Recap of our first in-person sensory summer camp for kids in Pittsburgh, PA! Learn about the goals and key activities of our sensory summer camp, and hear about all the fun we had and the progress that was made!
20 years ago, part of my first OT job was working at a summer camp run solely by OTs and PTs.
It was incredible.
This was in the DC area and I knew nothing like that existed in my hometown of Pittsburgh.
I’ve literally dreamt about this camp for 20 years. Ever since starting Your Kid’s Table, it sat in the back of my mind as an experience that I wanted to some day recreate.
And guess what?
At the beginning of July, Desiree and Laura, the other two occupational therapists on the team, joined me in Pittsburgh, PA and we ran Move and Groove: our very first in-person sensory summer camp.
I couldn’t talk about this amazing experience without first talking about the partnership that made it possible with our DREAM sponsor, Fun and Function, LLC.
Because of their sponsorship we were able to have 5 days of intensive sensory-based activities for 11 kids with 3 OT’s and 2 OT students. We also were able to provide needs based partial scholarships.
It was truly better than I could have imagined, and it sparked an even bigger passion to continue doing more sensory camps in the future.
While we tried to share the action on Instagram, it just didn’t cover it, so here is more about this epic week…
Who knows, maybe we will have an in-person camp happen near YOU in the coming years? (this is the new dream!)
More About Our Camp Sponsor: Fun and Function
I’ve used Fun and Function products for years in my therapy sessions and with my own kids. Their quality toys, tools, and equipment completely corner the market for sensory processing resources. They also have an expansive library of resources full of information to help you best support your sensory kids!
My passion for sensory processing is sometimes hard for others to fully understand, but knowing that Fun and Function “gets it” and was unified with this passion was so helpful.
We worked really hard to plan this week in a way that would benefit all the kids who came, no matter what their age, diagnosis, or sensory needs were.
And I’m proud to say that we accomplished this! More on that later.
I’ll share some of our favorite products throughout this recap that made this week such a success, although you can find so many incredible tools on Fun and Function’s website to create your own sensory camp experience.
Goals of Sensory Summer Camp
The first step to creating the sensory camp was to establish goals to focus on. We knew there were a million different ways to go about camp, so we needed to narrow down what we would prioritize as the purpose of our activities.
We landed on the following 6 goals:
1. Regulation
As a baseline for everything else, we wanted our campers to experience an arousal level (aka alertness) that matched any task at hand. If it was time for arts and crafts, the goal was to calm down and focus.
If it was time to run, jump, and roll through an obstacle course, the goal was to follow directions and coordinate the brain and body to do what it needed to do to be successful. This was the biggest goal and it was the foundation for every activity.
This was the other foundational goal of camp. Of course, we couldn’t run a sensory camp without sensory integration being a main focus.
This meant meeting our kids where their sensory preferences were and gently challenging them to process sensory information in a more organized way.
We had seekers and avoiders (and everything in between), so each activity was tailored to help build important skills no matter where a child fell on this spectrum.
We also incorporated classic sensory integration activities like linear swinging, improving righting reflexes, scooter board rides while on belly, and weight shifting.
So many of our kids struggle to coordinate their bodies, focus, and respond to their environments appropriately. And retained reflexes are often, at least partially, to blame.
I really wanted to be intentional with our movement activities to not only check for retained reflexes, but to incorporate activities that helped integrate these reflexes.
In our progress reports at the end of camp we gave parents practical advice for how to start working on these. This goal really set our camp apart as skilled and therapeutic.
4. Tactile desensitization for clothing and food
Lots of parents shared with us that getting messy, wearing certain clothing, and eating different food textures were hard for their kids when they filled out their camper’s information sheet.
So we knew that desensitizing the tactile system needed to be a goal. Some parents were surprised to find out that messy play, sensory bins, and using therapeutic sensory brushes on the skin can help with picky eating. But it’s true! Read about more sensory and picky eating strategies.
Each day, we worked on this, and it was such a beautiful thing to see our tactile avoiders covered in paint, shaving cream, and ooblek by the last day of camp. One mom said this:
I was shocked and so happy to hear how well he responded to the shaving cream messy play. The extent he [engaged] was a first for him and I’m so proud of him!
I’ve never been successful at getting him to use a sensory brush. By the end of camp he was showing and encouraging others how to do it. This is fantastic!
5. Fine Motor Skills/executive functioning skills
It wouldn’t be an OT-run camp without a little classic fine motor work. While this wasn’t a main focus, we decided to weave in opportunities to work on hand strength, coordination, and executive functioning skills through arts and crafts.
And the kids (and adults) loved every minute of this!
6. Social skills
Last but not least, we had a goal of socialization for each child who attended Move and Groove. Peer relationships are so important, and many kids with sensory differences have trouble connecting with others who can fully understand what they’re going through.
Social relationships are such an important part of the camp experience, and this was no different. From shared meals, small groups, to social and emotional modeling, this was a huge theme in each and every activity throughout the week.
These 6 areas are common difficulties for our sensory kids and those with diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, sensory processing disorder, and developmental delays.
Our 11 kids had varying degrees of assistance needed, and many had goals to improve in all 6 areas.
And since we knew our campers were diverse in their needs and goals for the camp, filtering all of our activities through these 6 goals helped cover our bases to ensure that they would each benefit individually and collectively from their time at Move and Groove.
Just like we would have done in individual treatment sessions with these kids, having goals allowed us to put together a “plan of care” of sorts to work off of, to both get ideas for how to improve skills, and also mark progress.
Parents were made aware of these goals ahead of time and were able to share their priorities for what they hoped their child would work on. It was a great collaboration!
To the therapists reading along, you know how important child-led goals are to outcomes!
Sensory Summer Camp Daily Routine
After all the dreaming, planning, and goal setting took place, it was time to set a daily schedule!
As occupational therapists, we know that kids thrive on routine, and this was even more important with our sensory campers.
Repetition was so helpful over the 5 days, and we saw immense growth from Monday to Friday. To be honest, I was shocked at some of the changes I saw!
To make each day predictable and build excitement, we began each day with circle time which began with us going over a visual schedule.
Check out a little teaser of what camp looked like each day:
Sensory Summer Camp Activities
So much intention and thought went into each day’s activities, and it paid off to see the kids both enjoying and benefitting from each one.
Some of our favorites were: Obstacle course, drum circle, messy play, and arts and crafts.
I’m going to break down each of these to show how Fun and Function helped us make things run smoothly, and what each kid got from the activities.
Obstacle Course
Hands down, the obstacle course was a hit each day.
We typically did one at the start of the day as a way to get kids moving, regulated, and following directions.
Whether it was crawling through a tunnel, bouncing on a therapy ball, or using a scooter board, the kids loved it. And the regulating sensory input was unmatched!
Obstacle courses are one of my favorite ways to add organized sensory input into a routine, and starting our days with one made the rest of the day easier.
Here were some of our favorite components to mix and match into the daily course:
Here, we had kids stand and toss a ball into a basket while balancing on a wedge. Great hand-eye coordination and vestibular input!
Scooter boards like this one are so versatile and fun for kids. They can sit, be on their stomach, or even stand in a “bear crawl” position with one. We love them!
We mixed up different pieces of the course, added a sprinkler to cool off, and watched our kids experience improvements in regulation, cognitive processing, and coordination. Not to mention we saw improvements in coordination, gravitational insecurity, and following directions by the end of the week!
Here’s a bank of obstacle course ideas to make one of your own!
Drum Circle
You may be unfamiliar with this activity, but the drum circle was a huge blast for each of our campers. And it was super therapeutic as well!
Every day at Move and Groove sensory camp, we circled up, grabbed buckets, tubs, boxes, and egg shakers and felt the rhythm!
For the campers who had trouble sitting for the whole drum circle, these wiggle seats really helped!
The kids loved this activity, and they didn’t even realize the incredible skills they were working on.
The sensory, social, cognitive, physical, and emotional benefits of a drum circle and shared music are hard to beat!
The best part is that we didn’t have to do anything too special or complicated.
We started by making a simple 1-2 beat and having the group “catch” the beat by mimicking what they heard.
We practiced using 1 hand, 2 hands, hitting the top and sides of the drum, and speeding up and down the tempo. We even had kids pick a song to play and then tried to find the beat.
Everyone enjoyed it, but we did have a few children with auditory sensitivities who preferred to wear noise canceling headphones and feel the drum vibrations instead.
After camp ended, I saw that Fun and Function has these really cool thin headphones that would be a perfect option for those children next year. I love how small they are, which makes them seem more comfortable in the heat!
Messy Play for Tactile Desensitization
Would you believe that these kids below are usually tactile defensive?
We made an effort each day to get tactile input through messy play, with sensory bins, ooblek, and an epic shaving cream party like you see above.
It was so fun to see kids become less hesitant to dig their hands into messy play over the course of the week.
This activity is also great because it is easy to carry over in the home after camp. Sensory bin pebbles like these from Fun and Function would be super fun to regularly play with in the home!
Check out our giant list of sensory bin fillers!
Arts and Crafts
The last activity I want to share with you was arts and crafts.
Each of the crafts we did during camp knocked it out of the park in terms of fun and beneficial sensory input for the kids.
One day we made a sensory wand, inspired by The Learning Co.
This activity was great because both the process to make it and the end result were beneficial to helping build fine motor skills, executive function skills, and for regulating and calming.
It’s a win any way you slice it!
The kids were challenged by the hand strength and coordination needed to do this one. But their hard work paid off!
These wands would make a perfect addition to a fidget collection. Make sure to browse through the other fidget options that Fun and Function has as well.
Progress Made at Sensory Camp
Many, if not most of the kids who attended Move and Groove sensory camp, have not attended a regular summer camp before.
This is because typical camps are not equipped to help support these kids in a way that keeps them safe, included, and able to participate fully. This was the driving force behind camp.
If there was a barrier, we brainstormed ways we could knock it down so that each kid had a chance to be included. With creativity, determination, and accommodations, I am proud of the ways that each kid was able to engage.
On Friday, each of our campers took home an individual progress report highlighting their strengths, areas to work on, and recommendations for the “next step” to carry over from our team of OTs.
This process helped Move and Groove sensory camp create a ripple effect from progress made during this week. Many of our campers have therapy services in place, but some didn’t, so this was really important for them.
Here’s what some of our parents said:
“She is still doing a drum circle at our house with buckets! We loved seeing her* excitement about camp each and everyday! I loved how you sent us a schedule ahead of time so we knew how the day was. The progress report at the end really helped. This is giving our therapist at home an idea of things we can work on.”
“I love that he met and made new friends all while learning so much at camp.
I was shocked and so happy to hear how well he responded to the shaving cream messy play. The extent he went was a first for him and I’m so proud of him!”
“I’ve never been successful at getting him to use a sensory brush. By the end of camp he was showing and encouraging others how to do it. This is fantastic!”
“I also really really love that you guys provided a progress report at the end of camp. SO extremely helpful to know what you saw in him and his responses and strides while at camp.
The tips and resources you provided to continue working on things at home is so invaluable to me!! I’ve been following you, the online courses, your blogs and emails for years and it was so cool to meet you all in person.
I’m so grateful we are local to you and you’re amazing team!”
“Thank you SO MUCH for a wonderful summer camp. he* misses all of you and hopes that there will be another camp for him to participate in. “
Sensory Camp Next Year (and Beyond!)
I hope you enjoyed this recap from our very first in-person sensory summer camp! We had the best time, and are already dreaming and scheming for how we can do it again next year.
Think your child might be a good fit for our future camps? We have a wait list that you can join to stay current on all of the upcoming excitement.
Join the waitlist here, and maybe we will get to see you in person next summer!
And, if you’re a therapist that wants to offer a sensory summer camp where you live, we’d love to support you. Reach out to us at hello@yourkidstable.com
Alisha Grogan is a licensed occupational therapist and founder of Your Kid’s Table. She has over 19 years experience with expertise in sensory processing and feeding development in babies, toddlers, and children. Alisha also has 3 boys of her own at home. Learn more about her here.
Laura Mau is a licensed occupational therapist and member of the Your Kid’s Table team. She has over 8 years of clinical experience in helping families navigate complex feeding and eating, sensory processing, and reaching developmental milestones with their children. She currently practices in Colorado and has 3 young kids of her own.
