House of Krause

I love this idea…Dino’s in a box.

Make fun sensory boxes for just about any theme you can think of. How about ocean in a box filled with shells, sand, fish tank rocks, plastic sea creatures, mermaids and coral. A great idea for therapists. More fun and exciting than just plain old rice in a box. With the rocks you can add water.  You can snap the lid on and take it anywhere you need to. Little collections of fun sensory in boxes!

Luke discovered the back of a car mat.

Easy sensory from around the house.

Simple, a brick used for balance.

Kids bored?  My crafty niece taught us today how to make robots out of recycled trash. Kept them busy for a while. Good job Jen-Jen, love it!

Comes complete with microphone, purse, and power pack.

This is a very useful activity in more ways than one.  The idea is to hide fun items so they are not visible. Then Luke has to search and find the hidden objects. In this case it’s blue monkeys. We also used even larger containers with rice and hid lizards and snakes. This activity teaches the concept of object permanence. I know it’s there, even though I cannot see it. But wait, there’s more to this for sensory sake.  Luke’s therapist would bring huge tubs of rice. The goal besides finding those hidden objects was to get him all the way in the rice bucket, bare foot! Luke always accepted this invitation but his teacher said sometimes it took several months for a student to take that step into the box.  This is extreme sensory overload for some, so ease your way into it. I would also recommend a blanket on the floor for very easy clean up.

Super fun. No one can keep their hands out!

This is the first time in a year and a half of therapy Luke has ever cried over a toy. When it was time for his therapist to go he had a melt down. He just kept saying, “Lady Bug, Lady Bug!” I guess they were pretty cool.  Each bug came in three parts. They snapped together. They each had a number and an equal number of dots on their back.They were challenging to pull apart. You could stack them up. Good for counting and motor skills. Luke enjoyed thinking out side the box and creating wild mixed up bugs, then he would pull them all apart and match them by color again. His therapist said this was very good. He was challenging himself and thinking for himself. I think I’m going to have to buy him a set of these. They are made by learning resources.  I was just visiting their website. Wow, they have a lot of really cool stuff. www.learningresources.com

Snap and learn number bugs

So here’s an easy fine motor activity. It only requires pipe cleaners and straws. Luke made Lily some bracelets while she was gone to school. I helped him cut up the straws and he threaded the bits of straws on to the pipe cleaners. He was really excited to give her the bracelets when she got home.

These are great little speech toys. If you ever watch Nancy Kaufman work, she likes the wind ups.  We started our collection when we started speech. Practice words, get fun little rewards. When I attended the Nancy Kaufman Apraxia conference she talked about finding your child’s to-die-for items. Finding things that really motivate them. Favorites. When we first started speech it would break my heart that Luke would have to work for the toys he wanted to play with. Really though they quickly learn what they have to try to get what they want.

Saw this idea from another blog, who saw it from another blog, so I just had to share it again on my blog. My kids have been making crayons all summer. They love this project. Super fun, very cool. Just grab some old broken crayons. Peel off the wrapper. Luke likes peeling the wrappers (great for the fine motor skills).

Put broken crayons in cupcake liners

Melt in the oven for a few minutes

Let cool, remove liners, presto, great little multicolored crayon patties

Last night I had the joy of hearing Luke sing for the very first time. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day! He sang very slowly “Oh, Happy Day, Happy Day, Happy Day…” over and over again. Lily and I joined in. He was beaming from ear to ear. He was proud of himself.  I have to be honest, I’ve been feeling frustrated. Sometimes it’s hard to see progress when you are on the inside looking out. There are nights when I am so tired of talking, repeating ,working and interpreting. I stay strong so I can push him through those times when he is desperately trying to tell us something we just can’t understand. I’ve learned to handle Luke’s meltdowns in a very matter of fact way.  Of course we go through the methods of trying to figure out what he’s saying. But simply sometimes we can’t. I’m honest with him and say,  I don’t understand you right now. But I will not let you give up, I will understand you soon. Never could I have imagined how one little word, Apraxia, would change my life. It’s made me stronger in so many ways.  Watching Luke work hard everyday has inspired me in such a profound way. I cannot honestly tell my children they can accomplish anything they want to in life, if I don’t  believe that for myself! I think for the first time God has shown my how to believe in myself.

A gift He’s given me through my children. We had the best day at the L.A Arboretum

Luke by a huge art sculpture made only with twigs

It gave us all a chance to breathe. Just the best place I’ve been to in a really long time

Beautiful peacocks everywhere

Luke got scared. The peacocks sounded more like prehistoric dinosaurs

Lily enjoyed a pond full of “Lily pads”

God wooed me with His endless creativity. Who knew He created so many varieties of bamboo

Preston picked up another hat to add to his collection

Later he was so sweet and wanted to give it to me for my gardening

Thanks Pres, I’ll buy you one next time so we can wear them in the garden together.

The L.a Arboretum was only twelve dollars for all four of us to get in. It was the best 12$ I have spent. So much better than standing in lines at Disneyland or any of that. If you are in the area spend the day there.  127 acres to explore. You can purchase exotic plants at the gift shop. They give you literature about planting and gardening in So. California. I was so excited to learn we live in a climate that makes it possible to have vegetables almost all year round. Very beautiful place, Hope you get a chance to visit!