Facial Expression Magnets

One of the difficulties people with an ASD can face is recognizing facial expressions. It is therefore helpful to provide exposure to different facial expressions in a safe "practice" environment. Facial expression magnets can be a fun way to learn about facial expressions.

It's cheap and easy to make, too! I used a pizza pan from the dollar store as the surface to stick the magnets to. The pizza pan also makes a great surface to play with play dough on. I bought a self-stick magnet square from the dollar store, printed out some clip art of facial features that I found with google images, stuck the paper to the magnet square, and cut it out. That's all! 

You could use this tool in several ways. You could just let the child make faces with the magnets to become familiar with facial features. You could make an expression and have the child try to copy it using the magnets. You could arrange the pieces to show an emotion and then have the child name the emotion. You could name an emotion and have the child create a face that shows that emotion.

More Chewables

In the second part of my review of chewables I'll be looking at three products from Stimtastic which, might I add, is run by people on the autism spectrum! The thing I like most about Stimtastic is their prices. We all know how expensive chewable jewellery can get, but Stimtastic is fairly priced and good quality. It even looks nice! 

The Chewable Annular Necklace is especially stylish. It can also handle some serious chewing. This is one of their tougher items for heavy chewers and is especially good for teens and adults because of its larger size. 

The Chewable Chunky Bead Necklace is great for moderate to heavy chewing. I love the idea of the rainbow "spectrum" of colour. The beads can be chewed, sucked on, or fiddled with which is nice. 

The Chewable Donut Necklace is my favourite. It's best for moderate chewing. The shape of this one seems "just right" for chewing or sucking on.

All of this jewellery is also available in other colours, and there are many other styles. 

Lap Pads Full of Goo!

I found a great recipe for bags full of goo and thought it would be amazing as a weighted lap pad! If you put the whole recipe into one bag it has a nice weight to it. The goo is a wonderful texture and is fun to squeeze around the bag. This would be more apropriate for older children who won't try to burst the bag.

Ingredients:

4 cups water

1 cup corn starch

1/4 cup sugar

food colouring

glitter

gallon size zipper bag

duct tape

stickers to decorate!

Instructions:

Mix water, corn starch, sugar, and food colouring in a pot. Cook over medium heat until it is the texture of vaseline. Cool. Pour all of the mixture into one gallon size zipper bag, add glitter if desired and seal. Mix glitter through the goo. Duct tape around the edges of the bag and decorate as desired. You could also reinforce the clear portion of the lap pad with packing tape before using the duct tape for added security.

Homemade Play Dough

I tried out two homemade play dough recipes today and I thought I'd let everyone know how they turned out. 

Basic, long-lasting playdough that you must cook was the first type I made. It's a little bit of work, but the results were like store bought.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup salt

4 tsp. cream of tartar

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups water

food colouring

Instructions:

Mix the wet ingredients in a container. Mix the dry ingredients in a pot. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir out the lumps. Cook on low heat, stirring frequently, until the dough reaches the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. Remove from heat, cool slightly, knead dough until smooth. You can add the food colouring with the liquids if you're making one colour, or you can knead the food colouring in while still warm if making multiple colours.

The second play dough recipe I made was a gluten-free cook on the stove recipe. It's softer than store bought and a bit messier. It feels nice to play with and molds into shapes well, but it leaves a powder residue on your hands.

Ingredients:

1 cup baking soda

1/2 cup corn starch

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp vegetable oil

food colouring

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in a pot and stir out the lumps. Cook over medium heat until a workable dough is formed. Let cool. I had to knead in more corn starch because mine was too sticky. You can add the food colouring into the pot with the ingredients if you are making one colour, or you can knead it into the dough once it cools enough if you are making multiple colours. 

Happy play dough making!

Soapy Marble Maze Bag

I've been interested in making mazes this week, so here's another one.

I like this one because it seems to really use fine motor skills to get the marble through the maze. Mine is very simple, having only one path to follow, but you could make the maze much more difficult if you wanted to. I've tested this maze all morning without any leaks or problems, so it seems durable enough.

I made it by rolling up pieces of duct tape and putting them into a gallon zip lock bag. I then squeezed in some old shampoo that I didn't like and had laying around, and some food colouring. I moved the shampoo through the maze of duct tape so the bag would be lubricated well, and then added the marble amd sealed the bag. I taped the bag shut for extra security. 

Fabric Marble Mazes

I've just finished making my own fabric marble maze and I'm so happy with the result that I just had to share it! It's a nice, quiet fidget that's soft and can really work your fine motor skills. Manipulating the marble through the maze can even improve one's ability to hold a pencil and write.

I made mine out of fleece and used embroidery thread for the stitching. I drew lines onto the fabric with a marker and hand-sewed along them. I'm not especially skilled at sewing, but the final product is still pretty good. 

My maze has no beginning or end, with several ways to complete the maze and no dead ends. You could make a maze with a beginning and an end, using little felt shapes sewn on to mark where the beginning and end are. Making a more complicated maze with dead ends would also help to improve executive functioning by encouraging planning skills, but may not be as effective as a fidget.

Dollar Stores Are A Sensory Room Girl's Best Friend!

I've been looking through dollar stores lately for neat sensory toys. There are tons of treasures to be found for between one and three dollars! I found some really nice gold sparkle putty, a "crawling" wall octopus, a splat ball, sparkle play dough, foam putty, and a nonstick pizza pan for playing with messy stuff.

The nonstick pizza pan is perfect for use with play dough. It provides a nice, smooth surface to work on and it is easy to clean up since nothing sticks to it!

New Sensory Tools!

I have some neat new sensory tools for clients to try out when I come to visit! I like to bring samples of some sensory items when I meet with clients because it gives a chance to explore and ask questions. I have added a puffer ball, Twiddle, light-up molecule ball, galaxy slime, fiber optic wand, and an awesome bendable tube to my collection.

Chewables

I thought I would do a series of posts on chewables since they can be very useful in improving concentration and, of course, saving shirt collars and pencils from oral destruction! In this post: Ark's Grabber (green), Ark's Grabber (grape scented), and Cool Chews Stems.

Ark's Grabbers are perfect for small hands. They have a nice little hand-hold for grabbing, as the name implies. The shape of this chewable also acts as a nice hand fidget. The texture of the green grabber is quite firm and can stand up to some pretty aggressive chewing. This chewable is odorless and tasteless, perfect for those who are sensitive.

The grape scented Ark's Grabber is much like the green one, but with a pleasant grape scent. This is perfect for those who would like a little extra sensory stimulation.

Cool Chews Stems are a smaller, more discreet chewable. They have ridges and bumps for added texture and, because of this, make good hand fidgets as well. Their texture is moderately soft and would be best for light to moderate chewers. What I like most about these is that they fit in the palm of your hand or your pants pocket.

Stay tuned for upcoming reviews on more chewables!

New Year Reading List and Slime!

It's a new year and I've got a new reading list for the next while. Stay tuned for reviews on these books in the weeks and months to come!

For now, I've been making therapy slime. It is made of 1 cup of warm water with 1 tsp borax, slowly stirred into a mix of 1 cup of white glue dissolved in 1 cup of warm water. I also added some food colouring. The result is a firm slime that can be used as therapy putty to strengthen hands while it also provides an irresistable texture.

On-the-go Sensory Kits

This is an on-the-go sensory kit. It is useful for when one must go somewhere overnight or just to bring along on an average day out. This particular one was designed by me for an adult and includes sensory items, comfort items, and distraction items. The individual's needs, likes, and preferences were taken into account when building the kit so as to encourage the kit's use and increase its effectiveness.

I recommend sensory kits to most of my clients, young and old alike. The items in a sensory kit must be personalized to the individual using it for the kit to be useful. These kits can help ward off panic attacks or tantrums in many individuals. The items can be used to calm the individual or to ward off boredom. Sensory kits can vary widely in size and items included, so anyone can benefit from having one!