Christmas Sensory Bin Ideas

Liam still has sensory issues at 3 years 4 months.

We've worked very hard with him to work through these issues,

and hard work is the only reason he's doing as well as he is.

For the majority of his Liam's life,

he hated textures.

If it wasn't super soft he refused to hold it.

He hated the feel of playdoh,

sand,

uncooked rice and noodles.

We worked past this by playing with these things over and over again.

We still have a lot of work to do.

Sensory bins are awesome.

I love how there is so much in such a small area.

It's meant to stretch their ability to be handle the stimulation with each passing use.

With Christmas coming up I thought to do a Christmas themed sensory bin.

In my Google search I found many I like.

This winter themed sensory bin is so simple and cheap.

Everything in it came from the Dollar store and added up to $5!!

I adore it. I found this at Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Blog.

She has several amazing sensory bins that I am looking forward to making for Liam.

This snowy sensory bin looks like so much fun!

We found this gem at Blog Me Mom

I feel like this is a two for one deal.

Not only so the kids get the sensory aspect out of filling the ornaments,

but when they are done,

you get some great ornaments for your tree.

I love that they used beads as well as sand to fill these up.

It gives me a great idea to use other materials as well.

I found this AMAZING idea over at Little Bins For Little Hands.

Love this sensory bin.

It has some of Liam's favorite things.

Found at Four Little Piglets

We are already so excited for Christmas!

Can't wait till closer to Christmas to do some crafts with the kids.

Struggling With Over Stimulation

          I spent many nights worrying over Liam going to school. There were many reasons and fears running through my head:

He's too young.

I didn't get enough time at home with him.

What if he freaks out being left there.

What if he catches a virus.

What if his Gtube got pulled out.

What if he shut down due to over stimulation.

          Liam started coming home over stimulated last week. He was fine during class but as soon as I picked him up, he begun to shut down.

          Today was no exception. He saw me and at first wasn't ready to go. He wanted to finish singing the song about circles. Of course I wasn't in a hurry so I patiently waited for him to be ready. When he was he walked up to me then immediately shut down. His eyes glossed over and he got a blank stare on his face. At this point he refused to make eye contact with anyone. 

          He wouldn't say good bye. Wouldn't wave. Wouldn't acknowledge anyone or anything.

          He cried the whole way home this afternoon. Luckily we live 5 minutes from his school. Once home he wasn't much better. I had to resort to tactics I used when he was a baby. I laid him on my bed, pitch black, no lights, no noise. After 45 minutes in the dark and a bolus feed, he finally calmed down. 

          I hated to see him like this. At that moment I wanted to show his teachers what happens every day after school. How he shuts down. They had just stated how he was ready for a traditional preschool. He can't hardly handle two days a week with a day to between the two, there's no way he can handle five days a week. 

          Today one of his teachers told me that it got pretty loud during one of the activities they were doing and that Liam stuck his fingers in his ears and told them "too loud". I am very proud of him that he is able to communicate verbally and tell us how he feels and what he wants. He's come so far.

          I wish he could handle stimulation better. I wish I had a way to help him process better. Baby steps. Slow and steady wins the race. 

*note: there will be no pictures of the meltdowns and shutdowns caused by over stimulation. It's too heart breaking and personal to share.