Sensory Playroom: Trampoline

Like I mentioned in my DIY crash pad post, jumping on things (safely) is a great way to get vestibular and proprioceptive input.  And the crash pad is great for that, put a trampoline allows the jumper to keep jumping.  A trampoline also provides a different sort of input on the joints than a crash pad, so that's why I think they're both essentials in a sensory room.

This is what I would like to have:

It's a Skywalker 8 foot round trampoline.  The thing I love about this trampoline is it's small and close to the ground (only about a foot off the ground), so it can be used indoors, but it's big enough to get a satisfying bounce (by the way, if you want one, too, watch the price.  As of this writing, it's $149, but it's been only $129 for the past couple of months.  If you're willing to wait, you might score a better deal).

 

I say "I would like to have it," not "I have it," because I think I've convinced myself that we don't have room, plus we already have an outside trampoline that we can use during the non-snowy months.  It makes me really, really sad to say that, but one must be practical.  If you have room, though, this is a fantastic price for this trampoline.

 

We just have this small rebounder--you can pick them up at discount retailers for around $30, or they're are always available at garage sales or on Craigslist.  You can also find them online.

Use used to have an inflatable trampoline (sort of like this one), which was nice, because it was bigger than the mini trampoline and we could easily fold it up and stow it away when we weren't using it, but it sprung multiple leaks, so we threw it away.

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This post is from my Sensory Playroom series--I'm putting together a sensory room for my boys on the cheap (read: homemade) and decided to share with you all :) To see all the sensory playroom posts, click here.

Sensory Playroom: DIY Ball Pit

Ah, a ball pit.  I have fond childhood memories of ball pits.  Fond, fuzzy memories.  I don't remember a whole lot, just that I thought they were fun and that I should be allowed to go in them much more often.  So, of course, my children need to have a ball pit in their sensory room.  Not only are they fun, but they also provide multi-sensory input that can calm or awaken the senses, depending on the child.

Ball pits are also not inexpensive.  Well, you can buy an inflatable one for $20-30 at a discount retailer like Target or Walmart, but those are small, and...shall we say...not very durable.  And, hello?  Only 20 balls?  What?!

If you have small children, you can use a pack-n-play for a ball pit.  Just dump in some balls and deposit child.

Source: pinterestwithhelene.weebly.com via Cassidy on Pinterest

If you have older children, like me, look for a small rigid plastic wading pool at a garage sale or on clearance at the end of the season.  Mine is 5' in diameter, and I picked it up for $5.  You could definitely use an inflatable pool, but depending on how jumpy your kids are, you might end up with holes in the pool.  I'm thinking of putting it outside and adding water to the pool during the summer, but not sure if that will happen.

A word about ball pit balls: you will need a lot of them!  Way more than you would think.  In this ball pit, I've got about 500 balls, and I feel like we need more.  As you can see, I've also added some other soft balls, so you can definitely add things other than official ball pit balls to your pit.  Nerf balls or even playground balls would work.  Or add something entirely different, like packing peanuts or nerf gun bullets (can you imagine how many nerf gun bullets you would need to fill up the pool?!) 

You can order balls online--here are some choices from Amazon.  You can also buy them at discount retailers like Target or Walmart, and in fact, right now (January) you might find them on clearance.  You could also check garage sales (you might get lucky) or try Craigslist.  I think mine cost a total of around $30.

One more thing--I'm sure some of you are thinking, "no way am I doing that in my home.  Too messy.  We would have balls everywhere." 

It's true, the balls do end up everywhere, but to me, the mess is worth it.  First of all, the kids are responsible for picking up the balls when they're done.  So what do I care how big a mess they make if they're putting everything back the way it was?  Bonus: they're getting gross motor input (which is calming to my sensory child) as they scramble to pick up the most balls at clean-up time.  Second, having the balls has opened the door to hours and hours of fun, and not just in the ball pit.  My boys love to have ball fights (less painful than snowballs, let me tell you), shoot baskets, and...well, and other things.

Like stuffing their sweatshirts full of balls so they look like the Michelin man and then lumbering toward each other like Sumo wrestlers.

And I could have sworn I took pictures, but darned if I can find them now.  Bummer.

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This post from my Sensory Playroom series--I'm putting together a sensory room for my boys on the cheap (read: homemade) and decided to share with you all :) To see all the sensory playroom posts, click here.



Sensory Playroom: DIY Crash Pad

For a while now, I've wanted a crash pad.  A crash pad is just a big soft something to crash into or jump upon.  And crashing into things (safely) and jumping on things (safely) is a great way to get vestibular and proprioceptive input.  Which I'm concerned about because of my sensory son.  It's also a great way to burn off pent-up energy indoors.  Which I'm concerned about because of my wild-child, climb everything and jump off son.

 

Now, of course, these things are available for purchase, but they are mighty expensive...so I decided to make one.  The problem was, I didn't know what to stuff it with.  I mean, there are plenty of soft materials out there with which to stuff a crash pad, but if I were to purchase enough of any of those soft materials to make a crash pad, that would definitely put this project well out of my price range.

 

So I stewed on it a while, and was struck with a genius idea.

 

We've got all these extra pillows and blankets around.  And we kind of have to keep them around for guests (even though half of our guests usually bring their own pillows), but they're a storage issue, you know?  They're bulky.  Take up a lot of space.

 

Can you see where I'm going with this?  Oh yes, I'm gonna make me a crash pad and solve my storage issue, all in one fell swoop.

 

I used a queen sized flat sheet* whose fitted mate had worn out long ago, and laid it flat on the floor, right side up.  Then I folded each end (top and bottom of the sheet) toward the middle, overlapping the edges about 5 inches.  I sewed along the two open sides, and turned it right side out, which resulted in an envelope.  Or a very large pillow slipcover.

 

Next I sewed ties (I used double fold bias tape, because that's what I had on hand) to the top and bottom of the sheet, at the opening where they met.  I used 5 sets across the opening.
 

 I stuffed in all those extra pillows and blankets, a couple of mattress pads, and even 2 sleeping bag liners that Hubby and I made but haven't used in years, but that he doesn't want to get rid of. 

Bam.  Crash pad made; storage issue solved.  When we have guests, we can just remove the appropriate number of pillows from the crash pad.
 

 

It took me less than half an hour, and zero dollars to make.  If you don't sew, you can also just stuff pillows and blankets into a duvet cover.  Or ask someone to make one for you--they won't mind.

And then?  And then we jumped.  And jumped again.  And again and again and again and then we came back and jumped again the next day.
 

So much fun, my friends, for all of us.  Even if you don't make a crash pad, take some time to jump in a pile of pillows and blankets today :)

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This post is the first in my Sensory Playroom series--I'm putting together a sensory room for my boys on the cheap (read: homemade) and decided to share with you all :)  To see all the sensory playroom posts, click here.