Pitter Patter

One of the things I love about our house is the overhang over the garage.  While hard to explain, it allows me to store all kinds of crap  place our gliding bench and chair outside and utilize them even when the weather isn't the greatest.  Before AJ came into our lives, I often sat on the bench and read a book or chatted on the phone. Now, we use the bench for things like eating popsicles, watching Daddy grill, or just sitting outside on a nice day. 

A few weeks ago we had a huge rainfall during an afternoon.  Well, we all know how my brain works. Rain?  Opportunity. Last year AJ experienced and HEARD rain for the first time at night.  This time, it was a bit different.  While we sat under the overhang, we listened to the sound of the rain and... 

Watching the rain fall on our feet:

Out came the sun:

And we played in the rain:

Lucky Oatmeal

I bought two containers of oatmeal a while back, thinking I would use it for Christmas cookies, etc.  I never made the Christmas cookies.  Jeremy kept asking me what I was going to do with all that oatmeal.  I wasn't sure.  AJ and I made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, but thats as far as it went-again. 

I had an idea for the containers right away. 

 I emptied the oatmeal into a storage container and made AJ this:

What is it?  It's a bolster.  AJ's PT and OT use them during his therapy sessions.  His PT had asked us to have him practice stepping over things.  Well, here we go. Not only that, but its smaller than a traditional bolster, which works for AJ's smaller size and its much cheaper!

Now for the oatmeal. 

When I saw the St. Patty's Day decor

at Michaels, I thought... 

Sensory Bin!

Guess what, I still have oatmeal!

Sensy Shamrocks

AGAIN.  Someone take the food coloring away from me! 

Sensy Shamrocks

What you'll need:
Rice Crispies

Marshmallows

Butter or Margarine

Vanilla (optional)

Large Pot

9x13 pan

Spatula

Wax Paper

Non-stick cooking spray

Green food coloring

One beautiful or handsome assistant

{Rice Crispy Treats Recipe of Your Choice}

Getting Ready

Pouring in the cereal

Stirring

Using wax paper and smushing the treats into the pan 

Peeling off the wax paper

Letting it stick to our fingers (and forearms)

Noticing the difference after we sprayed our hands with cooking spray
(No longer sticking)

Shamrock Cookie Cutter

Pressing and pushing the cookie cutter down to cut our shamrocks

Voila!

By completing this crafty project, AJ worked on:

Fine Motor-Pouring in the rice cereal, stirring the sticky mixture, pressing the mixture into the pan, pushing cookie cutter down, pulling back the wax paper

Gross Motor/Balance-standing/balancing on stepstool independently, helping Mom scrap the mixture into the pan, weight bearing through shoulders/arms

Sensory- "Warm", "Sticky", "Gritty", "Gooey" texture of mixture, feeling the difference between pushing on the wax paper, pushing the mixture alone and it getting stuck on his hands, feeling of non-stick cooking spray being sprayed on his hands, different feeling when touching the mixture once again without it sticking., deep pressure from Mom's hand-over-hand guidance while pushing down on the shamrock cookie cutter

Auditory-heard me say the words "pour", "mix", "yummy", /m/, "wait", "HOT!", "sticky"
"take it off", "feel", "funny", "push", /sh/, "different", "help"
 "stir", "green", "marshmallow", "cereal", "melt", {and other words} repeatedly.

I did not have an issue with AJ on a stepstool next to me at the stove.  It created the opportunity to work on the word "HOT!" with him in a different context than telling him to wait for his oatmeal or other foods that may be too hot to eat right away during meal times.  He listened very well.  I melted the butter on low heat and thanks to a great soup pot, it didn't take long for the butter and then marshmallows to melt.  I slide it off the heat immediately and put in the vanilla and a few drops of green food coloring.  We then poured in the cereal.  I mixed most of the mixture but toward the end gave AJ the opportunity to stir.

By the time we got the mixture into the pan, it was only a tad warm.  Enter wax paper.  It wasn't until I put the wax paper on I thought the pulling off would be good for him too. I did find cheap 0.79 cent shamrock cookie cutters at Michaels.  I didn't get it because I wanted AJ to have something to push on.  I was lucky enough to find a Comfort Grip Wilton Shamrock Cookie Cutter to use.  Spent a smidge more, but it was worth it.  I don't think the cheap one would have cut through the rice crispie treat mixture.  My 9x13 pan gave me 6 shamrocks.  But the leftovers around the shamrock cut-outs are still deliciously yummy!  Oh, and the word sensy?  It is indeed, not a word.  But it is my slang for the word sensory.