Valentines and Magic Beans

Bobby wanted no part in decorating his Valentine bag for school on Monday (he worked on it at school), but he could not wait to get into it once it was filled.  "Sucker, Sucker" was his mantra for the day.  As soon as we walked in the door from school, he got to business, even before he took off his coat.



Bobby has been turning the water faucets on and off all day long.  We can't seem to rest for a minute before we have to get up and yell "turn it off."  He is really missing swimming and playing outside in the dirt, which happens every winter.  To try to deter this behavior, his teacher and I have been discussing adding more sensory stimulation to his day.  She took him outside in the snow yesterday to play (on a cold rainy, snowy day) and they threw snowballs at the school building.  These types of activities make the rest of his day easier, especially when they don't have outdoor recess that day.

After I dropped Bobby off at school this morning, I stopped and bought 4 bags of different types of beans for an activity that we haven't done at home for a few years.  As soon as I got the beans out, he COULD NOT WAIT to pour them in the bin. 

He immediately mixed them up.

I gave him two cups to play with so that he could pour from cup to cup.  I didn't have to give him any direction.  He has been playing HAPPILY in the beans for over 2 HOURS!!!  Bob and I have not had to say "TURN OFF THE WATER" once this evening.  Which is even better news for Bob since he is sick, sick, sick.  He has a nasty cold.  The kind where you feel really bad for him because he sounds awful but at the same you want him to stay far, far away so that the rest of us don't catch it. 

Pictures of Bobby having great fun with the magic beans!!

A couple of minutes ago, Bobby climbed up onto the table and was trying to sit in the beans.  I could not get my camera fast enough.  When he was a toddler, he loved to sit in these bins, but just doesn't fit now.

I would love to know why these types of activities are so calming to him.  Looks like I need to come up with some more fun sensory things to do.  Autism peeps-any ideas you have are very welcomed.  I gave my copy of The Out-of-Sync Child At Play away a while ago, so if anyone has a copy that I could borrow for a couple of days, I would appreciate it!!