The Tactile System and some "Messy Play"...

We all have seen (or have) those kids who do not like to get their hands messy...they want to wash their hands as soon as anything sticky or messy gets on them, or they refuse to participate in (or at least don’t enjoy) finger painting or playdough activities.  There are also those kids who just can't get enough of messy play.  Check out what Carol Stock Kranowitz, author of "The Out of Sync Child" has to say about the importance of messy play:
http://out-of-sync-child.com/articlesinterviews/in-praise-of-mud/

A brief overview of the tactile system:
The skin is the largest organ of the body.
Touch receptors are located in the skin.
A type of touch is discriminative touch (fine touch)- Discriminating touch implies an awareness of an object's shape, texture, three-dimensional qualities, and other fine points.  It also implies the ability to recognize familiar objects simply by tactile manipulation.
Firm touch is organizing to the central nervous system (so tickling is not enjoyable to kids who are already over sensitive to touch/tactile defensive).

Different touch can be calming or alerting to the central nervous system-
calming: warmth, smooth/soft textures, deep pressure
alerting:  cold, rough textures, vibration, light touch

When the tactile sense is not processing well, your child may have difficulty with modulation, discrimination, or sensory based motor skills (over sensitivity, under sensitivity, sensory seeking behaviors, or may not be able to discriminate tactile sensations).  In addition, other daily skills can be affected, such as:

-body awareness
-motor planning
-visual discrimination
-language
-learning
-social skills
-emotions

Providing your child or student with tactile input is super easy to do (especially if the child is a sensory seeker or is under responsive to tactile input).  However, if they do not like it (if they are over sensitive to tactile input), you will likely get resistance to participation.  If this is the case, you can modify the way your child participates in messy or tactile type play by letting them use a paint brush, playdough tools or a popsicle stick initially to "touch" the messy stuff vs using their fingers, or by only asking them to use one or two fingers to touch it vs. their whole hand.  You can also negotiate with the child, requiring them only to touch the messy activity 5 times, for example, or less and work your way up.  Dry tactile play vs. wet or messy tactile play is sometimes also easier for some kids to tolerate.  Here are some ways and activities that you can add some tactile input into your child's/student's day:

-use finger paints
-play with playdough, clay, floam, gak
-finger paint with shaving cream, whipped cream, pudding or honey

-finger paint with a mixture of karo syrup and food coloring on a poster board cut out.  Dries shiny and smooth
-play with magnetic bingo chips and wand

Magnetic bingo chips and wand

-pop bubble wrap
-play in water: play in a pool, sprinkler, tub, water table, etc.
-write with a squiggle pen (vibrating pen)
-play with a koosh ball or ball with texture

-play in a tub of rice, flour, sugar, salt, sand or dried beans.  Hide small items in the rice or beans and have your child find them.  Try having them find them with their eyes closed as well.
-pur some salt, sugar or sand on a tray and have your child use their finger to draw basic shapes, letters, pictures, etc.  Have your child drive drive a toy car through the salt to make roads and a track.
-freeze some shaving cream on a paper plate and let your child play with it as it melts
-freeze jello and play with it (ok to eat, too)

Frozen blue raspberry jello

-freeze popsicle sticks into ice cubes.  Sprinkle various colors/flavors of kool aid on paper and use the ice cubes to color on the kool aid and paper.  Makes various lines and colors and smells great!
-freeze tempera paint in ice cube trays.  Freeze a popsicle stick in it for a handle.  Paint on paper using the frozen tempera cubes.

Frozen tempera paint

Here are some fun "recipes" for tactile play:

sand playdough
4 cups clean, colored sand
3 cups flour
1/4 cup oil

snow dough
1 cup ivory snow flakes
2 cups warm water
add food coloring if desired
(this will harden if you make shapes with
it and let it dry)

silly putty (glarch)
mix equal parts liquid laundry starch and Elmer's glue until no
longer sticky.  Add food coloring if desired.

kool aid playdough
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 small packages kool aid

Tactile input isn't just for the hands...
-have your child walk on bubble wrap to pop it
-make an obstacle course or trail of different textures and have your child walk on/through them ie: mud, cotton balls, water, dried beans or macaroni, a square of carpet, scraps of different kinds of fabric, etc.
-have your child eat a variety of textured foods-  eat something crunchy, chewy, etc.
-play with and apply different scents and types of lotion to the skin.  Have your child put it on themselves.

Have any other good "tactile play" ideas?  Share them here so others can enjoy them, too!