Gift-giving time is upon us. How do you choose what to buy for your sensory seeker? Lucky for you, Blue Bird Day’s sensory-friendly holiday gift guide is here!
All of the links are from Amazon, so consider using AmazonSmile to support our friends at the Chicago Autism Network or any of your favorite charities this holiday season.
Vestibular
For your movement seeker, scooter boards, trampolines, hippity-hops, and swings are great options. For most children, linear motion is generally calming, and rotational or orbital movements are alerting.
Click here for more information on vestibular sensory processing from Blue Bird Occupational Therapist.
Proprioceptive
Need some big crashes and squeezes? Think about getting your child their own crash pad, inflatable canoe, or body sock.
Ball pits and tents are also great ways to help build body awareness by tapping into your child’s proprioceptive sense.
Visual
There are a lot of visual seekers these days in our technology-focused world. If your child is seeking out visual information like flickering lights or watching wheels spin, try out some of these toys before you reach for the iPad.
Bubble timers, gear toys, and LCD boogie boards are all great ideas for satisfying a visual seeker without just watching a video. Click here for a fun, visual activity you can try at home with your child!
Tactile
If your child is a messy play fan, kinetic sand, playdough, and water beads are always a hit! A sensory table is a great way to contain the mess and be creative with the materials you already have at home.
Vibrating pillows and massagers are also great ways to provide a lot of calming tactile sensory input.
Oral
For your child who is constantly putting hands or toys in their mouth, talk you your team member at Blue Bird about what type of chewy they recommend!
Using an electric toothbrush and silly straws in daily routines are easy ways to provide your child with increased oral sensory input.
Auditory
Does your child enjoy making noises just for fun? Musical instruments and pop-toobs are fun ways to make lots of different noises and promote cause and effect play with your child.
If you’re worried about noise at family parties this holiday season, noise cancelling headphones are an option to support your auditory sensitive child.
As always, your therapeutic team at Blue Bird Day is available for additional recommendations specific to your child’s interests and sensory profile!
Happy sensory smart shopping!
Blue Bird Day—the first therapeutic preschool and kindergarten program in the nation—fosters socialization, sensory regulation, and pre-academic learning in children ages 2-7 years. Our compassionate therapists practice a relationship-based and family-centered approach, provide parent training, and collaborate on goals and individualized intensive treatment plans for your child.
We believe in a collaborative and multi-disciplinary team approach to therapy. A team of occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, dietitians, developmental therapists, behavioral therapists, physical therapists, and therapeutic assistants are created for each child to ensure child and family are fully supported and the best possible results are achieved.
Options for individualized, group and virtual therapy sessions are available as well.
Want to learn more or you have a specific question? Feel free to connect with us here!
