Expressions from the Heart

Hi Everyone! It's been a while since I've written. This summer, I had the amazing opportunity to take Levels I - III Radiant Child Yoga training with 2 different, yet equally incredible woman. During my Level III training, we needed to do an activity and write down whatever came to mind for the ages presented. We had a certain amount of time to just write, and write from the heart. Today, I am going to share this with you. So much of what I wrote is so meaningful to me, but I think that it can also be meaningful to others as well! I think I took all of me as a mom, OT, new loving yogini and just went with it, so enjoy! I am typing directly from my notebook as well - no edits :)

0-3 Be calm, motor stages as important as emotional stages! Be more of an example daily. Continue to love, snuggle, bond, and don't let these times go. I am their lifeline while also teaching them to be themselves and become independent and grow. My life is happier and more joyous because of these beings and nursing, snuggling and losing myself during these times has been worth it a zillions times over! Yoga calms me and brings me joy, so imagine what it can do for infants and children.

3-7 Increase independence - let them be. All of the light, love, nursing and snuggles begin to take shape and our children grow independence and respect for life, others, nature and their own inhibitions. Be playful yet a little firmer. Give perimeters but lessen the perimeters. Support and love with positiveness!

7-11 How a marriage works impacts children greatly, especially at this stage. Be mindful of children both with and without both parents home or without both male and female energy in their lives. Allow friendships to blossom and respect desires for playdates, decrease parent/family-time or time altogether with peers and family having fun.

11-18 Limits yet openness ~ Acknowledge ego and needs but teach confidence and respect of self. Work on meditation, mindfulness, breathing and yoga to decrease the ego and improve love for oneself. Allow our children to have autonomy, wants, desires and independence while having them continue to have respect, love and compassion for the ones closest to them.

Enjoy your Thursday everyone! Thanks for reading, and, as always, please contact me with any questions, concerns or needs around your child's development, nutrition, or sensory challenges. I am always available in person and via phone/skype. @pediatricplay

Sensory Camp 2016 Day 4

The last day with these guys! It’s been an incredible adventure, and we can’t wait until next summer to climb, explore, munch healthily, become yogi’s and explore through our senses again! I truly could not have made this camp such a success without the help and volunteering of Donna Bonang, Niki Olesky, Eva Morrow, Ilana Kanovsky, and Abigail Schmidt. You helped to make this incredible! Thank you parents for sharing your little guys and girls with us this summer, and a special thanks also goes out to Heather and Hobie for taking the time to walk the forest, choose the perfect trees, cut them down and tow them to our truck to build our balancing tree playground! What an awesome place to live J

Let’s look at our welcome sign – Greeting & water table play with seashells, rocks and colorful buttons; sensory bottles, gardening, snack, yoga, playground and tire play!

Niki & Owen reviewing our schedule

Sensory water table - this was a big hit! 

Making sensory bottles was such a success with this crew. The waited so patiently, socially were amazing in requesting items they needed such as; a funnel or certain color glitter, and had fun interacting. We made a game (thank you Kelly Arace for the idea on how to expand this activity :) turning the glitter into different emotions – sadness, anger, madness, frustration. 

When the glitter is shaken up the emotions are floating all around, but while watching the glitter, taking deep breaths and allowing it to settle, the emotions settle as well! It was so fun watching our emotions dance around the bottle, letting them land and then all chanting, “we’re happy!” The other day my 6-year-old, Henry, was having a tough time and kept going back to his sensory bottle. After using it a few times he came up to me and said, “Wow, Mom, my sensory bottle really works.” YAY! It also helped my 4-year-old fall asleep one day. Sorry, one last story…When we were down at the ocean last week, there were some older kids there, 12-15 year olds. They have been spotted picking up the bottle and watching the glitter numerous times on our trip! Something for all ages and stages and a great way to teach kids how to calm.

Next, we marched off to the garden to tackle the tactile system, work on upper body muscles, proprioceptive awareness wheelbarrowing, pincer grasps pinching, and all while being a team and working together!

I think the photos speak for themselves with this activity. A great sensory experience for kids while also teaching them about sustainability, health and eating well too!

By this point, the kids were starving! Frozen blueberries, blueberry muffins  and cucumber water, yum! This is the recipe that I used for the muffins, but I also came across this one, which I am going to have to try soon! Happy baking to you at home!

    

    

                              

As we transitioned to our “yoga grass” the kids found their spaces quickly and nicely and were ultra prepared for yoga time today! Just 4 sessions and it seemed as if they have been doing yoga for years (which is not much for the amount of time they have been on this planet!). We started this weeks’ yoga with a superhero mindfulness activity. After our 4 lion’s breaths, we all listened to the chime of the yoga cymbals talking about how the sound made us feel. Then, we each savored a mini chocolate chip - taking note of what it felt like in our mouths, on our tongue, and how it tasted when we were mindful. The results were incredible from the 4-6-year-olds. Some said that they had never tasted chocolate like that before! Amazing! Our yoga safari was inspired from an Africa yoga class that I went to the night before as part of Africa Yoga Project. If you ever have the chance to experience this, please do! The energy of the class was so amazing and the instructors brought so much of their culture into our yoga room, I can't say enough about it - it enlightened my spirit and all for a great cause. 

#africayogaproject @africayogaproject

Listening to our cymbals

Lion's Breath

Warriors on the safari - Breathe IN & OUT

Frogs hopping along - Breathe IN & OUT

The kids know their routine! Off to the playground, balance trees & tire tower to wait for pick up! On our playground, the skateboard swing, which is awesome for balance is called the SK8swing and can be found on Amazon, of course! We got this as a gift from a special teacher ;) and the kids absolutely love playing on it daily! The trapeze bar is so awesome for core strength and flipping to change up that vestibular system. I love our playground for the kids! 

The tire tower has been such a big success this summer, and it's so easy to
make. You can have fun painting it too! 

Go Owen!

Thank you, Mikaela, for all of your help this summer too!

Henry found a tree frog as our nature based sensory camp came to a
close - perfectly fitting!

Thank you again for sharing your children with us. I can't say enough of how much we loved Sensory Camp and are looking forward to next summer! Enjoy your fall everyone! Namaste!

Sensory Camp 2016 Day 2

What a truly incredible morning we had this past Monday! Painting sticks, mud pies, tire towers, nature balancing on trees, yummy organic treats, animal yoga, lions breaths and playground play. These kids are just awesome and not short on smiles by any means! Special thanks this week to Donna Bonang, Eva Morrow, Niki Olesky and Abigail Schmidt - this camp wouldn't be possible without all of the help and support that I have received. 
















We started our morning at our fire pit area built by lbstonework.com, drawing on the stones with chalk and reviewing our day. Next, we painted the sticks that we found during our nature walk in the woods last week. Fine motor, visual motor, bilateral skills and the tactile system were targeted with this activity. Next week, we will complete our nature instruments and have a musical parade with them around the yard (auditory love). Children with sound sensitivities will be able to choose a quieter
way to make their instrument too. The kids had so much fun painting the sticks, and themselves!  Some children even tolerated waiting to have their hands washed until all of our tactile activities were completed, which was awesome to see. It's amazing to watch these kids grow and show improved sensory integration after just 2 camp sessions! My job could not be better, right?!

 












Next up, mud pies, OH MY! We paired mud pie making with tire tower climbing. This way, if children became a little over stimulated or wanted to avoid the messy activity, they had another option! The tire tower is a great activity for building strength, working on balance along with improving proprioceptive and vestibular 
awareness as well. It was also a big hit! 





Well, by this time of the morning the kids were starving.... Off to the fire pit area for some yummy snack! Snack this week included: 'Like a Bowl of Oatmeal' Muffins and Lemon Hibiscus Tea "Juice". I have to give all props for today's snack to my dear friend, PT, Ayurveda trained, Yogi, Nutritionist and health nut (in a good way), Rebecca Davis! Thanks for your ideas, always!

Here are the recipes:
Oat Muffins - made before your oven is even pre-heated! 

• 3c oats
• 2c oat flour - you can just grind the oats in a coffe grinder, Vitamix or I use the cup attachment to my Ninja blender.
• 1 tsp. baking soda or baking powder (I have found them interchangeable altering the taste only slightly)
• 1 egg - to make vegan just substitute in a flax egg (mix 1 tbsp. ground flax seeds with 3 tbsp. water)
• 2/3c maple syrup
• 2/3c coconut oil melted
• 1/4-1/2c chocolate chips, raisins, or currants

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together while your coconut oil is melting. Then, add in the egg, maple syrup and coconut oil. Fold in raisins (or whatever addition you choose) Mix well. Spoon into mini muffin tins (make sure that you are using pans that are free of PTFE and PFOA).

Mini-muffins - Bake @ 350 degrees for 13 minutes

Regular muffins - Bake @ 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes

Lemon Hibiscus Tea

Boil Hibiscus Tea leaves and let steep for at least 10 minutes. There are many theories on steeping your tea, but I tend to let mine steep hoping for the most benefits of the leaves! Strain the tea into a large mason jar (avoid plastic), add in honey or maple syrup, and squeeze in lemons. Once cooled to room temperature, allow tea to cool in the fridge. It's a healthy delicious "juice" without any of the refined sugars found in all juices on the market, even organic. 

The kids gobbled up everything again this week and loved the tea too. Healthy treats for active campers. I whole heartedly believe that we could avoid many of the sensory, behavioral, developmental and learning challenges seen in many youth today by changing their diets, avoiding wheat, sugar, processed foods and eating a whole foods diet. Snack has been an important part of sensory camp, and again, the kids have gobbled it up the past 2 weeks! You are what you eat!

Off to our Yoga safari in the grass it was - the kids had a blast pretending to be frogs, giraffes, trees for the giraffes to eat, cobras, downward dogs, twice, and more! After yoga we came together for some deep breathing (smelling the flowers and blowing out the candles) and camper requested, lions breath! Yoga is so amazing in a zillion ways, and teaching kids how to access self-regulating tools young, can be key to their lives! 

We have ended each camp session with nice, child-directed free play at the playground. This week, we also had our nature balance trees all set-up. These are so awesome and the campers had a blast walking, balancing and exploring. The playground is also set-up to build strength and allow kids to move their bodies about. Many children chose the monkey bars this week too - love it! Kids need to move and these campers never stopped! 

Thank you, parents, for sharing your little campers with us. 
We can't wait for next Monday! 

Pediatric Play is always available for consultation related to your child's development, sensory needs, lifestyle assessment and basic nutrition. Please feel free to contact Michelle with any of your questions and/or concerns. 

Sensory Camp 2016 Day 1

What a fun and exciting first day of Sensory Camp! These little explorers were vibrant, energetic, sweet, funny and enthusiastic, and we couldn't have asked for a better group of campers! Thank you to Abigail Schmidt, Ilana Kanovsky, OTR, and Eva Morrow for all of your help. I truly could not be doing this without you! I can't wait for my mother-in-law, Donna Bonang, a retired teacher of 37 years, and one of the best, and Niki Olesky, Little School teacher & overall wonderful person, to help out too! 

Let's unveil our day for all of you parents and readers! All activities are things that you can do at home with your kiddos as well. We started off camp with some play set fun. The kids found their niche quickly; whether it is was hanging on the trapeze bar improving upper extremity and core strength, climbing the climbing the wall, sliding down the slide for some vestibular input, or balancing on the skateboard swing. Some children veered off to hop over logs that were placed on the ground or swing on the tire swing as well. It's incredible to watch the children explore and find out what they enjoy. 

After we sat in a circle getting to know one another, we dove into our play dough activity. I used this recipe to have the gluten free play dough ready for the kids. They then got to use their little fingers and hands to knead, pinch, and roll their dough building up fine motor strength and coordination, intrinsic hand strength, thumb opposition and bilateral coordination (using 2 hands together in a coordination manner). Play dough is a great activity for imaginative and social play as well! The kids added purple sprinkles to their playdough and then had the choice of adding 1 of 4 essential oils to their dough. Each child really smelled the oils and chose what smelled good to them. These were the options and a few eliciting responses of each oil.


Lavender - relaxing & calming

Eucalyptus - germ killer (in play dough a 
great hand sanitizer ;) & congestion aid

Peppermint - energy booster 

Lemon - mood booster & natural disinfectant

Essential oils have endless benefits & uses, and I highly recommend them. I'm happy to help if you have any questions!

Next, OBSTACLE COURSE! I am an OT who has set-up, gone through and worked with kids on a million and one obstacle courses throughout my career. My own kids love them too! They work on initiation, follow through, sequencing & organization, to name a few. Obstacle course can also be very calming for some children, especially kids with motor coordination disorders, sensory processing challenges, and autism. Here is the camp obstacle course! 

1. Balance Bike down the hill - this bike is amazing and has taught both of my boys to ride bikes at 3. It is great for balance, proprioceptive awareness, body in space & coordination. 

2. Tunnel - tunnels are a wonderful activity to have kids feel safe in a calming space. They also build strength and endurance as the children crawl on their hands and knees.

3. Tires - The kids had to climb in, up and over tires that were stacked. Great for motor planning, balance and incorporating upper and lower extremities

4. Slide - what kids don't love to slide?! 

5. There was a pool set up and some kids took the option to go in and some did not want to get their feet wet! 

By this point, the kids were STARVING!! Each of them had their own special made mason jar cup (using glass is much safer to drink out of then plastic!). I've already gotten a few texts and emails about the RECIPES, so here they are!

HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK - once you are in the habit, this is so so easy, so don't be overwhelmed at the name! 

1. Soak 1c Almonds & 4 dates overnight, in separate bowls. (I usually double this recipe)
2. Save the date water
3. Rinse soaked almonds
4. Place almonds, dates, date water, approximately 1 tbsp. maple syrup or vanilla extract, plus enough water to make 4 cups in the blender. Blend for a few minutes. Pour into a cheese cloth or nut bag
5. Strain

Easy, right? 

My kids LOVE this milk and it tastes like vanilla ice cream. Going one step further. I let the almond pulp sit in my fridge in a cloth napkin or paper towel overnight to rid of any excess water. Then, I dehydrate the pulp in the oven at 180 degrees for about 4-6 hours. If you have a dehydrator, even better! Once dry, grind into a fine powder and you just made your own Almond Flour! This is what I used for this delicous BANANA BREAD RECIPE! I added dairy, nut & soy free chocolate chunks to the bread to make it extra yummy as well. Gluten and refined sugar free baking is so amazing, nutritious & much more nutrient based then using wheat based flours and refined sugar and just as easy! The kids loved snack! 

After snack we engaged in a few deeps breaths, lion breaths, and a few yoga poses too! Then, it was off to the woods to find our nature instrument sticks. The kids had a great time exploring in the woods and were so motivated to find the most perfectly imperfect stick for next week's activity! 

Thank you for sharing your children with us for Sensory Camp 2016! We are so excited for next Monday!