough into candied letters.
Pressing the cookie cutters through the tough fondant really puts a proprioceptive punch on the small joints of the hands. This activity would be perfect as a fine motor handwriting activity by warming up and waking up the muscles of the hand and getting them ready for written work.
You can extend the activity further by cutting playdough with scissors. Using this heavy weighted dough, you really develop strength and add heavy work feedback through the hands. Try making play dough snakes and go from there.
There was quite a bit of tasting of our sensory dough. Which was perfectly fine with me. While it is made entirely of sugar and a completely horrible for dietary intake, it sure did provide a taste sensation. This sensory dough was fun in more ways than one!
After you’ve made an alphabet of letters with the marshmallow fondant dough, leave them out to air dry and harden. They can be added to cupcakes or a cake for a fun treat. Wouldn’t it be nice to make fondant letters together with your child to decorate their own birthday cake or to make a cake for a loved one?
Add this proprioceptive sensory dough to your sensory diet!
I am so excited to share a collection of Christmas activities with you today! If your kids are like mine, we are Christmas Carol maniacs. We love to have them playing at all times from the day after Thanksgiving through New Years. (And belt them out in the car!)
Tomorrow, I’m hosting a few of the most creative kids’ activity bloggers as we share Christmas Carol sensory bins! Each blogger is taking a Christmas carol and creating a sensory bin or sensory small world based on their carol. Picture kids of bloggers all over the world playing in sensory bins, exploring a Christmas-y small world, and singing along to their favorite carols…and then you can re-create these sensory bins all season long!
Sensory Bins and Small World Imagination Play
Sensory bins are such a great way to explore the tactile sense through imagination and creative play. Sensory bins can focus on any topic or theme and peak a child’s interest through the imagination. While playing in a sensory bin, kids can work on so many skills!
These are the most creative and fun ways to play and learn through Christmas carols and sensory bins this season. Be sure to stop back tomorrow when I’ll be adding all of the sensory bins for the bloggers below! You’ll want to play along (and sing along) with each one!
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. Kids can slide these into the sensory bottle. 
. Cut a small square of the glitter felt. Ours were 3″x 3″ and big enough to fit on our bean bags. Cutting the felt is a great proprioception activity for the hands. 
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to press the marshmallow fondant sensory dough into candied letters. 
