Written by: Chandon Hines, M.S. OTR/L
The holiday season is filled with excitement, but it can also bring overstimulating environments—crowded shopping malls, festive classrooms, and bustling family gatherings. For children with sensory processing challenges, these settings may feel overwhelming and frustrating. One way to help is by incorporating proprioceptive input into their daily routine.
What is Proprioception?
Proprioception refers to the body’s ability to sense where it is in space and how its parts move. Many children with sensory processing issues benefit from proprioceptive input to feel more grounded and regulated. This input is often delivered through “heavy work” activities that can easily fit into everyday life—even during the busy holiday season!
Holiday-Themed Proprioceptive Activities:
Here are some fun and festive ways to incorporate “heavy work” into the holidays:
The holiday season is filled with excitement, but it can also bring overstimulating environments—crowded shopping malls, festive classrooms, and bustling family gatherings. For children with sensory processing challenges, these settings may feel overwhelming and frustrating. One way to help is by incorporating proprioceptive input into their daily routine.
What is Proprioception?
Proprioception refers to the body’s ability to sense where it is in space and how its parts move. Many children with sensory processing issues benefit from proprioceptive input to feel more grounded and regulated. This input is often delivered through “heavy work” activities that can easily fit into everyday life—even during the busy holiday season!
Holiday-Themed Proprioceptive Activities:
Here are some fun and festive ways to incorporate “heavy work” into the holidays:
- Carrying Holiday Cheer: Have your child help carry wrapped presents to the tree or to the car for delivery.
- Santa’s Helper: Pull a wagon filled with “toys” (or other heavy items) around the house or yard.
- Gift-Wrapping Fun: Roll up and flatten paper as part of wrapping gifts or cleaning up.
- Reindeer Races: Engage in animal walks like “prancing like a reindeer” or “hopping like a snow bunny.”
- Grocery Elf: Let them push a child-sized shopping cart filled with holiday dinner ingredients like milk or canned goods.
- Snow Plow Practice: Have them push a box or heavy laundry basket across the floor.
- Jingle Bell Jumps: Jump on a trampoline while singing holiday songs.
- Holiday Cleanup: Vacuuming or sweeping up after festivities adds proprioceptive input in a purposeful way.
- Winter Wall Push-Ups: Push against the wall while pretending to build a snow fort.
- Steamroller Game: Roll a soft exercise ball over them and call it the “Snowman Maker.”
