KIDZ POINT was developed to offer specific areas for children to work on their therapy goals, nurture their bodies during healing TCM treatments and calm their minds during yoga classes. Clearly defining an area helps to organize a space and activity. This fosters attention for children to actively participate in what they’re doing, which promotes their being successful.
JUMP, CRASH & ROLL ROOM
KIDZ POINT sensory integration clinic and yoga room is designed with all the elements to challenge senses, build strong bodies and have fun! When children are engaged and having fun, their minds and bodies are learning! Some of the ways that kids play on the equipment in this room and how their play works in the body may include navigating their way up the climbing wall to retrieve hidden letters. This builds strength, works on visual discrimination, motor planning and gives input to the muscles and joints, and Kids love the challenge! Jumping and crashing onto the billowy clouds offers the body a fun way to get deep pressure into the muscles and joints, which helps know where your body is in space, and organizes and calms the nervous system. Swinging works on knowing where our head is in relation to gravity, guides our balance and helps integrate our eyes, ears and sense of space. Swings can wake up a sluggish child, calm an overloaded child, and build core strength without kids realizing its work! The vibrant colorful balls add loads of tactile input to the body, teach color discrimination, throwing and visual motor skills, and touch discrimination to find things hidden amongst the balls. KIDZ POINT yoga also takes place in this room, clearing all the vibrant fun toy leaves a calm and serene environment to connect body, mind and spirit.
BAMBOO ROOM
KIDZ POINT traditional Chinese medicine treatment room was created to provide a calm, healing environment for your children to relax and have fun while receiving their treatments. Sensory experiences in this room include a cozy cover on the treatment table that can be warmed up, which helps to relax and calm a child. The tools used in treatment are fun for children to touch and play with, this also relaxes the kids, which aids in their body receiving the treatment.
MOON ROOM
This room provides a quiet space where children can choose what equipment they want to play with. Planning and sequencing skills are encouraged in this room while kids get to plan their obstacle courses in 2-D space on the magnet board and pictures of equipment (picture exchange communication system/PECS cards). Next, kids get to hang this board in the clinic to build their creation (in 3-D) and have it for a visual reminder if they get off track. The moon room also has a space for quieting down with headphones and lots of music choices (including the therapeutic listening program).
ORANGE ROOM
Kids get to have fun in this “no-worry, make a mess room” exploring wet and dry sensory play, such as dried corn or black bean bins, shaving cream drawings on the mirror and art creations. This play works on integrating both touch and visual information in a fun kid-friendly way. Kids can get comfortable in the orange room while they have fun learning that, “Food is just food!” They’ll have a chance to play with food for art creations or as a surface to draw in! Sensitivities are always acknowledged with creative ways to encourage exploration while feeling safe and having fun.
Kids also strengthen their fine, visual motor and perceptual skills in this room for activities like handwriting, cutting, drawing and dressing. Fun engaging games with tools and loads of manipulatives build strong fingers and strengthen grasping skills to hold pencils, forks and even a toothbrush fostering success and independence.
SENSORY PREFERENCES
At KIDZ POINT, our clinic strives to meet the varying sensory needs of the children we serve. Our clinic is filled with ways to encourage tactile, movement, muscle, visual and auditory exploration in a fun, playful, and safe way. We also took some liberties, keeping in mind the children we serve, to make their time at KIDZ POINT “sensory comfortable”.
COLOR~ We chose colors in our clinic that have a natural element to them, not too bright, not too dull! KIDZ POINT colors will help wake up a child with a sluggish or groggy nervous system, but will also work to calm and organize a child with an energetic, overloaded or disorganized nervous system. We have large windows that provide a flood of natural sunlight for children that are sensitive to florescent light.
SMELL~ At KIDZ POINT we strive to offer a scent free environment for our sensitive kids. We can add scents to a treatment for children who benefit from smell to wake or calm their bodies with fun ways such as scented shaving cream or pencils and essential oils. To meet the needs of all our kids who come to KIDZ POINT however, we encourage our friends visiting us to keep this in mind too, saving perfume and cologne for other special occasions.
