Getting ready to leave the house

Sensory integration

﻿Hi, my name is Anele, and I'm one of the occupational therapists. In today's lesson, we are going to carry on focusing on our movement sense, and we are going to look at what we can do to make it easier to leave the house. 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. In today's lesson, we're going to carry on contributing to our sensory passport, and we're going to focus on our movement sense. So, let's see what we will need for this lesson. You need to have some paper, some pens, and ask your parent or carer for some magazines. Once you've got all of those things ready, press play, and we will carry on. So, let's have a think about what may be difficult with our movement sense when leaving the house. It may be that we are struggling to stay still, especially when we have to, like going out to the shops and you have to queue. That may be really tricky for you. You may not like your feet to leave the ground, so sitting on a chair and when your feet are dangling may be really uncomfortable to you and it may bother you a lot. Getting car sick may be something else. So, it may be hard for you to leave the house because you don't like that kind of feeling when you're driving. And not knowing what is expected of you may be something else that may be a really tricky when you leave the house, especially when you don't know exactly where you're going, what you're going to do there and who you're going to meet. So, let's have a look at some of the things that you may want to do to make it easier. Some of the tips may be that, you know, when you're struggling to stand still, it may be good to agree a way that you can have a fun walk when you're approaching a place. So, instead of just walking along, you may think, "I'm going to do three jumps and two hops," and you're going to carry on with that pattern until you get to where you need to be. So, when you walking down the aisles, holding onto your parents or carers hand, that might be a better way for you to do it, while you keep safe and you help to keep people around you safe, so you keep a safe distance and you're making sure that you don't bump into other people. If you don't like your feet dangling and it may be a little bit scared when your feet leave the floor, a footstool may really help you, especially when you're out and about. And sometimes, it's as easy as putting your feet on the shopping basket, especially, just make sure that there's no eggs inside or anything that's breakable, but using something that you've got with you as a footstool can really help. And when you're getting carsick it may help if you can sit in the front, if it's safe to do so, if you can sit in the front of the car so that you can look outside. It may also help if you try and sit more towards the middle of the backseat, so that you can have a look in front of you, and then having the window open a little may also help. Again, having a footstool in the car if your feet doesn't quite reach the floor may also help you feel a little bit less car sick. And then, one other thing is, if you don't know where to go and what's expected of you, having a chat with your parent or carer will really make a big difference in preparing you when leaving the house. With your sensory passport, what you're going to do is, you can use the same headings that I've used, or you can make up your own and add pictures or add words, just what do you want to do. This is your passport that you are going to share with other people to help them understand a little bit more about what you need for your movement sense. So, have a look at some of the things that I've written. I've said, movement that I like is to jump with two feet, but I also like to hold onto another adult's hand. Things that I don't like is doing gymnastics and spinning. Things that makes me feel comfortable is jigging my knee or sitting on an air-filled cushion. Movements that energise me is when I'm in the park, I love to go onto there monkey bars and hanging from there. Movements that calm me is maybe doing some wall-press ups before I leave the house. So, that's a few things that I like to do, but you're going to now have the opportunity to complete your page. So, this is what you're going to do. Complete the movement section of your passport, pause the video here, and when you're finished with that, press play, we will carry on with the lesson. Brilliance! So, you've just added onto your movement page. And just as a reminder, you can do this as a paper-based activity where you add things to a folder, or if you want to, you can make up a PowerPoint slide with a digital format, which you can also take with you, or email to people in advance, and you can use things like slides or you can use the PowerPoint programmes. So, well done. You know what? All that's left for me to say is, if you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak. Have a great day!

Getting ready to leave the house

Getting ready to leave the house

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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