Sensational Sensory Ideas Post #4 (Theraputty)

I have just discovered an amazing therapy tool that I couldn't wait to share with you! It's called Theraputty and apparently it's used by all occupational therapists. It resembles silly putty in texture, but  has the resistance of a clay-like substance. It is great for providing tactile input, but is best known for exercising and strengthening fine motor muscles. 

Don't make the mistake that I did by thinking this is just a glorified silly putty! It is much more than that. Theraputty comes in six colors, each one ranging in resistance from x-soft to firm resistance. (We are using the green, medium-firm resistance.) It twists and stretches like silly putty, but has amazing resistance. Also, it holds shape much better than silly putty, allowing for sculpture making as a fun activity for improving fine motor strength. I would not recommend beginning with the green if your child is under 8-10. It is perfect for my 10 year old, but is a little too firm for my 6 year old. To be honest, the green can give me quite a workout! I was a little worried that I had ordered the wrong color, but my 10 year old absolutely loves it!

Here are some pictures of my 10 year old having fun with his Theraputty yesterday. 

This is Princess. She has absolutely nothing to do with Theraputty, she just really likes having her picture taken:-)

I first heard about Theraputty at the website Sensory Processing Disorder. They recommend hiding small objects in the Theraputty for your child to find. (be sure to count how many you put in.) We used pennies, but next time I will try something smaller. (maybe beads?)

I found a Theraputty Excercise pdf from the Illinois Neurological Institute that I plan to use for more structured use of our Theraputty. 

I was so impressed with Theraputty that I added it to our Amazon Sensory Store. I plan to add to our store as I find sensory products that have benefited our family and could benefit yours! I will never add a product to our Amazon Store that has not been tested and approved by our family. 

Remember to find time for sensory fun this week with your child!


We are linking up to 
Your Thriving Family~Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling

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When Your Child Can't Sleep {8 tips for relief!}

An extremely frustrating problem for many parents of difficult children occurs at bedtime. It seems to me there are two issues parents deal with at some time or another: the child who won't sleep and the child who can't sleep. We will address the former in a future post, but today I want to offer some tips for helping the child who can't fall asleep. 


It took many long and frustrating years before we realized that what our son was eating was directly linked to his ability to fall asleep at night. We had reached a point where bedtime was becoming a nightmare for both him and us. My husband and I became resentful when our small window of time together was being repeatedly infringed upon. My resentment quickly vanished, however, when I realized that my son was just as frustrated as we were. He hated not being able to fall asleep and he began to get fearful at bedtime. I began to desperately pray and search for answers and it was around that time we discovered the Feingold Diet. Diet was not the only answer for us, but it was one of the major contributing factors. We are so thankful for the relief of sleep! If we are faithful to follow our "bedtime rules" our son can fall asleep in about 15 minutes. When we deviate from them, we can all expect to pay the consequences!


This is by no means an exhaustive list of reasons why your child cannot fall asleep. Every child is unique and there could be many reasons for your child's inability to sleep. You will have to diligently research and experiment, but perhaps some of these tips can bring relief to you and your child. (tips are listed in order of importance.)


1.) Eliminate highly processed, artificially flavored and dyed food from the child's diet. This is the single most important thing you can do to encourage sleep for your child. We have learned (and are still learning) to eat a diet free from processed foods, but on those occasions when we order a pizza or eat at McDonald's, we can expect our son to be awake until well past midnight. A little side note here: McDonald's chicken nuggets seem to be an especially big offender. He can sometimes handle them earlier in the day, but if he has them anytime after 4:00, sleep will not come. You will have to experiment with what triggers your child's sleep problem, but following the Feingold Diet should eliminate most offending foods. 


2.) Eliminate caffeine from the child's diet. (this is a pretty obvious one.)


3.) Eliminate or strictly limit corn syrup from the diet. The Feingold Diet does not eliminate corn syrup, but many children that respond to the diet can be sensitive to corn syrup as well. We don't notice corn syrup having an impact on our son's behavior, but if he has too much or late in the evening, then sleep becomes a problem.


4.) Eliminate chocolate or cocoa powder after 4:00pm. This includes Feingold approved or homemade sweets with minimal amounts of cocoa powder. 


5.) No stimulating activities right before bed. This is another big one for children with ADHD and SPD. They can't switch gears as easily as other children and often need help settling down. Here is a list of activities that are not recommended close to bedtime: television, videos, computer, video games or roughhouse type of play. 


6.) Encourage reading before bed. We have started a practice of a family read-aloud time right before bed. The whole family snuggles in on the couch after showers about 1/2 hour before the youngest child's bedtime. This is a great way to establish a family-building bedtime routine, as well as a way to settle everyone down at once. If you do not want to read together, you could require the children to have a "quiet time" 1/2 hour before bed. Some suggested activities would be puzzles, picture books, reading, drawing and coloring.  


7.) Change the child's bedtime. You could allow the child to stay up an additional amount of time, but I would suggest strictly adhering to the above "quiet time" rule. This allows Mom and Dad to have much needed peace and quiet before bed.


8.) Wake the child earlier in the morning. Perhaps your child is getting too much sleep? Try waking them an hour earlier and see if they are ready for bed.


We have employed all of the above suggestions with great success. Our son can finally sleep and he no longer fears bedtime. I can't tell you what a difference it has made in our home! I hope you will find some answers here for your child as well. If not, don't give up~keep searching! Your child will thank you when bedtime brings relief.

We are linking up to 

Your Thriving Family~Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling

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photo credit

Our Favorite Dill Dip

One of my goals for this blog is to provide recipes for moms, like myself, that are trying to treat their difficult child's behavior with diet and nutrition. Whether your child responds to a gluten-free, dairy-free or Feingold diet, (see Why We Chose the Feingold Diet) one thing is certain: your child needs a real-food diet. Now, let me just say up front that I am not an expert on health and nutrition. I am a mom who loves to cook and serve my family delicious, made-from-scratch, real-food meals. When we decided to follow the Feingold Diet, (no artificial flavors, colorings and some preservatives) it became my passion to search for "knock-off" recipes for some of our family's favorite foods. Each time I post a family favorite recipe, I will note whether the recipe is Feingold approved (FG1 or FG2), gluten-free or dairy-free. 

We'll start off with one of our all time favorites!

I really, really like this dip. It is super easy and super versatile! It is my go-to veggie dip, but it is also really good with pretzels and beer bread. Another way to use it is as a sandwich spread. It only takes 5 minutes to throw together, but the flavor is best if made 12-24 hours in advance. The original recipe came from Country Cooking, but it was not Feingold acceptable. I made my own changes and we think it is fabulous! I hope you enjoy!

Creamy Dill Dip

FG1
dairy-free (when mayo is substituted for sour cream)

Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise (Feingold acceptable brand or homemade)
1 cup sour cream ( I use Horizon organic)
2 Tbls dried parsley flakes
1 Tbls dried minced onion
2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1-2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon (or to taste)


~Growing Home~Raising Homemakers~Our Simple Farm~
Women Living Well~Little Natural Cottage~Your Thriving Family~
Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling


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Natural Easter Candy (15% off!)

I wanted to let everyone know that The Natural Candy Store is having an overstock sale on some of their Easter candy. The chocolate eggs pictured above are 15% off. You can find other sale items HERE. Remember, you have until April 8th to order and still receive your candy in time for Easter. 

(This is not a paid endorsement for The Natural Store) I am a customer like yourselves~but I get really excited about a company that sells delicious treats that contain no artificial colors or dyes, no artificial flavors, no artificial sweeteners, no preservatives and no hydrogenated oils!

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Celebrating Easter............Naturally

(my third son, Holden, age 3~ Easter 2009)

I can't believe Easter is only 17 days away! Here in Ohio, it feels like we skipped over spring altogether and summer is here! I can't ever remember a time when we had 80 degree weather and started mowing grass and planting gardens in the middle of March. But, this is Ohio........... a snowstorm could be on the forecast in week or so:-)


Easter has officially become my favorite holiday. It represents the most amazing and miraculous event in the history of humanity. Easter Sunday is a day when my spirit is washed anew in profound gratitude of our Lord's sacrifice on the cross, His glorious victory over death and the free gift of salvation I could never earn. Easter is just simply a day to worship..........there is no expectation of gift-giving, no flashy decorations, no exhausting string of never ending parties and family gatherings, just a beautiful spring day to worship our Savior and visit with family.


I thought I would share with you some of our plans to celebrate Easter this year. Here are a few of our long-standing traditions and a few new activities to try.

Resurrection Eggs

I resisted purchasing Resurrection Eggs for several years. Every time I saw them in a catalog they looked so commercialized. One year, I read this post on Passionate Homemaking and decided to try them. I'm so glad we did! Our children have absolutely loved them! They are a great visual for young children while reading or telling the Easter story. Every year, we pull ours out exactly 12 days before Easter and each child takes a turn every night opening an egg as we read scripture that corresponds to the visual in the egg. 

Coloring Easter Eggs

In past years we have used the traditional store bought egg coloring kits. Since I am trying to be 100% dye-free, we are going to try coloring our eggs naturally this year. This could be a very rewarding and fun experiment with the kids or one of those completely disastrous experiences. (I'll be sure to take pictures either way:-) Here are several different methods I am considering. (courtesy Pinterest)

The Blender~ A Williams Sonoma Blog

Two Men and a Little Farm

Care2

Empty Tomb Garden

Another new activity this year. This idea comes from Raising Little Disciples. I fell in love with this beautiful visual as soon as I saw it. What an inspiring way to decorate naturally for Easter. (I really do not get excited over tacky bunnies with purple suits and plastic eggs hanging from trees.) My children and I are visiting a garden shop this morning to purchase our supplies. (By the way, Kaylee at Raising Little Disciples has more great ideas for celebrating Easter with your children~check out her great blog!)

Easter Morning Treats

We made a decision some time ago not to purchase Easter baskets for our children. Instead, we try to give each of them a spiritually edifying gift along with a few sweet treats.  Some ideas in the past have been: bibles, bible coloring books, Easter story books, veggie tale videos) This year, we are going to purchase a few of the Torchlighter (Heroes of the Faith) videos for our children. They have been begging for these since we borrowed a few from my sister. The videos are animated and each one tells an exciting story of a hero of the christian faith. Here is a video excerpt:

Our children will each receive a small bag of natural, dye-free candy along with their video. Here are some of our choices this year.

These beautiful jelly beans are dye-free! They are Green Beans Natural Jelly Beans from the Natural Candy Store. All of their yummy products contain no artificial dyes or colors, no artificial flavors, no artificial sweeteners, no preservatives or hydrogenated oils. Wow!

Another yummy treat from the Natural Candy Store.

In addition to these ideas, we will do a few Easter related arts and crafts. I don't like to go overboard with it. It can be so easy to get caught up in the fun ideas available online, that we can lose focus of what we are really celebrating on Easter morning. I find Easter is best celebrated simply and naturally. 

I hope you enjoy a simple and natural Easter with your family! 


We are linking up with
Lasso the Moon Come & Play~Your Thriving Family~Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling
Homeschool Creations~The Better Mom~Teaching What is Good~
Growing Home~Raising Homemakers~Women Living Well~
Our Simple Farm~Little Natural Cottage

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Healthy Lunch {made simple}

As a general rule, I don't find it overtaxing to feed my family a Feingold-friendly, real-food diet. Breakfast is very simple: oats, scrambled eggs, smoothies. Supper has been an on-going process of eliminating recipes with ingredients that contain artificial flavorings and colors. I have always been a cook-from-scratch girl anyway, so it wasn't a big leap. There has been, however, one continual headache in my meal repertoire.........lunch! 

I couldn't break out of the sandwich"mentality and it began to be much too time-consuming to keep up with the amount of homemade bread we needed for sandwiches everyday. 

A few months ago, I read this post from Ami @ Walking by the Way (an amazing blog~one of my absolute favorites!) and lunch has never been the same since!


She shared the brilliant idea of serving lunch in a relish tray! (read her original post here.) The tray can be filled ahead of time (just pull out of the fridge and your ready to go!) and the leftovers placed back into the fridge for the next day's lunch. Just refill any empty compartments and serve! Not only has this fixed my "sandwich problem", but it has saved me a huge amount of time and energy! It has also eliminated complaints about what is being served that day and the typical, "How many more bites do I have to eat?" I set out the lunch tray and then allow my children to decide what to eat and how much. ( I told them it's kind of like an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet.) My only rule is that they eat enough to hold them over until the next meal.


I don't like the stress of deciding from day to day what to serve for lunch, so I came up with "lunch tray" themes. I plan to print these onto card stock and laminate, then give my 10 year old the responsibility of filling the trays and serving lunch. (I will make egg salad, dip, etc. ahead of time.) Here are some of our favorites! I hope you find some inspiration here to simplify your lunchtime as well!

We are linking to 


~A Wise Woman Builds Her Home~Our Simple Farm~Comfy in the Kitchen~
Your Thriving Family~Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling~The Better Mom









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If Mothers Will Not, Who Will?

"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, 

and cry aloud

and He shall hear my voice."

Psalm 55:17

"Prayer was my lifeline as I raised our children. I could not do without it. In fact, I believe it is the greatest weapon we hold in our hands as we mother our children. It is the greatest secret for successful mothering. It is an interesting fact, and can be attested to by many parents, that the most difficult child to raise in the early years often turns out best in the end. Why is this? I think it is because the parents had to pray so much for him/her - and their prayers get answered. Do not despair, mother. If you have a difficult child, prayer is the answer and will reap its rewards."

-Nancy Campbell, The Power of Motherhood 


We are linking to:


~Growing Home~Teaching What is Good~Heavenly Homemakers~

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How Good Are Your Visual Skills?

I stumbled upon a really cool website that I wanted to share with you. Eye Can Learn offers FREE online exercises for improving your child's visual Information processing skills. (perception, tracking, focusing and eye teaming). 

I do not believe it to be a coincidence that my same two children that were born with strabismus (eye condition requiring surgical correction) are the same two children that show signs of ADHD and SPD. I have read several articles suggesting a link between vision and learning/behavior problems. You may visit these links for more information on the subject of eye-brain connection:

Vision Help

Optometrists Network (Attention Deficit Disorder)

Eye Can Learn is a fun website to visit even if you don't feel your child's visual Information processing skills need improving. What child doesn't love to play puzzle games, memory games and search for hidden pictures? 

Here is a fun visual discrimination puzzle game

Here is one of their hidden picture puzzles

They have these really cool shape cutouts that I will be using for school this week

Go visit Eye Can Learn and have fun improving your child's visual discrimination!

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Sensational Sensory Ideas Post #3 (Help for the Sensory Seeker)

We have an SPD child who is a sensory seeker.  (If you are new to to the idea of Sensory Processing Disorder, I invite you to read: What is Sensory Processing Disorder?) He is always touching something. Most of the time, he is touching his brothers and sister. Now, we have three boys very close in age, so there is no end to the touching, wrestling and roughhousing that goes on in our home! But for the sensory seeking child, it is never enough. They rarely have a "down" time. Because of their constant need for sensory input, it can be very difficult sometimes for sisters and brothers to deal with! It becomes a very fine line between compassion for the SPD child and protecting the rights of our other children to play peacefully and undisturbed.

I find that in the course of my day, one of my most difficult tasks is to understand when my child's behavior needs correction through discipline or when he truly cannot help himself and needs some compassionate "home therapy". We cannot do our children the disservice of chalking all their negative behavior up to SPD and therefore not taking the time and effort into training them to have self-control. On the other hand, we have to recognize if we see a pattern of behavior that continues despite correction and seems to be something beyond our child's ability to control.  

I am still learning to walk this fine line. I do not have this figured out by any means. But recently, I came up with an idea that seems to be working very well! I created a sensory bin that is full of toys that can be squeezed, squished, pulled and manipulated to my child's heart content! I keep it very accessible and I encourage all the children to play with it.

Before giving these toys to my children, I spoke with my SPD child privately. We talked at length about his behavior and how it effected his siblings. I told him that I wanted him to begin taking more responsibility for his behavior and that I had an idea to help him. I showed him the sensory bin and told him that from now one he would be given one warning when his behavior had become obnoxious to his siblings. It would then be his responsibility to pull out the sensory toys and provide himself with enough tactile input that he would not feel the urge to bother his siblings. If he didn't listen to Mommy's warning and continued infringing on his siblings right to play in peace, he would then be punished for disobedience. (my son is old enough to understand this........this may not work if your child is very young.) I am very pleased with how this is helping us work toward the goal of teaching our son to learn self-control and take responsibility for his behavior. 

Here are some of the items I used to create my sensory-seeking bin:

stretchy lizards,

Silly Putty,

homemade play dough

squeeze toys

(These monkeys are awesome! I found them at the Family Dollar Store for $2.00. Not only are they wonderfully tactile~Mommy can't stop squeezing them~but they also help to strengthen fine motor muscles.)

homemade "flubber"

water snakes (remember those?), rubber knobbed balls and other miscellaneous toys.

Even if your child is not old enough to use this bin as a means for teaching him self-control, it's still a very good idea to keep something like this on hand for your young sensory-seeker. I really wish I had provided more stimulation for my son when he was in his toddler years. I didn't understand about SPD then and I tended to rely on discipline and correction instead of providing him with creative outlets for his sensory seeking.

I hope this sparks some ideas of your own. If you are the mother of a sensory seeking SPD child, I would love to hear some of your own creative ideas! 

~Please comment! I love hearing from you!~

Are you encouraged here? I invite you to subscribe to Hope for the Difficult Child (it's free!) and receive our latest posts straight to your inbox.  Connect with us on facebook and receive updates not posted on our blog.