In the past 6 weeks, have you or your child(ren)
- Watched Neftlix or Prime more than you care to admit?
- Gone longer than 48 hours before you have left the house?
- Reorganized every junk drawer in your house?
- Googled/purchased a warm weather vacation?
- Cooked many crock pot meals?
- Climbed the walls struggling with cabin fever?
If you have answered yes to any or all of the above questions than you likely have been struggling with Old Man winter rearing its ugly head in Southwest Michigan and several other places throughout the country. Snow days and bitter cold temperatures greatly interfere with daily routines and even at times motivation to go outside. All of these factors can also certainly affect an individual’s mood. Unfortunately, the weather is something that is out of our control.
Severe winter weather like what we have experienced in the Kalamazoo can greatly affect our sensory intake. We all take in information through our senses, via seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching and through our body centered senses of touch (tactile/protective), movement and gravity (vestibular), and body position (proprioceptive) and this information in turn gives us important information about various aspects of our environment and our body. This sensory input affects how we integrate various aspects of daily environments, how focused and attentive we are on various tasks, and how we regulate our emotions. However, our sensory input certainly becomes limited when we are stuck in the house due intense and severe weather.
So how do we deal with good old mother nature and her unpredictability? A regular sensory diet, as defined by OT Patricia Wilbarger, is a personalized activity plan that provides sensory input to an individual to help them stay focused, regulate emotions, and function throughout the day. Sensory Input and sensory diet are two terms strongly associated with Occupational Therapy and individuals with sensory processing disorder. However, we all can benefit sensory input when our options to engage with our senses our limited by our inability to leave the house. Generally speaking individuals all have unique sets of sensory needs. When our nervous becomes either over aroused (climbing the walls with cabin fever) or under aroused (hibernating in bed because it’s too cold to get up), a sensory diet helps to regulate the nervous system.
There are many ways to incorporate a sensory diet into a regular routine; chances are you are likely doing some of these activities already. I am just going to highlight some of my personal favorite sensory diet activities and also provide some resources to stimulate your creative juices.
- Start a dance party. Create a playlist of you or your child(ren)’s favorite songs and cut a rug.
- Messy Play- Play-doh, paint, clay, glitter glue. As long as it’s messy and you are using your fingers, you are good to go.
- Cooking and Baking – similar concept to messy play which also incorporates heavy work activities of stirring and carrying any heavy recipe ingredients.
- Food and Drink- Use a straw in anything you drink. The thicker the texture of the drink the better. Focus on foods that require a lot of chewing, including gum.
- Pillow forts, obstacle courses, and tug of war. Get creative and if applicable involve your kiddos.
I often frequent Pinterest for creative sensory ideas so that is a great starting point. In addition, I frequent the following websites:
I believe we can all benefit for sensory input particularly during the dregs of winter.
Erin Arwady, LMSW is an experienced, creative therapist for individuals, children, and families. Utilizing an integration of holistic techniques such as mindfulness and expressive arts and intentional evidence-based strategies such as CBT and DBT, Erin helps individuals and families identify their goals, express feelings and thoughts, and develop healthy coping skills.