Sensory Room. What do we need?

Post Reply New Topic

We live just off a very busy main road and opposite a large shopping centre / mall. It isn't safe for either of our daughters to play in the front yard.

Our backyard is tiny, more of a paved courtyard with a 2meter high retaining wall, the ground is all paved and it slopes slightly. So very little in the way of play equipment works out the back. We have a small sandpit and a toddler sized basketball hoop.

My girls are Annie 5yo NT and Heidi 3.5yo HFA/Aspergers.

When Heidi was 2yo we caught her straddling the back fence - she'd manage to climb right up the top and was trying to get over. A week later my father-in-law built a little roof on the top of the fence which made it harder to climb over. Now Heidi tries to climb our retaining wall instead which is scary with the big drop down onto hard paving bricks.

Heidi is constantly seeking sensory stimulation and we've got a fairly intense sensory diet for her from our OT. The last year we've had an old queen size mattress on the loungeroom floor for Heidi to bounce on but the springs started poking through and we had to get rid of it.

After that Heidi bounced on the couch but it met with an accident and had to be disposed of also. That sparked a decision by hubby and I to turn our loungeroom into a sort of sensory gym room for Heidi. Somewhere she could self regulate and not have to be asking us to help her (we love to help her but I don't want her always feeling dependent on others to meet her needs, I hope that makes sense). Also to be a fun place for Heidis big sister to play with her.

Currently we have a mini trampoline, two high density foam gym matts, a spinning egg chair from IKEA, a spinning Elmo chair with lovely soft elmo fur. a yoga / gym ball and a collapsible tent for Heidi to hide in. It has become clear that Heidi needs all this and more.

A lot of change is happening in our lives right now which is making Heidi need even more soothing sensory input than before. My father-in-law (her granddad) has been diagnosed with lung cancer. While my sister-in-law takes him on all his hospital visits I'm helping by babysitting her 3yo and 4yo boys (in addition to my two girls). I need to make sure Heidi has the equipment to do what she needs to help her cope with this. While both my girls love their cousins and love having them over the also need quiet time to unwind after the boys have gone home.

We've been told that there is up $5000 in funding available to get more equipment but we have to get our applications in this week. We might not get all the funding, we might only get part of the funding. I'm putting an application together with as many things on it as I can, might as well go all out and try for everything.

Everything we apply for funding for has to be available from a educational equipment provider as the funding body has a firm safety first policy.

What I need help with (and why this lengthy post) is what sort of equipment.

Things I have on the wishlist so far

Sand and water table - this should just fit into our tiny outdoor space and provide Heidi with soothing sand and water play or if I need to I can put in some more challenging sensory stuff like slime. Or I can send the other children outside to play with it whilst Heidi has some much needed quiet time alone.

Whirly Bounce Rider - it bounces, it is a see-saw whats not to love. Indoor toy.

Wave Climber - can climb it, slide it, hide under it. Another good indoor toy.

Llittle tikes swing along castle I want this mostly because of the swing but not sure if it will be big enough.

Our OT is looking at an indoor hamock for us with a stand (we are in a rental so can't fix stuff to the walls).

Also looking at vibrating cushions and Time Timers for the wall.

So for a 3.5yo who loves to bounce, rock, spin, jump, chew, climb what else should I look at? I'm wondering about a sensory carpet or cushions. There are no chairs in the loungeroom anymore apart from the girls little chairs. Maybe I need a snuggly beanbag chair.

The only real sensory dislike Heidi has is for noisy environments, whilst I can't change the traffic noise outside I can help make inside quiet for her.

All suggestions / help welcome.

Thank you
Marita

Edited to add - we are in Australia, just incase that helps with equipment recommendations, chilly in winter, terribly terribly hot in summer.

If you have the space for it, a small ball pit would be great! Kids jump into them, and there are a bunch of plastic balls that cushion their fall. There are some sensory catalogs online that you should check out. This is one: http://store.schoolspecialtyonline.net/ ... site=10021

try looking in S&S craft.............ssww.com

Definatly a bean bag!! !! !! !! !! When my HFA son is uptight at school his teacher gets him to sit in the one they have and play with a small bean bag ball. For things that your girl could chew, teething toys are great! My son is 5 and he has about 8 or so teething toys he just loves them. What about getting cars for her to spin the wheel round as well?

Thank you for the wonderful suggestions. I had a great talk with the OT yesterday and it seems we can apply for funding for services as well as equipment.

After going through what we had already she suggested more 'calming' sensory stuff, like a hammock with a stand and a weighted blanket.

I'm thinking about getting little balls to put inside the girls tent, I think Heidi would really love that. And will need to get some bean bags for us to have a spot to snuggle and read stories together.

what about theraputty ?

We've got some theraputty somewhere in the house. Probably in the box with the slime, playdough, and various other putty / dough like substances.

Heidi has varying degrees of dislike to them all.

A while ago I did a little video diary of our efforts with the slime: http://leechbabe.wordpress.com/2008/01/ ... nd-trains/

Is funny how Heidi can't cope with slime but loves to eat bananas and stick her fingers in mashed potato. OTOH she hates mashed pumpkin which has a slightly slimier texture than mashed potato.

bubbles and shaving cream can be good too..............i've painted with shaving cream- the paper comes out looking sort of marbleized....

Bubbles are her obsession, have so many different kinds of bubble mix in our house I've lost count Big bubbles, little bubbles, smelly bubbles, bubbles that don't pop. No surprise that her first meaningful word was bubbles God I love my little girl, she is just so much fun to be around.

:: pause for teary eyed mummy moment ::

Ahh, the shaving cream is good idea. She loves her daddys shaving brush so I might invest in a couple of cheaper ones for her and her big sister.