🌱Sensory Breaks for Everyday Regulation🌱

In this newsletter, you will get....

• Parenting Tips

• Activity of the Week

Parenting Tips

Building Sensory Breaks into Your Day

• Know your child’s signals
  Watch for signs like fidgeting, zoning out, irritability, or clinginess. These cues often mean your child needs a sensory reset.

• Use movement as medicine
  Jumping, climbing, dancing, or animal walks (like crab or bear walks) help release built-up energy and can re-center your child’s focus.

• Incorporate calming sensory input
  Activities like deep breathing, gentle squeezes or hugs, swinging, or playing with putty can help soothe the nervous system.

• Create a "sensory toolkit"
  Gather favorite sensory items (e.g., a squishy ball, chewy necklace, weighted lap pad, soft blanket) in one place so they're easy to grab when needed.

• Make breaks predictable
  Include sensory breaks before big transitions (like leaving for school), after screen time, or when returning from busy outings. This helps children feel safe and supported.

Activity of the Week

Building Sensory Breaks into Your Day

Every child (and parent!) is unique — we all have different needs at different moments. Sensory breaks can look different depending on the day, the mood, and the environment. You and your child know best what feels helpful and calming in the moment.

Use these activity ideas as a menu: pick one together that matches your child’s needs right now, whether they need to get some big energy out, find a moment of calm, or reconnect with you.

Movement Breaks

• Animal walks: Crab walk, bear crawl, frog jumps, or slithering like a snake.

• Wall push-ups: Have your child push against the wall as hard as they can — it gives great proprioceptive (deep pressure) input.

• Balance challenges: Walk along a taped line on the floor or a curb outside.

Calming & Centering Breaks

• Bubble breathing: Pretend to blow big bubbles slowly and gently — great for practicing deep breaths.

• Pretend to be spaghetti: Start as stiff "uncooked spaghetti," then slowly melt into floppy "cooked spaghetti" on the floor.

• Weighted blanket or lap pad time: Sit with a favorite weighted item for a few minutes.

Tactile Breaks

• Playdough or putty squishing: Great for strengthening hands and calming through deep pressure.

• Sensory bin play: Fill a bin with rice, beans, or kinetic sand and hide small objects to find.

• Texture hunt: Find five things around the room with different textures (soft, rough, smooth, bumpy).

Auditory & Visual Breaks

• Calm music corner: Listen to soft instrumental or nature sounds.

• Glitter jars: Shake a homemade glitter jar and watch the glitter settle as you breathe slowly.

• Visual focus: Watch a lava lamp, bubble tube, or swirling water for a few minutes.

Connection Breaks

• Big bear hugs: Offer firm, gentle squeezes to help ground the body.

• Back drawing: Lightly draw shapes or letters on your child’s back and have them guess what it is — calming and connecting.

• Mirroring movements: Face each other and copy each other’s slow, gentle movements.