Getting ready for bed

Sensory integration

﻿In today's lesson, we are going to look at our tactile things and we're going to explore a little bit about things that make it hard for our body to fall asleep. We as therapists have tried to think of the best way to continue to support children, young people and their families. We will be exploring topic areas that we regularly provide advice and support on across all ages and abilities. Each lesson will have ideas and activities that can be carried out at home or in school. This information is to be used alongside any specific strategies or resources which have been given by your child's school or therapist. If you have any questions or would like help tailoring this to your child's needs, then please contact your local therapy service. Getting ready for bed is something that can be easy for some of us, but for some of us it can be really difficult. And in today's lesson, we're going to explore a little bit about our tactile scenes and how that can make it sometimes harder for us to fall asleep. So let's have a look at what you're going to need for today's lesson. I want you to pause the video here to collect all the resources and then once we finished, you're going to press play and then we'll carry on. So for today's lesson, you're going to need a blanket and a soft brush. So grab all of those things and then press play to continue with the lesson. Bedtimes, you may be over responsive when you are very particular about the feel of your pyjamas and of your bed sheets. And it has to be just right. Otherwise it's really hard to fall asleep. You might be over responsive when you don't like to have all sides, kind of, kind of lotions on your skin. And for me, I don't like to feel a breeze when I'm sleeping. So any kind of breeze or an open door, that is something that I don't like. And that may be the same for you. When, if you are over responsive to touch. So another thing that it may be, if you are under responsive, is you may prefer a busy bedroom with lots of things stashed around. And in your bed, you may be someone who likes to sleep with lots of cuddly toys and to have a lot of things stuffed against your body when you fall asleep. So you like, you may be like different textures and things, and that actually comforts you and it makes it easier to fall asleep. So let's have a look at different things that we can do. So there's a two bedrooms here. We've seen this picture before. So one is when you are quite particular and you may be a little bit over responsive to touch. So if we look at the grey walls, it's very clean, it's very clear, the bed sheets you can see they're quite nicely tight and they probably made of something, a natural fabric, something like cotton or linen and that may help you to fall asleep if it's natural fabrics. Whereas in the second picture, you can see this lots of different textures going on that bed. There are pushing stats, They are, the headboard is made of different materials. So that could be a busier, tactile environment. And that may be something that you prefer. So we all like different things. One of the things we're going to look at today, and this really helps whether you are overactive or under responsive to touch. Massage is something that really helps for both things. And it help us to feel just right in our bodies. So in that short story, let me just tell you a little bit about what that is. A massage story is any story where you lie on your tummy and then your parent or carer tell you a story. And as they tell you the story, they act out all of their actions on your back. So it can be really funny. You can make up your own stories or you may want to think about some familiar stories, something like The Tiger Comes to Tea or one of my absolute favourites is Going on a Bear Hunt. Because in that story, there's lots of tactile things that happen. There's crunching, there's swishing of the grass, there's patter of rain. So there's lots of tactile things that you can act out on your back. And that is something that your parent or carer can do. So usually people really enjoy doing this with a parent and carer. So, how are we going to do this is you are going to lie flat on your tummy and then your parent or carer are going to cover you with a blanket, but make sure that your arms and your shoulders and your head is outside. So you just lying, you can kind of, some people like to lie on their arms. Some people like to lie on a cushion or a pillow and then you start the story. So one tip that I have, is that your parent or carer always keep one hand, one hand on your body. So one hand is consistently there. And then with the other hand, you do all the actions. And the reason for that is that one hand that's consistently touching your back will help to ground your body. So it's a funny word. I know, grounding your body, but it helps your body and your tactile things to know that there's constant pressure and this kind of touch is okay. So obviously give your parent or carer information to do a massage story on your back. And you can also take turns, so you can do a story on your parent or carer's back. So if they lie flat on their tummy, you cover them with a blanket, make sure that their shoulders are out and then you do a story and see if you can make up your own stories. I'd love to hear from them and at the end of the video, I'll tell you how to share some of your stories with Oak National Academy. So pause the video here, complete the task, and then press play once you finished. So here's a few ideas to make bedtime calmer. Calm bedrooms could include natural fabrics like cotton or linen, a hypoallergenic pillow maybe something that you prefer rather than another type of pillow. You may prefer to have your bedding really tight or you may prefer to have it quite loose. So that it feels just right. And maybe having some slippers in front of your bed especially when you have to get up at night or have to get up the next morning, may be more comfortable than just walking with your bare foot, Pete. When you are likely under responsive to touch, you may want to have more touch cues. It may help to have lots of different fabrics on your bed. So have a pillow, cover your pillow in a texture fabric, have a kind of bed sheet, maybe have a blanket, maybe have another few stacking cushions or soft toys. All of those things will provide different textures. You may like to have some stuff toys all over your bed and you may not worry too much about when you're bedding is little bit more wrinkled. So these things are helpful to make bedtimes calmer. So try out the ones that work for you and make a plan with your parent or carer. And that's what we're going to do now is you going to pause the video here and you're going to agree a bedtime plan with your parents or carer. So chat to them about, what it is that you like? what's the feel of the fabrics? What kind of textures do you like? Do you like your bed sheets to be tight or loose around your body? Make that plan. And once you finish, you can press play and we will finish the lesson together. Well done. You have done amazing. And I hope that some of these tips have been helpful and that you will try some of them out. Let us know about that massage stories and I will tell you in the next slide, how to share your work with National Oak Academy.

Share your work with Oak National. If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter tagging @OakNational and #Leavenworth.

Getting ready for bed

Getting ready for bed

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