the very first time our occupational therapist, juliana, came to play with us she asked harrison what he wanted to do and he suggested candyland. the board game. the let’s-all-sit-around-on-the-floor-and-not-move, very sedentary board game. sure, there is some conversation that needs to take place – who gets to go first? what color guy am i again? oh, yes, i’m winning! oh, man, i’m losing! – but, mostly, it’s just a draw a card, move your guy, wait your turn kind of game.
well, no longer! because sweet juliana had some tricks up her sleeve and she taught us how to turn boring old candyland into what we like to call extreme candyland! as you can see from harrison’s sentences below (for a homework assignment he had this week), it’s now his favorite game. or his favrit game. either one.
“candyland is my favorite game. miss juliana made it fun.” makes this mama’s heart happy.
so how do you play? i’m glad you asked! first, you sort out all the single square cards and set them aside. extreme candyland is played with the double squares and the character cards. it makes the game go faster.
then you make a plan. you decide on an action/activity/interaction/exercise/etc for each color card and write it down. it could be anything from “do jumping jacks” to “army crawl across the floor” to “walk on tip toes” to “spin in circles”…something that you could do ten times or for 10-20 seconds. have fun with it! be silly with it!
here’s the plan juliana made the first time we played (we make new plans each time we play just to change things up a bit)…
once you have everything in place you’re all set to play! i’ll show you some of the fun actions we do…
donkey kicks – they are kind of hard to describe. basically, bend at the waist and put pressure on your hands/arms while kicking your legs and toosh upward and then coming back down to land on your feet. does that make any sense at all?!
the next two are a variation on the same thing. here’s the superman – lie on tummy while lifting legs and chest off the floor. hold for a ten count. harrison hates this one.
or you could do seal claps – lie on tummy while holding legs and chest off the floor. clap your hands ten times. he hates this one too. poor guy.
make a silly face – this one always makes me laugh. harrison is usually very serious. its nice for me to see him being silly!
wiggle bugs – lie on back. pull knees to chest. pull head off floor. wiggle arms and kick legs for a count of ten.
any type of jumping is usually the favorite movement around here – kickbox jumps, scissor kicks, jumping jacks – and at the end of the game, no matter who wins, we’ve all had a great time!
and managed to get some sillies out!
and get some sensory input in!
god bless occupational therapists! and in this case, god bless juliana!
without her, candyland would still be just a sit-on-your-toosh board game.
we are all thrilled she showed us a more “sensational” way to play!
Comments
Jennifer
Motor drives function, and getting kids with sensory/anxiety/ASDs to build up their low muscle tone is so important and leads to better brain function. This is a great idea and will help others.
julia [lifeonchurchill]
I love this! My kids love board games, and in winter its tricky to figure out exercise.
Jenny from the Block
That is awesome! Love it! That is great for my daughter, I think she’d love it.
Can I get some opinions? I feel like in OT Bud is not getting much. She does not to anything input-wise, just toys that he has basically mastered. She even commented that she thought about decreasing his OT in the next few months b/c he has no motor issues. I am confused. I keep waiting for us to work on sensory stuff more, but it is not happening. Granted, Bud is 2 and does not like to be touched by her. I understand when they DT just plays with toys as that is a whole different therapy, but she is not doing what I thought OT was supposed to do. Perhaps I am wrong. What does your OT do?
rachel white
hi jenny. my instinct is telling you to trust YOUR instinct. i fully believe mama’s are rarely wrong about their kiddos and their kiddos’ needs. if you are confused about OT, or thinking something is “off”, it’s worth addressing!
as someone who is new to this entire thing, and as someone who is completely in awe of OT’s and their awesome abilities, i really can’t comment about what OT should look like for your son. especially since he is younger than mine.
but, i have written a couple posts on my personal blog which may be helpful to you, they provide snippets of info regarding MY UNDERSTANDING of what our OT will do for harrison:
http://whatsupatthewhitehouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-results-are-in.html
http://whatsupatthewhitehouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/so-what-happens-next.html
overall, having a dear friend who is an OT, i’m told that not all OT’s are created equal. some have different theories about how to do therapy.
it is our personal choice to go with the DIR Floortime therapy model. (only stating what is right for us. other parents may feel that a different therapy model would be better suited for them). you can read more about it here:
http://www.icdl.com/dirFloortime/overview/index.shtml
as far as our therapy, we have had our OT visit our house a few times, but actual therapy appointments at the STAR center will begin march 18th. if you remind me, i’d be happy to share exactly what our OT does with harrison. i’m really looking forward to finding out myself!
but up until then, what juliana has done with harrison here at home has been 1) following his lead 2) playing with him 3) finding ways to make our play times more sensory-based. getting lots of input in.
you can also read more about the STAR center here (it is one of the best therapy and research facilities for SPD in the world):
http://spdstar.org/
God bless you as you navigate this situation! and, again, trust your god-given intuition! and, please, i’d really love to know what you end up doing/finding out.
Sabrina Ropp
That is wonderful! I love this idea. I think we’ll start using it right away!
Jenny from the Block, I know you were asking the author, put I figured it couldn’t hurt to explain what our OT does/did. At two, my little man had major sensory issues, so that is what we worked on. She would get him physically active, kind of revved up, and then do things he didn’t like as much by turning it into a game. Like swinging, or rolling or touching slimy stuff, and always with a reward at the end that he really wanted. She also helped us with tips for toothbrushing, hair washing, as well as drinking from a cup. Mostly she worked on increasing his tolerance of sensations that he avoided.
Sabrina Ropp
That is wonderful! I love this idea. I think we’ll start using it right away!
Jenny from the Block, I know you were asking the author, put I figured it couldn’t hurt to explain what our OT does/did. At two, my little man had major sensory issues, so that is what we worked on. She would get him physically active, kind of revved up, and then do things he didn’t like as much by turning it into a game. Like swinging, or rolling or touching slimy stuff, and always with a reward at the end that he really wanted. She also helped us with tips for toothbrushing, hair washing, as well as drinking from a cup. Mostly she worked on increasing his tolerance of sensations that he avoided. Is your OT trained in sensory integration? Perhaps your OT doesn’t realize that is your primary concern. when we started with Nick, she focused more on motor stuff until she realized he needed more sensory stuff. She even hooked him up with a speech therapist and a “group therapy” class because she noticed his lack of social interaction during the one on one OT.