by jphilo | Feb 12, 2015 | Different Dream, How-Tos, Special Needs Parenting
4 Indoor Activities for Kids with Special Needs
Photo courtesy of David Goehring via Flickr, Creative Commons
February. The month of love, presidential trivia, and cabin fever. With kids on a sugar high. Throw in some bad weather, and parents are searching for activities to help their kids pass the time. Today, guest blogger Anna Rodriguiz is here with some weekend fun ideas.
4 Indoor Activities for Kids with Special Needs
Although children with special needs require accommodations, their weekend activities need not be any less fun than those of their peers. For parents planning a memorable weekend for kids with special needs, a lot of great options and ideas abound.
Indoor Activity #1: Blocks, Boxes, and Board Games
To fuel the creative juices of kids, toys such as Lego building blocks can be utilized. Reuse the big boxes in your home and let the kids construct them into little forts and hideouts, making them cozy with blankets and pillows. Even better, parents can also opt to play with board games, especially if you want the whole family to be involved or present during playtime.
Indoor Activity #2: Touch and Guess Games
Another great indoor activity is the touch-and-guess game. Collect pairs of things–such as two crayons and a couple of same-sized plastic bottles–and hide one of each in a bag. Then place the others in front of the child. Ask your child to then match the visible items with those in the bag simply by touching the items without looking. This helps kids learn to identify objects through their sense of touch.
Indoor Activity #3: Cook Something Up
Fun shouldn’t be limited to games alone. Families can also experience bonding by cooking together. Kids can look forward to a tasty treat while learning essential skills such as following directions, measuring, and the development of fine motor skills.
Indoor Activity #4: Read Together
Visit your local library to find appropriate books and let your children immerse themselves in the intriguing world only books can provide. They will be entertained while growing their curiosity. You can also visit the website of the USA Toy Library Association to see if your town has a toy library. Many houses adaptive toys specially made for children with special needs.
What’s Your Go To Indoor Activity?
What’s your go to indoor activity with your kids with special needs? Tell us about it in the comment box. Thanks!
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by jphilo | Jan 6, 2015 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. A white, unbroken blanket of snow is so lovely.
9. Life feels cozy when it’s snowing outside, the dishwasher and washing machine are running, and I’m sitting in a chair writing.
8. This year’s first big snowstorm didn’t hit until January, which means this winter won’t be as long as it could be.
7. A snowstorm means evening activities are cancelled, so there’s nothing to do but to download and watch the Downton Abbey Season 5 premiere.
6. After a month of Camp Dorothy, which just ended Sunday evening, it’s nice to have a guilt-free reason to stay home this Tuesday instead of going to visit Mom.
5. I can imagine trying to teach children, tired from Christmas break and excited about the snow, instead of teaching them.
4. This snowstorm affirms our decision to by an all-wheel drive Subaru in November instead of waiting until spring as originally planned.
3. This snowstorm granted the Man of Steel’s wish to test the Subaru on winter roads…and he was delighted with the way it handled.
2. Our daughter and son-in-law beat the storm and arrived at their home in Madison, Wisconsin safely.
1. On a day when our daughter-in-law was in labor, our daughter and her husband raced home ahead of the weather so they could pack and move, the sibs and I were going a little crazy attending to details related to Mom’s upcoming move, and the page proofs for Every Child Welcome arrived, a snowstorm seemed like a fitting metaphor for our family’s life. And when the storm ended, God used it to remind me that our stormy day would pass, too, replaced by beauty. In this case, the beauty of a brand new granddaughter, born just after midnight this morning.
by jphilo | Dec 2, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. Not paying an arm and a leg to fill the gas tank on the way to visit rellies over the holidays.
9. Fixing hearty, hot meals that include mashed potatoes and gravy because winter is about food like that.
8. Catching up with family and friends when their Christmas cards arrive.
7. Celebrating Eternal Optimist Day on December 21. Because for the next 6 months, the daylight hours keep increasing. Yes!
6. Stringing Christmas tree all over the house to make it feel like Eternal Optimist Day is arriving early.
5. Continuing our tradition of watching the Lord of the Ring movies throughout Christmas break.
4. Enjoying the heated seats in our new car on the chilly drive to Wisconsin this weekend.
3. Watching our grandson’s eyes light up when he opens the ukulele his Papoo made for him as a Christmas gift…one of the perks of having a papoo who makes guitars!
2. Going to Des Moines for supper and a movie with my sweetie…in our new car with heated seats.
1. Singing Silent Night at church during the Christmas Eve service at our church. A holy moment that moves me to tears each year.
by jphilo | Oct 28, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. It’s the closest thing to time travel most of us will ever get.
9. There’s more time to turn the lights down low for a romantic evening and not notice the need to dust the furniture.
8. When it’s dark by suppertime, jammies are perfectly acceptable dining attire.
7. Once everyone’s wearing jammies to the table, serving breakfast for supper is also perfectly acceptable.
6. So is going to bed early after meal clean up. Which is incredibly easy when cereal bowls and spoons are the only things that need washing.
5. School children who wear jammies to the table, eat breakfast for supper, and wake up early because they went to bed early the night before no longer have to wait for the bus in the dark on school days.
4. Writers and bloggers who wear jammies to the table, eat breakfast for supper, and wake up early because they went to bed early no longer have to take their morning walk in the dark either.
3. On evenings when people don’t hit the hay immediately after wearing jammies to the table and eating breakfast for supper, it’s too dark to do anything but binge watch the Modern Family Season 5 DVD, which you have on loan from the library for 1 short week after waiting months for your turn to check it out.
2. Fall back in the fall means an extra hour of sleep this weekend. Heavenly!
1. The end of Daylight Savings Time means only 4 short months until March 9 when it and spring make their glorious re-appearance.
What would you add to the list? Leave a comment!
by jphilo | Jan 27, 2014 | Reflections on the Past
Thanks to the cold, snowy weather this month, residents of the northern two thirds of the US are fighting the winter blues. From the sounds of things, the light at the end of the winter blues tunnel won’t be shining any too soon. So on to Plan B, which is a couple stories from the Harding County History Book erased my winter blues and inscribed a couple mental notes upon my brain for easy access when that blue feeling creeps up again.
Here’s an excerpt about the winter of 1897, the first year the Finnish immigrants Andrew and Alina Peterson lived in northwest Harding County.
Andrew dug into the hillside and made a one-room accommodation for Alina and the two small children, Blanche and Sulo. The first winter Alina lived there without Andrew as he went back to the Lead gold mine to work. Alina baked bread and traded it for meat with the passing cowboys who had a camp three or four miles away. One remembered story told of a time when a cow wandered away from the herd and suddenily fell through the sod roof and into the middle of the one room home. No one was hurt, though there was quite a mess to clean up as well as roof repairs.*
The second excerpt comes from the Elliot family, about a March snowstorm. The exact year isn’t given, but must have been before 1910 based on other dates mentioned elsewhere in the account.
The snow drifted clear over the door that night. Dad had to dig his way out with the coal shovel to get to the pump. The storm lasted three days and then a thaw came. The creeks were full of slush and another blizzard came, which lasted three more days. We ran out of coal, all but the slack (the tiny particles and dust left after the larger pieces are gone). Dad went to the shed and found some old beef bones, he put them in the big heating stove on top of the slack while it was burning. It didn’t smell too good, but kept us warm. He finally pulled a bobsled into the big kitchen and sawed it up for kindling.**
*Note to self: Stop feeling blue about how the lack of a mud room entrance in our NINE room house (not counting the basement) means mopping the tracked in melted snow and gravel off the kitchen floor. Store the complaining in a safe place and let it rip when a cow falls through the roof.
**Note to self: Instead of feeling blue about how high your heating bill is this winter, inhale deeply and enjoy the lack of burning bone odor in your house. Stand in the kitchen and enjoy the quiet created by the lack of a bobsled being chopped into kindling.
What helps you beat the winter blues? Leave a comment!
