Every child LOVES bubbles. Not only are they fun to watch (calming visual input) and fun to pop (vestibular input), but they prompt your child to engage in deep breathing to blow them. This deep breathing helps your child to calm their autonomic nervous system which controls breathing, heart rate, and digestion. This is helpful when a child is hyper and extra silly, upset, or scared. If possible, prompt your child to breathe in through their nose and breathe out through their mouth to improve the quality of the deep breaths and oxygen flow during the exercise. Allow your child to pop and chase the bubbles in between breaths. This deep breathing practice is easy to introduce to your family (just like in Archie's story!). 

This activity is an example of heavy work- a type of proprioceptive activity:

Heavy work is any activity that activates deep pressure within the muscles. These activities can include pushing/pulling/carrying objects, engaging in resistive/strengthening exercises, and receiving massage! Heavy work helps us to calm and regulate our body throughout the day and promotes awareness of our body. 

For this exercise, have your child lie perpendicular on top of a mat so that you have the maximum amount of material to wrap around them without covering their face. Log roll the child up snuggly inside (like a burrito). Have fun with imaginary play by pretending to eat them and/or place condiments on top of the burrito with gentle taps, tickles, or squeezes. For more pressure, you can do gentle squishes with a therapy ball and can roll the therapy ball over your child's body depending on their preferences. Ask them if they want "slow", "fast", "stop" or "go" to build functional communication, encourage positive parent-child bonding, and provide your child with a sense of control during the activity. 

Remember to go at your child's pace. If they dislike something or wish to be unrolled, stop and follow their lead! 

If your child is sensitive to loud and sudden noises such as thunderstorms, large crowds, and traffic, then noise reducing headphones are a great way to reduce overstimulation during stressful and noisy events! However, it is important to remember that your child should not wear these headphones all the time (as they would their shirt or shoes). Wearing headphones all the time could lead to increased sensitivity over time. Instead, carry headphones around for your child throughout the day and have them ready as an option for louder scenarios. 

Using calm corners can be an excellent way to provide boundaries and a safe space at home or inside classrooms when a child is feeling upset or dysregulated. As in Archie's classroom, calm corners typically include sensory fidgets, sensory bins, pillows, stuffed animals, breathing activities, and a visual timer to ensure a smooth transition back to class or to the next at-home activity. 

It's often helpful to use a tent, cushions, or a ball pit to make this corner feel like a safe and defined space for the child. Practice calming strategies with your child in this corner and do not designate this space for only the typical "bad moods" or "extreme behaviors". Allow your child to explore the calm corner at their own pace so that they can feel more independent and familiar within the space. This will prevent feelings of lack of control and the use of the corner as a punishment when those really big feelings or tantrums occur. 

Everybody loves forts and building one can be an easy sensory activity to use before bed or throughout the day. Forts provide children with a sense of safety and boundaries, and when built with a parent, they can help develop a solid parent-child connection. 

Carrying, pushing, and pulling any pillows, large cushions, chairs, or other fort supplies is a great way to add heavy work (aka proprioceptive input) to your child's day. This can be very calming sensory input and a great way to relax your child if they are in a hyper or silly mood! 

Bedtime stories are a wonderful activity for parent-child connection and a great way to calm and relax your child before the lights go out. Allowing your child to select a bedtime story each night provides them with a sense of control in their nighttime routine and provides positive reinforcement after completion of non-preferred tasks such as bath time and teeth brushing. Reading with your child at a young age also improves problem solving skills, imagination, and visual perceptual skills. 

Sometimes talking about feelings can be difficult for kids- whether those feelings are hard to name, describe, or simply just embarrassing! As a parent, naming and describing your feelings is a great strategy to help your child in this area.

Example: "I see that you are mad. Would you like to blow bubbles, or do you need to squeeze a pillow? How can I help you right now?" 

Often, children do not understand their feelings due to a lack of interoception and body awareness. As adults, we do not think about what our body is doing when we are experiencing complex emotions, so how can our kids understand this concept as well? 

Try to describe what our bodies do and feel during emotions to help your child understand this concept. 

Example: "Mommy feels happy today. I am smiling and feel warm and fuzzy inside. Let's play together."

Example: "I feel sad today. I have butterflies in my stomach, my throat feels tight, and I have tears in my eyes. Let's hug and watch our favorite TV show to feel better."

Example: "I feel sick. My throat hurts. My nose feels itchy and wet." 

By providing your child with these descriptive examples, you can expand your child's body awareness and vocabulary surrounding their body and feelings. 

Using feeling pictures or feeling cards is another great way to help your child identify and differentiate between facial expressions and feelings. Ask your child questions like, "How is this person feeling?", "What are they doing?", or provide answer options, "Is this girl smiling or frowning?", to help them understand and to prompt discussion.