We all know the 5 senses of the human body, being sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing but have you heard of proprioception or vestibular? 

Proprioception at its basic level is the information you receive from your muscles and your joints. It helps your body to understand when you are stretching, compressing or contracting a muscle. You may see difficulties with this in your child particularly in their handwriting, do they press so hard on the pencil that it breaks? Or perhaps they aren’t putting enough pressure on the pen that you can’t even see their handwriting? Proprioception works very closely with the vestibular system which is more about your brain intaking information for your balance and spatial awareness. 

In this episode I run you through 7 sensory based strategies to help your child relax and manage their feelings which includes;

Touch

Smell

Auditory

Visually

Taste 

Movement 

Balance

If you have a child with a sensory processing disorder, please make sure you check in with your occupational therapist (if you have one) especially if in a school environment, they will know what is calming or overstimulating for your child. If you don’t have access to an occupational therapist, please make sure to check in with a child before and after an exercise / strategy. Use your senses and brilliance to see how they’re reacting to analyze if the exercises are beneficial or not. 

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

Raising a Sensory Smart Child by Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske - https://www.sensorysmarts.com

The Inspired Treehouse - playful sensory based ideas - https://theinspiredtreehouse.com/

Sensory Resources from Coping Skills for Kids

https://store.copingskillsforkids.com

Sensory Coping Cue Cards

Sensational Sensory Activity Book - Digital & Print

Sensory Coloring Sheets

And remember, do not forget about yourself, take a few minutes for you and have a little fun!

About The Host - Janine Halloran

Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play’ which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play! 

If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:
https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletter

The Coping Skills Hub has everything you need to teach kids coping skills, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

If you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkids


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