There is a lot of added stress due to the confinement that most parents are facing because of the closure of schools and the “stay at home” mandates during this phase of COVID-19. Some of the realities of having our children home all day can be extremely difficult and frustrating.
There is the constant push to complete at-home learning and school tasks, but also managing anxiety, anger and other emotional swings and brain dysregulation.
Our parents need as many tools as they can get to help bring peace and regulation to our kids and to our homes. What we know is that the more sensory tools we give to our kids the more regulated they will be. In fact, these sensory tools can be quite creative and fun.
So what are some ideas that you can use to help your kids in those difficult moments of volatile emotions and behavioral discord? Emelina Minero and Nora Fleming recently published an article on the Edutopia website that contains some great suggestions to help your kids have regulation interventions that can help bring calm to their unpredictable emotions and behaviors.
Here is an introductory quote from this article:
The coronavirus pandemic has upended all students’ day-to-day routines, but has also created particular disruption for students with special needs, sensory processing disorders, and kids who have experienced trauma who rely on the structure of school to stay grounded. Creating an at-home sensory space and sensory tools that resemble the supports students received in school can help kids during this transition, easing them out of a meltdown or giving them a much-needed break before one starts.
The rest of the article suggests some great ideas that provide kids with some proven sensory tools.
I’d like to thank all the parents who are dealing with the stress of being locked down with your kids and caring for their needs as we face the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope this article helps with some of those everyday stressors by providing some creative sensory alternatives for your kids.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
