I cannot help but think about how hard adjustments are for our special needs children. From the adjustment they make getting ready for a holiday break to the adjustment they make returning from the break, when they face school and sitting in a classroom for long periods.

As parents/caregivers to these special children, we need to 

look at their sensory diets to determine if they need more time to “take a break” as Elizabeth says or to add more sensory stimulation/ activities to help keep the balance. It all depends, of course, on the child and their sensory needs.

Elizabeth has found that taking breaks help her when our holiday schedule gets to be too much for her  while we balance that with some exercise to help her system feel calm.

Our Michael, on the other hand, is someone who needs a fidget a lot of the time. And needs to move! So he manages his excess energy by playing basketball in the basement, exercising or playing with a fidget.

My point is that finding the balance and therapy tools that help each child is so important. And now that we are back in school, the challenge is there to help them stay focused and calm during the school day.

So with that in mind, I have to tell you about a great fidget that will help you if you have a “Michael” in your world. And not only help but be pretty cool looking too! (Michael’s words)

They are called Pencil Finger Fidgets.

These guys are just great….period! The one I love looks like nuts and bolts. With the bolt being the piece that slides on the pencil and the nut being the fidget or part they can play with. They can twist the nut up and down the bolt all they want but it won’t come off because of the slightly raised edges on the bolt. So they can fidget all they want!

They are fidget pencil toppers that can be moved from the pencil they come with to any pencil. Which is great because my children like sharp pencil points and will grind down a new pencil to a stub quite quickly. So with some pencil toppers, once the pencil is done, so is the topper. But these guys live on and on because they slide on and off easily.

So that is a good thing but what is great is that they are Q-U-I-E-T and for anyone who has listen to whirring, clicking, or tapping sounds of other fidgets, you know how welcoming QUIET is! And I guarantee that most educators would agree!

 

So I gave one of these toppers to my resident fidget lover, Michael. And right away he was spinning the nut as he was talking to me. What I loved was how great it helped him keep his hands busy in a good way and not in the “I have to take something away way.” Trust me, I have needed to take, erasers/charger cords/nail polish bottles/napkins and more from his hands because Michael will fidget with nearly any object that is near him at a given moment. Which is why we have a nice basket of fidgets ready for him to use as he wishes.

So anyway, back to the fidget pencil toppers. These work really well for him!

Please consider taking a look at them on our site. They would be easy to add to any sensory kit or in our case a fidget basket. And with the start of school again, perhaps worth adding to your child’s pencil or sensory bin for the classroom. Ohh, and I forgot they do come in a fluorescent color scheme as well. And because you will use them for a long time, they are easy to clean. Which, with all the germs running around school, is a really good thing!!

So please take a peek at them and I hope everyone has a calm and smooth start to school.

And I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele Gianetti

Author of “ I Believe In You: A Mother and Daughter’s Special Journey” and “Emily’s Sister”

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