Results of Sensory Advent Calendar

As you will have read in previous post I have done the Sensory advent calendar with Roo and have a photo log of the 24 days of advent which will be shown below...We ended up changing the list I had made up due to days of appointments or Roo moods so some things weren't done and replaced with other things...I will keep the ones we didn't manage to do for next Christmas! 

Day 1 - Tinsel .....I suspected that this would be something that Roo would dislike as I remember last Christmas he screamed if he touched it...this time he was laying on the floor and I just put some tinsel around him and immediately he started whining filled by crying while trying to get rid of the tinsel! I quickly took a photo and then removed the tinsel before he got too distressed! 

Day 2 - Christmas lights...Roo pulled an all nighter this night so this was done in the middle of the night! He loved just chilling on the sofa watching the penguin, robin and snowman change colours..very relaxing..

Day 3 - Candy Cane Paint ....I used shaving cream as I knew Roo would never attempt to taste it ( for those of you who kids would, use whipped cream) I added peppermint drops for the smell effect and then some red food colouring which I swirled through the cream to give it the candy cane effect..at first Roo refused to touch it but with a lot of encouragement he did towards the end but only for a min or so! Bonus was that I could just turn shower on and wash it all away! 

Day 4 - Bells .... I bought a wreath that was made out of bells and Roo loved shaking it, listening to the bell sounds...I sang Jingle Bells (poor boy having to listen to my voice!) and Roo was smiling and watching me do the signs

Day 5 - Snowman Spinning Light ....this was a huge hit with Roo as he loved seeing it spin with the colours and enjoyed holding it as he could feel the gentle vibrations of the spinning movement...he held it all day long..

He wore it out so much that at the end of the day it looked like this -

This one did not go very well...he took an instant dislike to the cone...looked at it in disgust and refused to touch it...I lifted it up to let him see it was OK to touch and he started screaming! It sent him into sensory overload as for the rest of the day he couldn't tolerate any touching and screamed if you tried to touch him etc...so definitely won't be trying this ever again!! 

 

Roo was in one of his moods so took a lot of persuasion to take part in this activity...gave him the glow sticks and he waved them about for about 10 seconds and promptly threw them on the ground and demanded to be let out of the dark room!

Day 8 - Fake Snow... He enjoyed this especially when Daddy was picking some snow up and pouring it from up above him so it was like it was snowing...and he loved chucking it onto Daddy head as you can see in the photos... the only thing I didn't like about it was that it went everywhere!! The pj had to go in the bin!!

Day 9 - Glitter ball... Roo loved the lights on the ball and kept giving the ball to me or Daddy to bounce as he cant do it and he would chase the ball, hold it till the lights went off and then gave it to one of us to bounce again... this went on and on and he never seemed to tire of it..

Day 10 - Sensory box - I used Splenda sugar for the snow effect and added in sequins, glitter, tinsel, Christmas beads and peppermint drops... Roo wasn't keen on touching this and preferred to use a spoon to play with it..

Day 11 - Christmas Tree branch... This one he did not like...he picked it up with the tips of his fingers and chucked it as far as away from him as he could!!

Day 12 - Pasta Play.... I cooked spaghetti pasta adding some oil once drained to prevent it all sticking together then halved the pasta into two bowls...added peppermint drops for the smell and then in one bowl added red food colouring and the other green food colouring then in both bowls glitter was added then I poured it all into a box...I have to say this was a huge success!! Roo loved it, he sat in his high chair for a good 30 mins exploring, feeling and taking it in and out of the box , at one point he even lifted the box and poured the lot over his head!! This is a new thing as he hates anything on his head but he just loved this activity..

Day 13 - Jelly .... I made red and green jelly as its the Christmas colours and just got Roo to touch them... at first he wasn't sure but when he saw them wobbling he thought it was fascinating as kept poking it...he refused to taste it as hates the texture of it..

Day 14 - Frosty bath theme - i put blue food colouring into water to make it look as if it was cold but it wasn't and added snowflake shapes for him to play with...also made some hot chocolate paint to go with it ( Shaving foam and hot chocolate mixed! ) 

Day 15 - Penguin spinning light ... I took it as a video instead of a photo as it was easier to see...Bought this from the Range and Roo loves it as it lights up in different colours as well as spinning snow around inside the globe...he would sit on the sofa every day and hold it up to his face...

Day 16 - Snowman bag.... I got a plastic zip bag and drew a snowman face on one side then filled it with shaving cream, snowflake shapes then seal it all up and taped up and just tried to get him to feel the bag, squish it with his hands but he wasn't having any of it!! Didn't want to touch it so I put it next to him on the sofa just for him to look at... he lost balance and fell onto it and because he was touching it he started screaming! Poor wee soul did not like this activity at all!

Day 17 - Marble ice... I just filled up two balloons with water with food colouring in it and popped it into the freezer...the next day just cut the balloons and it gave this marble ball of ice... Roo enjoyed it and didn't seem faze about how cold it was to touch!

Day 18 - Painting ... we used his finger prints to make some Christmas lights and his footprint to make the Rudolph...I think I enjoyed this more than he did... he tolerated me using his hands and feet but wasn't interested in it at all..More interested in pulling the cats tail or trying to put his socks back on once his foot was cleaned!!

Day 19 - Christmas Party ... Roo special needs playgroup had a Christmas party on this day so it was a good party despite him having a wee seizure during the snack time and he wasn't himself afterwards, refusing to eat...he wasn't too impressed with Santa...kept staring at him and refusing to smile!!

Day 20 - Mince Pies... Roo happily played with them, crushing them with his hands but would not allow any to go near his mouth!

Day 21 - Christmas programme - As Roo wasn't himself today with several absences all day we decided to have an easy one and just got him to watch a Christmas episode of Mr Tumble on his Ipad..

Christmas Cookies... Roo enjoyed the end of this activity which was eating the cookies!!

Day 23 - Christmas books ... we read the book that Santa gave him at the party ...

Day 24 - Santa hat... this was the last day of our Advent and I managed to get Roo to keep the hat on for several seconds so that I could take this picture...

This was a new experience for us and I enjoyed seeing what Roo liked and didn't like...I think I will make this a regular thing every year and add new things and see how he changes over the years...

Merry Christmas folks xxx