Holiday Tips & Sensory Strategies

With the holidays here, there is much to be anticipated and much to be excited about for your little one. From what presents will they get, to who will come visit, to enjoying having time off from school, etc.

Here are some quick & easy simple strategies/tips to help decrease your little one’s stress during the holiday season:

Stick to schedules/routines as much as possible

The majority of humans draw comfort from routine. Not only is it normal for our schedules/routines to be thrown off a little bit during the holidays. It is a great lesson for children to have as it teaches them that while it is great to have and follow a schedule, we need to practice flexibility as well, because things change. Try your best to stick to schedules/routines as much as possible during holidays. But know that if your schedule/routine does get thrown off, that’s ok and it’s a great time to teach your little one about flexibility.

Provide guidelines with presents/gifts

Along with changes in schedules/routines Holiday traditions such as gift giving can create new situations that children may not know how to appropriately act with. This can simply be addressed by providing guidelines with gift giving/receiving prior to the activity. Things such as “we can only unwrap presents with our name on them”, “when we give someone a gift it is their turn to unwrap and play with it”, “everyone gets a turn to unwrap gifts and presents, so we may have to wait and be patient when someone else is unwrapping their gifts.”

Provide opportunities for calming & relaxation

With all the changes that the Holidays can bring, it is sometimes necessary that we give our little one time to calm down. As all the changes in routines, visitations from family members we don’t see too often, the lights on houses/building, etc. can sometimes be overwhelming. A good way to help with this is giving your little one time for calming & relaxation away from other people and commotion. Better yet, you can try to schedule opportunities for calming & relaxation during the day, so you can be pro-active in an effort to prevent meltdowns.

The Holidays often give us lots to be excited for, unfortunately they can give us lots to be overwhelmed with. Following these simple strategies can help make your holidays go successfully and smoothly. If you still have concerns or are in need of additional strategies don’t hesitate to reach out to your therapist for help & guidance.

Michael Jankowski, MS, OTR/L
Occupational Therapy Director

5 tips to help with stress during the holidays –

The holiday season can be exciting and stressful at the same time. Especially if you are a family with children. Being organized and prepared for the holidays can be very helpful.

Tip #1 – Set a Budget

With the holidays comes financial pressure. Help relieve that pressure by setting a budget and sticking to it. It helps to set a limit per person. You should include 3 categories in your budget, gifts, groceries and holiday activities. The price of a gift should not be the importance, it should be the thought behind the gift. Something I like to do with my children is if they really want an expensive item that is not in my budget, I let them know for that item they should save up their own Christmas money to purchase the item. This takes the pressure off of you and teaches your children to appreciate the item they bought themselves.

Tip #2 – Plan Ahead

Don’t over book yourself and set expectations that are not realistic. Make a “To Do List” on just plain old regular paper or use your phone to create your “To Do List”. Often, there is so many fun holiday activities going on in the community and with friends and family, that you may not be able to do them all. You can always do some activities next year. When you plan to many activities you don’t fully enjoy them. Stop obsessing over doing it all yourself. Include your family in helping with the “To Do List”. This will make them feel important and useful and appreciate all that you do.

Tip #3 – Pick Your Battles

The holidays are not only stressful for you but for children as well. It can be sensory overload for some children. Remember to have patience with your children and if your child is just not having a good day or not enjoying a planned activity, then leave the activity. If you know dinner time is a time where your children like to pick fights with each other then maybe eat out, or let your child choose a different spot to eat that night. The holiday season is not the time to fight with your children, it just adds unnecessary stress.

Tip #4 – Make Time For Yourself

Don’t forget about your day to day routine. It is so important to fit in exercise, eat well and get plenty of sleep. When you are at your best, then your children and family around you will be at their best.

Tip #5 – Think Positive

Keeping a positive mind set is key to keeping stress at bay. Don’t try to be a perfectionist during the holiday season. Make your gifts and holiday planning your own. Remember it’s time to celebrate with family and friends and look forward to the New Year!!!

Are you thinking of getting your child a board game this Christmas? Board games can be a great tool to use to learn and have fun at the same time. There are tons of board games to choose from when you hit the toy aisle in stores. One of the go-to games in therapy is ZINGO by Thinkfun! This game is fantastic for building vocabulary, articulation and turn-taking. Another great thing about Zingo is it can also help answer yes/no questions, by simply asking your little one, “Do you have a cat?” and so forth. Who knew one game could be so interactive! It’s a very fun game, that kids absolutely love!  

Why should practicing your feeding skills at home be boring? While you don’t want to have to go out and spend too much money on a bunch of plates, cups, utensils, sometimes having a few novel items can help eating be a little more enticing. Here are a few of my favorites to use:

• Num Num Pre-Spoon by Gootensils – These pre-feeder spoons are great for early feeders. When children don’t quite have the dexterity and fine motor skills to scoop, rotate their wrists, and balance a spoon to get the food to their mouths, these pre-spoons can be very useful! All the child does is dip it in puree and the pre-spoon catches/holds food much easier than a regular spoon. They can get lots of practice with the hand-to-mouth motion of eating without too much food sliding off.
• Offer a variety of forks and spoons to use at the dinner table – For older children who are more proficient with fine motor skills, offering a variety of utensils (maybe 2-3) at mealtime might build some novelty into the meal. Kids love being independent, so if they are given the power to choose which utensil they will use, they might be more willing to use it to pick up some new foods. They might like a choice as simple as which color utensil they will use! I have also used small coffee stir straws and toothpicks as a novel way of picking up small pieces of food. It can make it new and exciting to try something on their plate.
• Dinner Winner Plate – This plate has been one of my more successful tools to date! A small portion of food it placed into each section and at the very end of the plate, the child gets a special treat of their choosing. It is so useful because the child sees a clear start and end to what they are eating, plus it is fun to know there is a “prize” at the end. You can find this plate on Amazon or at Kohl’s or Bed, Bath and Beyond!!

For Your Thanksgiving Picky Eater

Thanksgiving can undoubtedly be a stressful time for a picky eater and his/her family. A regular mealtime with familiar family foods can be difficult to get through. However, when you have a whole day centered around foods you may only serve once per year (plus the potential activity of seeing lots of family members and friends), this can cause the picky eater AND family to experience a whole different level of stress. Here are some tips to keep in mind from “All the Moms” and “Parents“ to help you get through the holiday weekend!

• Involve your child in getting the meal ready, such as setting the table and preparing some of the foods (to the best of their ability level). This could even be putting napkins on the plates or mashing up some of the potatoes. If they can have experiences around the foods without actually eating them, this can help to decrease some of the anxiety.
• As much as possible, stick to your usual meal routine. For example, if at your regular dinner time your child is only expected to try one bite of each food on their plate, keep this consistent. It would likely add stress if they are suddenly asked to completely clean their plate when it has not been the usual expectation.
• If there are some stand-by foods that help get your child through a meal (ketchup or ranch are my favorites!), then considering having those available. It might not be your idea of a traditional Thanksgiving side dish, but if your child will dip just about anything in ketchup, then they just might be willing to give that turkey or sweet potato a taste.
• As much as possible, limit pre-meal snacks. A child is far more likely to sit and eat some food at the table if they are hungry! If they are filling up on crackers, pretzels, or sweets before the meal starts, it will probably be much more difficult to keep them at the table for a meal full of foods they may not usually eat.
• Try making up fun names for the foods! “Cornell University researchers found that when 4-year-olds were served ‘X-Ray Vision Carrots,’ they ate nearly twice as much as when the food was simply labeled ‘Carrots.’” — Parents
• Keep servings small! Especially with so many foods that are typically served at a Thanksgiving feast, you may only offer a tablespoon or less of each food that you would want your child to try. It is much less overwhelming for your child to look at a plate of small portions than a heaping plate of food. Plus, they can always ask for seconds if they find something they like!
• Overall, just try to be as relaxed as possible. This is not the time to put too many expectations on one meal. If your child does not like one of the foods on their plate, give them praise for the other foods that they did try. The important part of the day is to enjoy the company around you and not to stress over finishing every last bite of food.
  Kristina Burnham, MS, CCC-SLP-Language Pathology Director

What is Proprioception and Why is it Important?

Proprioception is the body’s ability to receive input through receptors in the skin, muscles and joints, and transfer the information to the brain through the nervous system so that the body can sense itself. To put it simply, proprioception is the sense that tells the body where it is in space. Proprioception is very important to the brain as it plays a big role in self-regulation, coordination, posture, body awareness, the ability to attend and focus, and speech. Many children with sensory processing disorders, Autism, and ADHD struggle with one or more of the areas listed above because of their body is not processing the proprioceptive input effectively. Signs of proprioceptive dysfunction or under-registration include:

• Poor Motor Planning/Coordination & Poor Body Awareness (difficulty understanding personal space or understanding boundaries when playing with others, presents with delay in gross and fine motor skills, bumps into people and objects frequently, difficulty riding a bike, difficulty going up and down stairs, difficulty with speech)
• Poor Self-Regulation Skills (emotional, difficulty attending to task, mood swings, frequent meltdowns, difficulty with sleep)
• Sensory Seeking Behaviors (plays rough, taps or shakes feet while sitting, chews, bites, likes tight clothes, pushes or hits others, writes too hard)
• Poor Postural Control (slouches, rests head on desk while working, leans on everything, poor muscle tone, unable to balance on one foot)

Children that have difficulty sensing or processing proprioception often try to self-regulate by engaging in activities and/or behaviors that provide intense or frequent proprioceptive input. Proprioceptive dysfunction can be addressed and improved by Occupational Therapy through the use of sensory integration and developing a healthy sensory diet. If your child has difficulty with sensory processing or demonstrates difficulty with any of the above signs, contact Sonoran Sun Pediatric Therapy to schedule a free Occupational Therapy screening.

Holiday Travel Tips for Kids with Special Needs

The holidays are right around the corner and for many families this means that a road trip or an airplane ride is inevitable. Some things one must understand and take into consideration when traveling with a child that has sensory processing challenges is that consistency and structure is very calming and organizing, and change causes anxiety and is very disorganizing to the nervous system. Not only is change an obstacle, but hypersensitivity to noises and/or touch as well as sensory seeking behaviors such as constant movement or craving deep pressure. This makes traveling by car or airplane especially challenging.   

Car and Airplane Travel Tips:

• Pack or purchase at the airport calming snacks that provide organizing oral input: crunchy and chewy snacks, (pretzels, carrot sticks, apples, bagels, beef jerky, fruit roll ups, gum) water bottles that have a straw or sport spout that requires sucking, use straws to eat pudding, yogurt, apple sauce or smoothies. Don’t forget personal chewies or vibrating oral tools (pack more than one)
• Pack a variety of fidget toys (stress ball, Koosh ball, Magna Doodle, Legos, spinner, Rubix cube, Thera band tied to adjacent car structure or arm rest in an airplane, etc.)
• Pack sensory tools (I pad and charger, head phones, ear plugs, weighted lap sock/pad or blanket, soothing music and I pod, compression vest, DVD player, small blanket and pillow to create a sensory retreat)
• Car Travel: Pack fresh food with allot of protein and avoid fast food and preservatives as much as possible and let your child hold and manipulate the cold pack as needed to decrease anxiety or stress
• Car Seating: If your child is sensitive to sound or touch then have your child sit toward the back of the car behind siblings if possible. This positioning is much quieter and provides for more personal space. Have a parent or someone who can provide as needed sensory input sit next to the child if possible. Position the child in the middle when possible so the child can see out the front window.
• Decrease car sickness by covering adjacent windows with a window screen
• Airplane Seating: If your child is sensitive to touch then have your child sit next to the window away from the isle and request to sit in the front to limit stress and the amount of people bothered in the event of screaming or a meltdown. If you didn’t pack one, ask the attendant for a blanket and pillow so that you can create a small sensory retreat in the event of a meltdown
• Car travel movement breaks: Take frequent sensory or movement breaks every hour if possible (stopping at parks when possible) and encourage the kids to run, jump, and really move. Don’t wait for a meltdown to stop for a break. This has the potential to start a pattern of meltdown = break vs. staying calm = break
• Airplane movement breaks: While in the airport or during a layover, encourage the kids to run, jump, and really move. When it is safe to do so on the plane, remove the child’s seatbelt so that they can reposition their body, sit cross legged, stand to stretch, and even pace the isle as needed.
• Toileting on an airplane: Avoid flushing the toilet on an airplane with your child present. The volume and sound of the flushing toilet on an airplane may trigger a meltdown. Walk your child back to their seat and then return to flush or ask the attendant to assist you in flushing once you are far enough away from the restroom.

Ways to Incorporate Proprioceptive Input at Home

Proprioceptive input is typically very calming and organizing to the nervous system. A child who has lots of energy or a “fast” running engine will typically be able to calm and re-focus with proprioceptive input. Proprioceptive input can also be alerting for a child who has low energy or a “slow” running engine. Experiment with your child with the activities below to see what proprioceptive activities are calming and which ones are alerting.

Activities that provide proprioceptive input:

• Hand Hugs
• Wheelbarrow Walks
• Wall Pushes
• Chair Push Ups
• Hand Presses
• Hand Clapping Games
• Animal Walks (bear crawl, crab walks, frog hops)
• Pillow Squish (stack couch or bed pillows and squish under them)
• Pillow Fights
• Burrito Roll (child rolls up in a blanket or towel with head exposed)
• Steamroller (roll a large ball or foam roller on the child’s back, arms and legs while child lays on their tummy)
• Squish Box (a box that is just big enough for your child to squeeze into with pillows)
• Stomping, Jumping, Marching, Skipping, Hopping
• Chewing Gum or Chewy foods
• Using a Straw to Drink/Eat (milkshakes, smoothies, yogurt, pudding, applesauce)
• Chewelry
• Vibrating toy or oral tools
• Hop Scotch
• Tug of War
• Safe Rough Play/Wrestling
• Heavy Ball (toss to target, play catch, pass to your partner)
• Trampoline
• Hippity Hop
• Hand Stands (against the wall)
• Climbing Activities
• Swimming
• Gymnastics
• Karate
• Bike Ride
• Carrying Heavy Objects (groceries, laundry, lunch bucket at school)
• Push/Pull Activities (shopping cart, wagon, stroller, lawn mower, friends on a sheet or blanket)
• Open Doors for people
• Hammering Activities
• Sweeping, Vacuuming, Mopping
• Wash Tables, Windows, Car, Toys
• Digging Dirt or Raking Leaves
• Rearrange Furniture (move chairs etc. to sweep or clean)
• Compression garments or tight clothing
• Body Sock
• Theraband Activities
• Heavy blanket
• Weighted Lap Pad or Lap Sock
• Fabric Tunnel
• Weighted Backpack

Eat To Succeed

As a mom, I know I am frequently needing new ideas for what food to put in front of my child and easily get stuck in a rut.  I also catch myself feeding my child when I get hungry and forget that their little bodies are metabolizing and growing at a much more rapid rate than I.  Below are some simple meal reminders, kid schedule ideas, and food ideas.  As a therapist and a mom, I hope it helps you too.

To help your child perform at his/her optimal level nutritious food is key. Our bodies need proper fuel to be able to grow our bones and muscles, build our neuro pathways, and help our brains function.

Kids need a mix of Protein (eggs, beans, meats, nuts, soy), Veggies (peas, carrots, celery, zucchini, broccoli, spinach), Fruits (berries, apples, grapes, oranges, bananas, pears), Dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt), and Grains (oatmeal, whole grains, quinoa, rice).

Some children can be sensitive to sugars and additives, possibly increasing behaviors.

You can try a variety of ways to eat fruits and vegetables.  Such as offering baked versions, freeze dried versions, canned versions, or fresh options.  Trying them as smoothies, solids, incorporated into baked goods or crunchy treats can provide a variety of texture and possibly a new favorite.  Exposure through sight, touch, play, and fun is helpful in expanding palates.

Ask your Occupational Therapist (OT) or Feeding Therapist  (FT) for suggestions on ways to introduce new foods, hide needed foods, or explore and expand your child’s palate! ☺

*Always work with or check with your doctor if you your child has allergies or special dietary or medical nutrition needs*

*Refer to Feeding Littles School Lunch Cheat Sheet for more ideas

Sample elementary school meal (portion sizes will vary depending on child’s needs and activity level this is just an example):

Breakfast: ½- 1 cup Oatmeal with fruit (berries/apple/banana) and glass of milk

Snack: 3 apple slices with cheese or peanut butter

Lunch: ¼ -½ cup peas, ½ cup strawberries, ¼- ½ quesadilla (w/ or w/o avocado), Greek yogurt

Snack: tortilla chips and beans or salsa

Dinner: ½ of a hamburger with ½ cup broccoli or green beans and a popsicle

Snack (if hungry): banana with peanut butter (or Nutella) and chocolate chips.

Sample meal ideas for a typical picky eater (hamburger, pizza, chicken nugget eater):

*allow regular opportunities for exposure (through sight, touch, play, or taste) to new foods

Breakfast: Dry cereal with freeze dried strawberries and a glass of milk

Snack: Veggie straws and apple slices

Lunch: 1 slice of pizza, 1/2 cup berries, greek yogurt, freeze dried peas or baked/crunchy broccoli

Snack: Tortilla, peanut butter, and honey roll up

Dinner: Pasta with peas, sauce (ricotta cheese mixed/hidden in) or chicken nuggets, and grapes

Snack:  Cookie or frozen banana dipped in yogurt or chocolate

Allison Heitzinger MS., OTR/L

Sonoran Sun Pediatric Therapy

Occupational Therapist

Picking/choosing your battles

As a follow up and conclusion to the two previous blog posts, this blog post is Part 3 of 3 in a short mini-series of Strategies to help with behaviors.

While the strategies presented in the 2 prior blog posts can be used in multiple situations and scenarios to help decrease unwanted behavior. We realize that the circumstances don’t always allow for this. Sometimes you as a parent or guardian are having a bad day, or are tired and while you want to be firm with boundaries, sometimes you can’t. It is understood that even with the best intentions, we all have bad days. While we may want to follow through with something we may be more inclined to give in to a child to prevent a scene or to decrease our own frustration.

In these situations, we need to do our best to stay consistent, but also, we need to pick our battles. Maybe we know that when we take our child shopping on the weekend, it is very crowded. Therefore, we are more likely to give in if a child asks for candy to prevent them from having a meltdown and making a scene. Or maybe we personally have had a tough day, so we have a lower tolerance for dealing with behavior. In this situation, we may give in to our child to prevent ourselves from having our own meltdown. That’s ok if it happens occasionally; we can’t expect ourselves to get it right all the time. Pick your battles, and more importantly – don’t feel bad when you have to do this.