Day 1 of Messy Play

Messy Play is a term used by his EI, Jill. Riley has a secret crush on Jill btw.

I am so thankful for Jill because within the first few minutes of Riley's first evaluation, she recommended that we see an OT (Occupational Therapist). She mentioned "sensory issues" and while I thought she was just saying it in passing, she actually started pursuing it in her sessions with Riley. I will not go into my frustrations here in regards to his previous EI, but I only want to encourage moms out there to make your child's health and well-being a big deal.

Jill started out by getting Riley to play with feathers and glue. She could tell he had an aversion for glue but he still completed his craft with her. She continued to pursue sensory play and messy play in her sessions and showed us tools to use when we play with him: those touch and feel books (you may think it is elementary for an 18 month old but wait till I tell you about his progress), glue on his fingers and using cotton balls.  We watched as he squirmed (and lets be honest, I was squirming and throwing up in my mouth a little as I watched his hands get dirty) and cried out in frustration. But I mean, if I was feeling that uncomfortable I thought it was only natural. HAH...in hindsight it looks like I may have a sensory disorder too.

This happened last Friday and he was diagnosed on Monday.

Of course I started looking on pinterest and blogs about sensory disorders and messy play and decided that I needed to be proactive with all of this.

I went out to Target and got 2 rubbermaid containers and a bag of black beans.

I made a pact with myself that I would spend 30 minutes everyday doing messy play with Riley.

So we began.

Riley observed the beans for about 2 minutes. He watched as I put my hands in the container and sifted the beans through my fingers. I asked him to help me transfer the beans from one container to the next.

He began by using his thumb and index finger. This is how he experiences the world--with just those 2 fingers.

By the end of the task, Riley began to mimic me by scooping handfuls of beans from one box to the other.

Success.