PomPom Fun

Today Tom and I wanted to do some water play. Water play is a great way of engaging Tom because he really is a fan of the water. I think Water gives Tom his independence as the water means he is able to do a lot more movement on his own. This allows a more hands off approach, and I believe this is a nice break for Tom from the usual hands on.

Tom will usually do water play in his standing frame because we have the ability to sink a bowl into his tray. If I do water play with Tom's feet the likely hood of him falling asleep is pretty high! I wanted Tom to stay engaged with me and participate in joint play.

Once I had Tom standing I decided to pour lots of dry pompoms into the bowl, Tom's hands were in the bowl so he could feel them falling. Once we had enough pompoms we then explored them. I used all different sizes so that it gave us another aspect to talk about and experiment with. We spoke all about what colours they were, whether they were heavy or light and also if they were big or small.

After Tom had explored the dry pompoms I got some lukewarm water, I made sure the water was lukewarm and not too warm because as I say I wanted Tom to stay engaged and not fall asleep (this did not work!). I would never give Tom cold water as I know that he becomes tactile defensive instantly and then he won't engage in play.

Tom and I enjoyed splashing in the water and dropping all of the different pompoms from different heights. We were making big splashes and little splashes. We were able to hear the different sounds they made as they hit the water. It was a really lovely sensory activity. So much so that Tom did fall asleep by the end of the activity.

Tom worked super hard during the activity so when he decided he had had enough I gave him a little hand massage. Tom loves a hand massage and I use one of the massage brushes to stimulate the nerves in his arms and hands. Tom is really funny with the brush because he is super relaxed with the one hand but his other hand he finds very ticklish so he will pull his arm away.

This was a really lovely and different activity but so easy to do at home. Totally mess free too as the water will just dry.