Wearing SPD Lenses: “Snow” Sculptures with Pets

So, we had a nor-easter yesterday, which meant plenty of nature-based sensory input awaited us out the front door in the form of shoveling, building snow men, scaling snow banks and attempting to sled in the too-deep snow.  But, what about indoors?  The wind-blown, icy snow was just a bit too piercing to drag Jack out into, so we needed to come up with some activities to entertain an eager-to-go-outside Luke and little sis between Jack’s snoozing.  When I thought about Carl’s Snowy Afternoon, a random library pick Luke had made, inspiration struck:  “Snow” Sculptures with Pets.

We took out one of the kids’ favorite gifts from Santa – 

their Animal Planet Dog and Cat play sets and set them up.

Then, the kids made it snow.

 Finally, they built snow sculptures in, around and on all the pets, narrating stories as they went.

Furgal, fun and engaging for the kids.  Better still, as Mama knows the theory behind the play, lots of sensory diet nourishment, a bit of art and a whole lot of literacy going on…

Wearing SPD Lenses: 

Setting up the pet play areas, using figurines, large  play pieces and tiny props (like the dog bone and pet grooming tools) requires fine motor control and motor planning.

Spraying the shaving cream requires finger pressure – strengthening the hands while giving some tactile input.

And, of course, playing with the pets in the “snow” provides a large does of tactile input!

The Art Take:

At this stage, I think the process of any artwork we approach with the kids is far more important than the product.  Exploring art media, enjoying creating sculptures – however temporary—and simply getting their hands literally into art are what I like to focus on.

A wonderful book that I hope to use a basis for our art explorations soon is the Reggio-inspired The Language of Art.  In its opening activities, exploring textures and movement are focused on.  Though “Snow” Sculptures with Pets is not in the book, I think it is very much in line with its philosophy.

The Literacy Take:

The Public Library Association (PLA) recommends focusing on six early literacy skills in children, which serve as the foundation for learning to read and write. These are vocabulary, print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills, letter knowledge and phonological awareness.  Researchers have determined that children who enter school with these skills are better able to benefit from the reading instruction they receive when they arrive at school.

This activity focuses mainly on two of these skills:  vocabulary and narration.  In reading  and talking through the illustrations of the book Carl’s Snowy Afternoon and connecting it to art/sensory explorations, the kids did a lot of naming of objects, actions and emotions – i.e. vocabulary work!

In discussing the story depicted in the almost wordless book, as well as in making up their own stories while doing “Snow” Sculptures with Pets, the children worked on story telling, description and sequencing of events – i.e. narration!  (Such as, "The dogs friends want to come play.  I have to shovel the walk."  Thus, the spoon in the photo.)

A Bit About Carl’s Snowy Afternoon:

Carl’s Snowy Afternoon by Alexandra Day is not one I would have chosen for the kids to read, but it is one that Luke was enthused to find at the library since the cover gloriously depicts two of his current favorite things: a dog and snow! 

Why wouldn’t I have selected it?  Well, because the premise that this otherwise delightful story of little Madeline’s Rottweiler taking her on a joyous escapade through town on a snowy day disturbs me.  The girl and her dog are only able to go adventuring because an inattentive babysitter does not see them slip out.  And, in the end, no one is any the wiser about them having been out and about.  Cute?  Yes!  Something I want my kids to model after?  No.  I really don’t understand why the book could not have been framed with a less (in my humble opinion) inappropriate exposition.

That said, most of the book is absolutely darling.  Realistic illustrations, rich in charm, humor and warmth make the book an exquisitely fun book for pre-readers to page through, developing their own pre-literacy skills of storytelling.  And, the simple, occasional text (minus the aforementioned start and close) gives just enough detail to this otherwise wordless picture book.  Plus, my children loved discovering the times that Madeline just missed being seen by her parents – a fun feature in the illustrations, even if it can reinforce the theme of wandering off that I am not too keen the book has.

So, thumbs way up for illustrations and adventure in the book and thumbs part-way down for the beginning and end of the plot.

This post is being shared at Living Life Intentionally's TGIF Linky Party,  Sunrise Learning Lab's Reggio-Inspired posts link-up and at A Mommy's Adventure's stART.

Our Sensory Seeker

As you might have noticed by the button in the left column, I belong to the SPD Blogger Network, hosted by Hartley's Life with 3 Boys.  Each month, Hartley invites those of us in the network (and anyone else for that matter) to join in an SPD Blog Carnival, which works as a wonderful online magazine of sorts where folks can share and learn about life with SPD kids.


This month's carnival is about Sensational Siblings.  And, since I have been so busy with attending to my SPD kiddo Luke and his two sensational siblings Nina and Jack, I am a bit late in joining in.  But, as the saying goes, better late than never.  So, here's our take on one of our Sensational Siblings -- Nina!

What does it mean to Nina to be the sister of an SPD kid?  Well, at just a bit over three years old, if you ask her, she may give you one of her expressive knit-brow, twisted mouth looks, wondering what you are talking about.  She does not really register the term "SPD".  But, she does, oddly enough, benefit from her brother's SPD therapy.

Indeed, when Luke was still going to OT for SPD, Nina got something that is rare in our household -- 1-on-1 time with Mama.  Yep, when Luke was off with Miss Teresa in the OT gym, Nina got then-pregnant me all to herself.  No brother.  No housework.  No anything competing for time and attention.  So, in the waiting room, we read together, drew on a huge painted wall chalkboard, played card games, played Mama Says... Enjoyed the less-than-an-hour that sometimes passed too quickly.

And, since formal OT stopped and home therapy became the norm, our little girl continues to bask in the bennies.  No, she does not get much 1-on-1 Mama time anymore -- especially now that baby has arrived, but she gets lots of something she loves:  sensory fun!

Luke needs vestibular input, so we often use our ottoman on wheels as a kid-spinner and Daddy works his muscles by turning, swinging and flipping kiddoes during rough play sessions.  Nina giggles so hard after spinning and shouts, "More! More!" when Daddy starts playfully man-handling the kids.  She truly loves all of it!

And, she gets more use out of some of Luke's proprioception tools than Luke does.  It is Nina, not Luke, who most often moves a piece of furniture to get the crib mattress we use as an indoor jumping board.  And, she is always my monkey jumping on the bed, couch, jogging trampoline.  Plus, she loves doing obstacle courses with Luke.  Such a seeker, our girl!

Indeed, our Seeker smiles and laughs every time we do a tactile input activity!  Shaving cream.  Goop.  Playdough.  Soap suds.  You name it; Nina loves it.

She is truly a sensational sibling.

SPD Speedway -- A Luke Engineered Game

part of a toy that was received from an auntie for a past birthday

+

the cotton from the top of Daddy's vitamin bottle

+

a straw that fell off a drink box at one point

What do these equal?

If you are our creative sensory-seeking Luke, they are the perfect materials to engineer an SPD Speedway!

Yep, last night when I came out from trying to get Nina down to sleep, I found Luke busily blowing cotton balls down the ramps of a plastic toy he'd "stolen" from the basement clutter the other day when I left the door open as I ran down to do laundry. The fact that Luke had engineered a game for himself did not surprise me.  He has always been quite the little construction king.  His creative use of materials did not shock me that much either.  He always manages to have vision beyond his father's and mine.  What did strike us both was just how perfectly Luke was attending to his own sensory needs at the moment through an activity he created, set up and went about playing all on his own.

A little oral-motor fun with the straw.  Some tactile stimulation with the soft cotton ball and the hard plastic.  Quiet, focused, calming concentration -- with just the right blend of excitement --  as a wind-down activity before bedtime.  Both Daddy and I were so pleased to see all this in Luke's self-engineered SPD Speedway game.  For one of our goals is to raise happy, independent individuals and Luke's play certainly evidenced that he is heading that way!

Yippee!

In what ways are your children learning to attend to their own needs -- sensory or otherwise?  How are you encouraging them to do so?  And, how are they demonstrating increments of success?  Please do share in a comment.  And, also, head on over to our family blog to see Daddy's SPD-related perspective on Luke as well as to Hartley's Life with 3 Boys to visit the SPD Blog Carnival full of links to photos of sensory fun.