The Bean and I had a great experience at the Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum‘s Sensory Saturday. Offered in collaboration with A Balanced Approach, the program took place, for the most part, in a large, bright room with lots of windows. There were lots of activity stations set up around the room and the Bean made a beeline for the carpeted area in the corner where she gleefully discovered a box full of tissue paper. Had someone called ahead to let them know we were coming? One of the Bean’s fave activities is tissue paper! Though, admittedly, it had never occurred to me to keep a box full as a toy. Shortly after we arrived, a program facilitator came over to greet us. She didn’t get in Bean’s face or try to get her to do something that she didn’t want to do. Instead, she followed the Bean’s lead, playing with the tissue paper and slowly getting her interest in watching what happened when she threw the tissue paper into the air in different ways. When the Bean started ripping up the tissue paper and littering it around the room, she didn’t scold her for making a mess or, tell her that she was doing the ‘wrong’ thing with the tissue paper. Instead, she commented on the noise that the tissue paper makes when it rips. This not only put the Bean (and I) at ease, but also demonstrated a understanding of sensory sensitivities and the pay-off that Bean experiences from her sensory-seeking activities.
Another activity available for the kiddos was this dragon head, which guests were able to try on and, in some cases, wear while chasing their toddler around the room (said toddler giggled like a maniac)!
Other activities in the room included a basket full of balls, a large tub of water with little plastic frogs inside, trays full of salt, play-dough, colouring, story books and the Bean’s ultimate favourite: a box full of that stuff that lines Easter baskets! (What’s that stuff called???)
As the Bean worked hard to spread the stuff over as much square footage of the floor as she could, I ran around after her, frantically trying to clean up. I felt bad that we’d made such a mess, until one of the facilitators calmly informed me that sometimes that the room gets messy during Sensory Saturdays. In fact, I think that was my favourite feature of Sensory Saturday; we were made to feel at ease. There were no rolled eyes or stares, no dirty looks or judgy comments about my parenting (which, for the record, is amazeballs!). Not from staff and not from other parents in attendance.The expectations were in line with what the Bean and I could deliver.
All in all, we had a great morning. Activities, some like the ones we do at home and some that we’d never tried before, were set up, all ready to go. And having the program facilitators there and circulating, working to engage the kiddos and their parents was perhaps more of a relief than it should have been! You see the Hubs does shift work and there are days when the responsibility of caring for, engaging and entertaining the Bean all alone, weighs heavily. Sensory Saturday took the pressure off and gave me the opportunity to chat with other adults at the same time.
The museum’s website had easy to find information about dates and themes for Sensory Saturdays as well as what makes these mornings sensory-friendly. If an attraction offers sensory-friendly hours, but I have to make a phone call during my break at work to find out about it, that’s just one more call to add to my list for the week. This may sound trivial to some, but trust me, that’s always a long list!
The museum also offers a Social Story: https://www.waterlooregionmuseum.ca/en/resources/124393-Visiting-the-Museum-Childrens-Booklet.pdf
I always appreciate a good Social Story! Even if it’s written at a level too advanced for the Bean, it helps me to prepare her for the visit.
Sensory Saturday currently runs every other Saturday from 10:30am-12:30pm. For more information go to: https://calendar.waterlooregionmuseum.ca/Default/Detail/2020-03-14-1030-Sensory-Saturday
Maybe we’ll see you there!
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