Pea of Sweetness

Sensory Bin Round Up

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AffiliateAs a mom with three special needs children I am always looking for activities to encourage fine-motor skills, imaginative play, exploration. Sensory bins offer this while offering an opportunity to explore different textures. This is great for both young children as well as special needs children. It’s important to note, though, that sensory bins are not intended to replace therapy, but they are a great activity to supplement it! In fact, our children’s Occupational Therapists gave us some of the best ideas for sensory bins!
Sensory Bin Round Up
The best thing about sensory bins is you can get as creative as you want! Sensory bins can be put together from items around the home or you can get creative with a theme! If you have children with special needs like ours you may need to take into account what their texture likes and dislikes are. Offer something that may challenge their senses without overwhelming them. Some of our favorite sensory bins start with simple objects like pompoms.
Sensory Bins Round Up
Some of my favorite bloggers have shared some amazing sensory bin ideas and resources! Here are a few!

Sensory Bin Round Up

Straight Lines Sensory Bin Golden Reflections Blog has shared an amazing pre-writing activity for kids with the straight lines sensory bin. I love this idea! This sensory bin includes a variety of straight tools like pencils (unsharpened), crayons, pipe cleaners, dowel sticks, uncooked noodles, and more! This is a great bin for little learners to introduce them to straight lines and pre-writing skills. Check out the full details below!
Pre-writing Activities for Kids Sensory Bin
Sensory Bins for Beginners Are you new to sensory bins? Simply Vicki has shares sensory bins for beginners. She shares her apprehensions and why and how she got started as well as a link to ideas, Pinterest boards, materials, and more!
Alphabet Sensory Bin Adventures in Mindful Living has shared a fun Alphabet Sensory Bin, which is perfect for little learners who are learning their letters! It is simple to make, and she has shared some great learning activities to go along with it!
Alphabet Sensory Bin
Farm Theme Unit The Chaos and the Clutter has many great ideas for sensory bins. One of my favorites is the Farm Theme Unit. I love how she included a Sensory Bin in her unit study!

Sensory Bins

Sharla Kostelyk from The Chaos and the Clutter has written a great book – Sensory Bins: the What, the How, & the Why. Whether you are new to Sensory Bins or are looking for new ideas, at just $2.99 it’s a great resource for anyone wanting to use sensory bins! It includes idea lists, helpful recipes, storage and money saving tips, and even information on using sensory bins with Sensory Processing Disorder. As a mom with children with SPD (and someone who has SPD myself) I definitely appreciate this!
Sensory Bins book
Are you new to sensory bins? Do you use sensory bins and have some great ideas to share? Please share in the comments!
 
 

I'm Getting Tired of Writing Cliché Phrases

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Something that comes along with working with a chronic condition (at least for me) is the need to use cliché phrases over and over and over again. Sometimes I feel like I’d rather slam my head into the wall rather than have to write “I’m sorry, it’s been a rough week” one more time.
I’m blessed that I can work from home, but it doesn’t mean working is easy for me! The past few weeks have been particularly brutal between the non-stop migraines dragging on for over two weeks followed by the now side-effects from getting back on my medications (which I trust will help me in the long run). In fact, I almost started my post about setting realistic goals with “I was going to share my 2015 goals, but it’s been a rough week,” but I cringed and decided to go with what I really wanted to say.
That’s what it boils down to, though. Am I going to say something appropriate or just lay it all out there? I can’t tell you how many emails I have sent over the past few weeks with “I’m sorry for the late reply” followed with something along the lines of “the week got away with me,” or “I’ve been under the weather,” or “it’s been a busy week,” or “I haven’t been feeling well,” or yes, “it’s been a rough week.” I even found something called “Canned Responses” for Gmail so you can reply to an email and choose from a premade list of response. If I could get it to work correctly I would have totally been using it over the past couple of weeks!
Working with a Chronic Condition - Cliche Phrases
Clearly my responses aren’t dishonest. It has been rough and I haven’t been feeling well, and the week (weeks really) have been getting away with me, but I am just SO tired of having to say that over and over again. Sometimes I just want to say “I’m sorry for the delay, for the past two weeks I have felt like I’m being stabbed in the head over and over again and every time I move my head pounds. The thought of looking at the computer screen makes me want to run and hide because I know I will be in agony for a few hours afterwards and most likely won’t get much sleep. I’m tired and my body hurts all over.”
Of course, that would be absurd! Would people be understanding? Sure, but you can’t just say! When I feel this way, though, it’s so easy to get behind – to let days slip by and not even realize that email I moved to “Urgent Action Needed” was 3 days ago. I really WANT to answer my emails in a timely manner and complete everything that needs to be done as quickly as possible. I really, really do, and it makes living with my condition even harder to accept because I have to accept that I have limits. I have to accept that I have to just shut down and disconnect right this minute or risk being down for a couple more days because I pushed my body too hard.
Sometimes when I’m being particularly hard on myself I wonder if I have to accept that I’m just not good at this – at what I do – blogging – my job. I can’t do it every day like I used to. I get behind. I’m setting more realistic goals and expectations this year knowing my health has been challenging and I’m finally taking better care of myself like I’ve needed to do for so long, but it still nags me sometimes because, well, that’s what happens when you’re faced with challenges. Can I really do this? Can I keep pushing through this? Can I still succeed at this? Lately, I haven’t been too sure, but one thing I know for sure even if I have to keep using those cliché phrases I’m going to keep trying!
 

Parenting Special Needs Children with a Chronic Disorder

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Today I am honored to share The Challenges and Blessings of Parenting Special Needs Children with a Chronic Disorder on Beautiful in His Time as part of the 31 Days of Supporting the Special Needs Family. I share how parenting special needs children when you have a chronic disorder can be challenging, but I also share how it can be a blessing as well! The 31 Days of Supporting the Special Needs Family is an amazing and beautiful series, and I hope you will not only check out my post today but also the whole series.
Challenges and Blessings
Be sure to read the story behind the series. This series is blessing to not only special needs families but their friends and families as well as it creates a bridge that sometimes we may feel isn’t there. If you have a special needs family and sometimes feel isolated or like you can’t connect, this is a great series for encouragement and sharing with others to help give them insight into what life looks like for special needs families.
If you know a special needs family but aren’t sure how to reach out or support them, this is a great series to help answer those questions and get a deeper look into the lives of families with many different special needs.
This series has been a blessing for me to read as well, and I pray it blesses you, too, as well as those with whom you share it! Check out the 31 Days of Supporting the Special Needs Family.
 

Stylish Sensory Chewelry

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I have Sensory Processing Disorder. We have two children exclusively with Sensory Processing Disorder and one child on the Autism Spectrum. Needless to say, we appreciate companies that offer products to support our sensory needs.
Chewigem Logo
As part of my ABC’s of SPD I shared “C is for Chewing” where I gave a little more insight on oral input many people with sensory special needs require and how they turn to chewing to fulfill that need. Not only do we (I say we because I am definitely in this category) chew to fulfill this sensory need, but it also has a calming effect as well. Being able to calm, particularly in sensory overload situations is important. Having something within easy grasp can make all the difference.
Chewigem offers discreet chewelry that is perfect for mild to moderate chewers. They are made of FDA approved silicone and are lead, latex, BPA, PVC and phthalate free. Because they offer such a wide variety of designs, there is something any child (or adult) can enjoy! Many of the styles look just like any other necklace, so it makes this chewelry discreet – and stylish!
Chewigem Discreet Stylish Sensory Chewelry
For our review, we received two necklaces – the Cat – Meowza for our daughter, and Raindrop Pendant – Cosmos for myself.
Miss Aurora loves cats. LOVES them, so she was thrilled to receive this necklace. It has a nice, long chain so she can easily bring it to her mouth. It is soft and flexible and has nubs for extra sensory input. She has been loving it. She is a mild chewer but almost always has to have something in her mouth, so the nubs are the perfect input. Not to mention she can even play with it in her hands for extra input as well. She finds this calming, too, particularly when we are doing homeschool and she is trying to concentrate. Plus it’s easy for her to put on and take off.
Chewigem Stylish Sensory Chewelry - Cat Meowza
I have been loving my Raindrop Pendant. It has a variation in thickness, which offers nice contrast. I find I like to chew on the thicker part near the end in the back of my mouth and the thinner part in the front. It’s much nicer than chewing on straws, pens, etc. Plus, it looks nice! As an adult, I can wear this necklace with just about anything, and it looks nice! It’s so stylish! I have never found anything that I felt comfortable wearing and using for my own sensory needs as well. Although I have tried necklaces specifically designed as breastfeeding necklaces, and although they were find as breastfeeding necklaces, they just did not have the consistency that was right for my own needs. This necklace is perfect for my needs, and if you are a breastfeeding mom, it definitely could be used as a breastfeeding necklace as well!
Chewigem Stylish Sensory Chewelry Raindrop Pendant
The necklaces can be washed easily with soap and water and even in the dishwasher! The clasps are easy to use, and will come open easily if they are pulled on with force, which is a nice for peace of mind in safety. Of course, with long cords, it’s always important to remember it’s not a toy. If you have little ones where the cord would pose a concern, Chewigem also offers Bangles. They can be worn or just held.
Many with SPD just need to chew, and Chewigem understands this. That is why they offer a variety of products to fulfill our needs. We are very happy with our necklaces, and I think they have many other great designs, which means there is something anyone could appreciate.

For More Information:

Visit the Chewigem Webiste
Connect with Chewigem on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest

*Special*

Chewigem is offering my readers a 10% discount through 9/15/14. Use discount code pea10 to receive your discount! Shop now!

*Giveaway!!!*

One winner will receive the product of their choice! This giveaway will run through 9/19/14 at 10pm Central Time and is open to US and Canada ages 18+. Enter the Giveaway Now!!