Organization
Why is Visual Organization so important?
We thought we doing everything right. We had every toy imaginable. We had puzzles, shape sorters, sensory toys, light-up toys. We bought ride-on toys, craft toys, stacking rings, and blocks. You name it we had it, especially if our star looked at it more than once we bought more. People sent us toys they found online. Guess what...it didn't work. Our star didn't like to play and never really mastered toys. It was a hard concept for us to understand why. Until one day it was explained.
Visualize all your possessions scattered all over your living space.
Everywhere you go you are bombarded with things of all colors shapes, sizes, smells, sounds and textures. Every room is filled with all different visuals big and small. Now, imagine having one favorite item that you had to go searching for every day and it took forever to find. Or finding it and the pieces are missing. So Frustrating…. This is what a playroom can look like for our sensory-sensitive stars.
It can cause confusion, tantrums, stress & frustration.
All negative reactions to a somewhat happy positive experience, making engagement
very levels very low.
How will Organization help a Sensory Star?
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Lessens Frustration
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Decreases Visual sensory overload
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Reduces tantrums and upset behaviors
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Empowers them to clean up their own space
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Helps your star master one toy or concept at a time
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Helps you keep a better organized and clean learning area for therapists and playtime
What are the goals of using this technique?
Sets your play area up for optimum therapy sessions helping your star achieve their learning goals. Keeps all pieces and parts together for better functional learning
Decreases clean-up time for each toy, increasing your stars ability to help clean up
Focuses your star on mastering each toy
The first thing you will need is to schedule a time when
the play area is Free of all Stars and distractions and you have time to spend
(usually, 2 am works for us. hee, hee)
The second thing you need to start getting organized is
your stars IFSP, IEP, or written goal sheet
Third, you will need supplies
Here is my Go-To- List that help keep areas visually organized
-Click each for easy ordering,
-Don't forget you want to purchase extra of each in order to get started, I promise they won't go wasted
Totes
Reusable tote bags (canvas)
Colored Permanent Markers
Blank Labels or Label Maker
Plastic Zipper Bags (sandwich, quart, gallon)
Velcro
Laminator
Laminate Paper
Post-It Notes
Once you have your tools you are ready to get started!
Who can show you and When can you get started?
Sign up here for this amazing one-on-one class.
It will be a game and goal changer in your house!!
Shared Playspace of 2 stars.
One 11-year-old star non-spectrum
One 2.5 year-old star with ASD, SPD
Before
After
Visual Organization
"A place for everything, everything in its place."
-Benjamin Franklin
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Lessens Frustration
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Decreases Visual sensory overload
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Reduces tantrums and upset behaviors
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Empowers them to clean up their own space
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Helps your star master one toy or concept at a time
Understanding the What and the How to?
Visual Sensory Overload
Have you ever watched your star enter an area, whether it's in your home, or out and be completly overwhemlmed?
That is what a playroom, play area, bedroom and home generally can look like for a star. If your star in non-verbal you will never quite understand what they need or how they feel, so you have to take some cue's from others that have been in your foot steps.
Close your eyes and imagine 100 different shades of color blaring into your retina's, at the same time all sorts of different shapes to make sense of, oh, and did I mention all the eyes of dolls and stuffed animals, and potatos heads looking at you... Wait I am not done, we didnt even talk about the electronic toys. These electronic learning toys can be crazy overwhemling to a special star,on their own. Think of all the lights, the differnt volumes of sounds and motion all together or at differnt non-syncopated rythms adding to this confusing and chaotic mess.
I don't think I could play or learn to play with that much sensory overload, could you?
This is Visual Sensory Overload...and the results are negative and over time not efficient or productive.
Ground Zero
1st Attempt
Lift Off
for a Successful Mission
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We will be featuring new Galaxy Quests to dig deeper into the whole sensory organization concept. As a mom, you will find that some things take time to learn. Sign up for the mailing list at the bottom of your screen to hear about new program launches and register.
Stay tuned for "Fun in the Fall," 2021.
Join us for the following quests:
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Toy Organization "The High Five 🖐 Method
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Schedule Maintainance
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Day 8 (weekly series)
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Social Stories
List amazon of affiliate links
1
Always ask for help, never lift anything too big or heavy by yourself. Never go into a project alone, if you need emotional support or just another set of hands.
Any friend would love to help you and your star
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Start by bringing all the toys of your home into one area. If you have toys scattered throughout the house, NOW is the time to adjust that. For stars on the spectrum having a designated play area is important. Having everything scattered throughout several rooms can cause confusion, overwhelming feelings, and disconnection from toys.
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Begin by grouping all toys into groups.
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Examples of groups are:
House play, food, cars/trucks, music, dolls, medical, small figurines, lego, sensory, arts and crafts, stuffed animals, books, dinosaurs, blocks, etc... -
last 2 groups being "donate", "no longer needed"
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Continue by writing down the name of the group on a post-it, and "post it on the wall". Put all the toys in the group by the post-it note. Start to notice how much you have accumulated in one or more groups, and that probably doesn't ever get played with.
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If a toy is missing pieces and in bad shape and you can not successfully play with the toy, you might want to consider it for the no longer needed and decide if it can be thrown out.
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If a toy is in good shape and has all the pieces but not "Goal" appropriate for your star, you might want to consider it for donation or putting it away for a later date, or another child. But it is important to remove that toy from the play area(s).
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Once you have all the toys matched (with pieces) and neatly organized into groups you are ready to move onto the next step. This might take a while 😬
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I like to put all the pieces to the puzzles in zip loc bags and keep them in a bin with the puzzles so I am not looking for pieces every time we want to play. I do that with all games, toys, etc that have small parts or accessories, that is why the list at the top calls for zipper bags. Zipper Bags also allow your star to work on their fine motor skills by opening and closing the bag. (it's a double win). The bag itself also has a label so you can fill out its contents to keep things in order.
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If you are using totes/ tote bags don't forget to label what inside so you don't have to do work twice.
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If you are getting overwhelmed or tired it's ok. You have done so much work already (high 10🙌🏼 ) and we are already 1/3 way through.
2
Make sure you have the items mentioned on the Go-To list (above section), and about 2 hours to get started (time will depend on how large the area is)
Download the High Five 🖐 Method
Get your favorite pen
Take out your child's IEP, IFSP, or goal sheet
This should not be task-oriented but a deeply contemplative exercise for helping your star shine brighter.
Preparing the right learning environment for you
You are the most important person to your star, you are their world. If you are calm and focused on this activity you will see the best benefits
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Clear off a table, countertop, or desktop
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Put on some relaxing music (something instrumental)
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If you like burn your favorite candle or mist an essential oil. (see our page for aromatherapy for more suggestions)
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Make a cup of your favorite beverage and get started. I know for me I can't do anything without my trusty cup of coffee. That's why we made our own special blend. If I have time to sit down in an undisturbed environment, I want to enjoy every moment and every last drop in my cup.
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Now that you know what toys you have and know where they are and have all the pieces, you can define what toys are best suited for your star.
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Start by filling out the PDF
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Next start to reconsider the toys differently. Here are just a few examples.
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The shape sorter: no lights no noise, no kitschy merry-go-round music.
⭐️Perfect for fine motor skill improvement, color organization, shape names, dump and reload, counting -
Musical Toy Bag
⭐️Perfect for sharing, imitating, taking turns, making sounds, sensory input -
Stacking Cups:
Perfect for naming colors, shape names, counting, gross motor kicking them down, or standing up to put the last one on -
⭐️Perfect for fine motor skill improvement, intraverbals "They all fall _____(down),
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Picnic Party
⭐️ Perfect for fine motor play, sharing, taking turns, pretending, feeding other dolls in the area -
Cars
⭐️ Perfect for fine motor play, gross motor play, intraverbals "Ready Set____(go). Sounds vroom, vroom
taking turns by rolling the car back and forth
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3
Finally, we are on the last lap of this amazing exercise.
Now that you have your toys that best suit your stars' needs for the next few weeks. Put them back on the shelves in an organized fashion. No toy should be overlapping and there should be space between toys. There should only be about 5-7 different toys out at one particular time. There should also be 5 books available to you star. They should be paired with goals, the color of the week, the holiday coming up, or the theme. They should all have a purpose to paired with a learning or therapy goal.
Next, your big question is WHAT DO I DO with the rest of the toys?
I want you to keep 5 tote bags separate from your play area. These 5 tote bags are from the categories of toys you separated in step one.
For Example, my 5 bags currently are Music Bag, Picnic Play, Arts and Crafts, Cars, and my Reinforcer Bag.**. These bags should be kept away from the selected toy assortment and only brought out at therapy times or once in a while for variety. This will help your star master the toys that are always available in the toy area and the associated skills.
We practice this method at my home for the last 6 months and have witnessed such a difference.
Toys should be rotated every 3 weeks or so to help your star with "generalization." For example, switch our the basic shape sorter for the "Baby Shark" shape sorter.
Last but not least:
What is a Reinforcer Bag? This is a bag of highly loved and treasured toys, non-perishable snacks, stuffed animals, pictures, or anything else that your start would do anything for. This bag will help your star achieve their goals by providing a prize for doing a great job. My bag contains a play cell phone, 2 sensory toys, a musical book, a regular Elmo board book, a 3 piece puzzle, and a bag of chips.
💜You probably have tons of questions and might just think this is a huge amount of work.
or
I still don't know where to start. That's ok, we felt like that too! 💜
We will be hosting classes in the fall to help you.
Sign up for the mailing list at the bottom of your screen to learn about new program launches, dates
and registration. 💜
It's hard to figure out what causes stress in life. We all just know that life is stressful at times. Was it the orange you ate for breakfast burning a hole in your stomach in a traffic jam, on the way to work. The lace on the collar of your shirt itchy, or the wrinkles in your pants completly distracting you. Is it the medical report repeating in your brain or bank statement telling you the inevitable? Could it be as simple as the latte you ordered didn't taste right or did they mess up your lunch order at the drive-through. We like to quote the movie HOP on bad days by saying did the marshmallows taste terrible... too much marsh and not enough mallow, huh?
Did you just find out that your child has Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, Language and Speech, Disorders, Learning Disorders, Tourette Syndrome, or Vision Impairment, even better they on the "spectrum" as the professionals like to say. Those diagnoses can be overwhelming and life changing, not even close to a miserable latte . Some days you will feel like you just need a break from all the symtoms that relate to these developemntal disablilites. In the words of a 1978 ad campaign, "Calgon, Take me a way."
Guess what, your star never gets a break. Everything can be an annoyance to them. Sensory-wise, most can be overwhelming or just too much to even know where to start. What is perfect and beautiful one day or even for a moment can be disaterous the next. Someone once told me a sensory processing disorder can be like a million fire ants cralwing under your skin all the time. So it's up to you to figure out what works and what doesn't. Contol the controllables and cut the low hanging fruit off the vine. Organize yourself, your mind and being, making things as simple and formatted as possible for your star and you will see the difference.
That means strickly adhereing to an organization method, and schedule ➙increasing predictablilty ➙ less frustration
Using Social Stories to explain new situations ➙increasing predictablilty ➙ Reduces tantrums and upset behaviors
Organizing Toy and Therapy Areas ➙increasing predictablilty ➙ Helps your star master one toy or concept at a time
Controlling the type and amount of toys, reiforcers, and sensory props ➙Decreases Visual sensory overload ➙ Reduces tantrums and upset behaviors
Using the High Five Method ➙Decreases Visual sensory overload ➙Empowers them to clean up their own space
