31 Mar Sensory play helps keep the tantrums at bay!

Children with autism spectrum disorder more often than not have a comorbidity called sensory processing disorder. This affects the way each child with autism experiences the world around them. Some children are hypersensitive and others are hypo-sensitive to “input” received through their senses.

Being on holiday and out of routine will cause anxiety in the autistic child to escalate. Escalated anxiety levels tend to cause heightened sensory distress. So letʼs help our children regulate with some fun Shaving Cream activities.

Shaving cream is so diverse here are a few easy and fun activities you can do with your child at home during the holidays:

1. Just play – Allow your child to explore the texture of the foam, rub it into their hands and draw pictures with their fingers. Any “easy-to-clean” surface will be ideal.
2. Add food coloring to small bowls or shaving foam creating a variety of colors – Get out some plain paper and use as finger paint or even get the child to color in his/her favorite coloring pages
3. Shaving cream sensory box – Empty a can of shaving cream into a Tupperware container. Add a few toy figurines, stones, bottle tops into the cream and you have a great sensory play activity
4. Shaving cream marbling – Add shaving cream to a shallow dish. Level out with a spatula or even your hand. Add a few drop of different food coloring to the cream (different places) and then allow your child to use his/her finger tips to slowly spread the color through the cream.
5. Shaving cream on water sensory play – Using shaving creams lasts much longer than bubble bath and when it all eventually melts the child can continue to play with the white water that creates beautiful patterns when moved around.